IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3144 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 26, 2018 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works 
AN ACT 
To provide for operations of the Federal Columbia River 
Power System pursuant to a certain operation plan for 
a specified period of time, 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. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act: 
(1) FCRPS.—The term ‘‘FCRPS’’ means those 
portions of the Federal Columbia River Power Sys-
tem that are the subject of the Supplemental Opin-
ion. 
(2) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 
means— 
(A) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Bureau of Reclamation; 
(B) the Secretary of Energy, acting 
through the Bonneville Power Administration; 
and 
(C) Secretaries of the Army, acting 
through the Army Corps of Engineers. 
(3) SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION.—The term ‘‘Sup-
plemental Opinion’’ means the document titled ‘‘En-
dangered Species Act Section 7(a)(2) Supplemental 
Biological Opinion’’, NOAA Fisheries Log Number 
NWR–2013–9562, and dated January 17, 2014, 
which supplements, without replacing, the 2008 and 
2010 FCRPS Biological Opinions and the Reason-
able and Prudent Alternative contained therein. 
SEC. 2. OPERATION OF FCRPS. 
The Secretaries shall operate the FCRPS in a man-
ner consistent with the reasonable and prudent alternative 
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set forth in the Supplemental Opinion until the later of 
the following dates: 
(1) September 30, 2022. 
(2) The date upon which a subsequent final bio-
logical opinion for the FCRPS operations is— 
(A) issued after completion of the final en-
vironmental impact statement on a record of 
decision for a new operations plan for the 
FCRPS; and 
(B) in effect, with no pending further judi-
cial review. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 2, the 
Secretaries may amend portions of the Supplemental 
Opinion and operate the FCRPS in accordance with such 
amendments, before the date established under section 2 
if all of the Secretaries determine, in the sole discretion 
of each Secretary, that— 
(1) the amendment is necessary for public safe-
ty or transmission and grid reliability; or 
(2) the actions, operations, or other require-
ments that the amendment would remove are no 
longer warranted. 
(b) RESTRICTION ON AMENDMENTS.—The process 
described in subsection (a) shall be the only method by 
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which the Secretaries may operate the FCRPS during the 
time period established under section 2 in any way that 
is not consistent with the reasonable and prudent alter-
natives set forth in the Supplemental Opinion. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON RESTRICTING FCRPS ELECTRICAL 
GENERATION OR NAVIGATION ON THE SNAKE 
RIVER. 
No structural modification, action, study, or engi-
neering plan that restricts electrical generation at any 
FCRPS hydroelectric dam, or that limits navigation on 
the Snake River in the State of Washington, Oregon, or 
Idaho, shall proceed unless such proposal is specifically 
and expressly authorized by an Act of Congress enacted 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. Nothing in 
this section affects or interferes with the authority of the 
Secretaries to conduct operation and maintenance activi-
ties or make capital improvements necessary to meet au-
thorized project purposes of FCRPS facilities. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 25, 2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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