I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7487 
To amend the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to encourage non-Federal 
hydropower development with respect to Bureau of Reclamation projects. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 11, 2026 
Ms. BOEBERT (for herself and Mr. GRAY) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to encourage 
non-Federal hydropower development with respect to Bu-
reau of Reclamation projects. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Jobs and Hydro-
power Expansion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RECLAMATION PROJECT ACT. 
Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 
(53 Stat. 1194) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(1) The Secretary is author-
ized’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary is authorized’’; 
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(2) by striking ‘‘small conduit hydropower using 
Bureau of Reclamation facilities and pumped stor-
age hydropower exclusively using Bureau of Rec-
lamation reservoirs’’ and inserting ‘‘hydropower 
using all Bureau of Reclamation facilities’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘No contract relating to munic-
ipal water supply’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) No contract relating to municipal water 
supply’’; 
(4) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘applicable transferred 
conduit’’ and inserting ‘‘applicable transferred 
works facility’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘applicable reserved con-
duit’’ and inserting ‘‘applicable reserved works 
facility’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘power privilege offer for a 
small conduit’’ and inserting ‘‘power privilege 
offer for the’’; 
(5) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘small con-
duit’’ and inserting ‘‘applicable’’; 
(6) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘small conduit 
hydropower’’; 
(7) in paragraph (6)— 
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(11) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(9) Nothing in this section shall expand or 
otherwise amend the Bureau of Reclamation lease of 
power privilege authorities outside the project 
boundary.’’; and 
(12) in paragraph (10), as so redesignated— 
(A) by striking subparagraphs (A), (C), 
(D), and (E); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
subparagraph (A); and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) RESERVED
WORKS
FACILITY.—The 
term ‘reserved works facility’ means those fa-
cilities owned by the Bureau of Reclamation 
where the Bureau of Reclamation has retained 
responsibility for carrying out operation and 
maintenance activities. 
‘‘(C) TRANSFERRED
WORKS
FACILITY.— 
The term ‘transferred works facility’ means a 
project facility where the operations and main-
tenance of that facility is carried out by a non- 
Federal entity under the provisions of a formal 
operations and maintenance transfer contract.’’. 
Æ 
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