IIB 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 678 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 15, 2013 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities 
for hydropower development under Federal Reclamation 
law, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bureau of Reclamation 
Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION. 
Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 
(43 U.S.C. 485h(c)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to 
enter into contracts to furnish water’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(1) The Secretary is authorized to enter into 
contracts to furnish water’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘(1) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) 
shall’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘(2) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) 
shall’’; 
(4) by striking ‘‘respecting the terms of sales of 
electric power and leases of power privileges shall be 
in addition and alternative to any authority in exist-
ing laws relating to particular projects’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘respecting the sales of electric power and leases 
of power privileges shall be an authorization in addi-
tion to and alternative to any authority in existing 
laws related to particular projects, including small 
conduit hydropower development’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(2)(A) When carrying out this subsection, 
the Secretary shall first offer the lease of power 
privilege to an irrigation district or water users 
association operating the applicable transferred 
conduit, or to the irrigation district or water 
users association receiving water from the ap-
plicable reserved conduit. The Secretary shall 
determine a reasonable time frame for the irri-
gation district or water users association to ac-
cept or reject a lease of power privilege offer for 
a small conduit hydropower project. 
‘‘(B) If the irrigation district or water 
users association elects not accept a lease of 
power privilege offer under subparagraph (A), 
the Secretary shall offer the lease of power 
privilege to other parties in accordance with 
this subsection. 
‘‘(3) The Bureau of Reclamation shall 
apply its categorical exclusion process under the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to small conduit hydro-
power development under this subsection, ex-
cluding siting of associated transmission facili-
ties on Federal lands. 
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‘‘(4) The Power Resources Office of the 
Bureau of Reclamation shall be the lead office 
of small conduit hydropower policy and proce-
dure-setting activities conducted under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall obli-
gate the Western Area Power Administration, 
the Bonneville Power Administration, or the 
Southwestern Power Administration to pur-
chase or market any of the power produced by 
the facilities covered under this subsection and 
none of the costs associated with production or 
delivery of such power shall be assigned to 
project purposes for inclusion in project rates. 
‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall alter 
or impede the delivery and management of 
water by Bureau of Reclamation facilities, as 
water used for conduit hydropower generation 
shall be deemed incidental to use of water for 
the original project purposes. Lease of power 
privilege shall be made only when, in the judg-
ment of the Secretary, the exercise of the lease 
will not be incompatible with the purposes of 
the project or division involved, nor shall it cre-
ate any unmitigated financial or physical im-
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pacts to the project or division involved. The 
Secretary shall notify and consult with the irri-
gation district or water users association oper-
ating the transferred conduit before offering the 
lease of power privilege and shall prescribe 
terms and conditions that will adequately pro-
tect the planning, design, construction, oper-
ation, maintenance, and other interests of the 
United States and the project or division in-
volved. 
‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall alter 
or affect any existing agreements for the devel-
opment of conduit hydropower projects or dis-
position of revenues. 
‘‘(8) Nothing in this subsection shall alter 
or affect any existing preliminary permit, li-
cense, or exemption issued by the Federal En-
ergy Regulatory Commission under Part I of 
the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.) 
or any project for which an application has 
been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission as of the date of the enactment of 
the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hy-
dropower Development and Rural Jobs Act. 
‘‘(9) In this subsection: 
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‘‘(A) CONDUIT.—The term ‘conduit’ 
means any Bureau of Reclamation tunnel, 
canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or 
similar manmade water conveyance that is 
operated for the distribution of water for 
agricultural, municipal, or industrial con-
sumption and not primarily for the genera-
tion of electricity. 
‘‘(B) 
IRRIGATION
DISTRICT.—The 
term ‘irrigation district’ means any irriga-
tion, water conservation or conservancy, 
multicounty water conservation or conser-
vancy district, or any separate public enti-
ty composed of two or more such districts 
and jointly exercising powers of its member 
districts. 
‘‘(C) RESERVED CONDUIT.—The term 
‘reserved conduit’ means any conduit that 
is included in project works the care, oper-
ation, and maintenance of which has been 
reserved by the Secretary, through the 
Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclama-
tion. 
‘‘(D) TRANSFERRED
CONDUIT.—The 
term ‘transferred conduit’ means any con-
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duit that is included in project works the 
care, operation, and maintenance of which 
has been transferred to a legally organized 
water users association or irrigation dis-
trict. 
‘‘(E) 
SMALL
CONDUIT
HYDRO-
POWER.—The term ‘small conduit hydro-
power’ means a facility capable of pro-
ducing 5 megawatts or less of electric ca-
pacity.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 10, 2013. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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