H. R. 1444
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand
An Act
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to plan, design,
and construct fish screens, fish passage devices, and related features to mitigate
impacts on fisheries associated with irrigation system water diversions by local
governmental entities in the Pacific Ocean drainage of the States of Oregon,
Washington, Montana, and Idaho.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fisheries Restoration and Irriga-
tion Mitigation Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) PACIFIC
OCEAN
DRAINAGE
AREA.—The term ‘‘Pacific
Ocean drainage area’’ means the area comprised of portions
of the States of Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho from
which water drains into the Pacific Ocean.
(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the Fisheries
Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Program established by
section 3(a).
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROGRAM.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Fisheries Res-
toration and Irrigation Mitigation Program within the Department
of the Interior.
(b) GOALS.—The goals of the Program are—
(1) to decrease fish mortality associated with the with-
drawal of water for irrigation and other purposes without
impairing the continued withdrawal of water for those purposes;
and
(2) to decrease the incidence of juvenile and adult fish
entering water supply systems.
(c) IMPACTS ON FISHERIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, the Secretary, in
consultation with the heads of other appropriate agencies, shall
develop and implement projects to mitigate impacts to fisheries
resulting from the construction and operation of water diver-
sions by local governmental entities (including soil and water
conservation districts) in the Pacific Ocean drainage area.
(2) TYPES OF PROJECTS.—Projects eligible under the Pro-
gram may include—
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(A) the development, improvement, or installation of—
(i) fish screens;
(ii) fish passage devices; and
(iii) other related features agreed to by non-Federal
interests, relevant Federal and tribal agencies, and
affected States; and
(B) inventories by the States on the need and priority
for projects described in clauses (i) through (iii).
(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to any
project that has a total cost of less than $5,000,000.
SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM.
(a) NON-FEDERAL.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Non-Federal participation in the Program
shall be voluntary.
(2) FEDERAL ACTION.—The Secretary shall take no action
that would result in any non-Federal entity being held finan-
cially responsible for any action under the Program, unless
the entity applies to participate in the Program.
(b) FEDERAL.—Development and implementation of projects
under the Program on land or facilities owned by the United States
shall be nonreimbursable Federal expenditures.
SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF PROJECTS.
Evaluation and prioritization of projects for development under
the Program shall be conducted on the basis of—
(1) benefits to fish species native to the project area,
particularly to species that are listed as being, or considered
by Federal or State authorities to be, endangered, threatened,
or sensitive;
(2) the size and type of water diversion;
(3) the availability of other funding sources;
(4) cost effectiveness; and
(5) additional opportunities for biological or water delivery
system benefits.
SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A project carried out under the Program
shall not be eligible for funding unless—
(1) the project meets the requirements of the Secretary,
as applicable, and any applicable State requirements; and
(2) the project is agreed to by all Federal and non-Federal
entities with authority and responsibility for the project.
(b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In determining the eligi-
bility of a project under this Act, the Secretary shall—
(1) consult with other Federal, State, tribal, and local agen-
cies; and
(2) make maximum use of all available data.
SEC. 7. COST SHARING.
(a) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share of the cost
of development and implementation of any project under the Pro-
gram on land or at a facility that is not owned by the United
States shall be 35 percent.
(b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Federal partici-
pants in any project under the Program on land or at a facility
that is not owned by the United States shall provide all land,
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easements, rights-of-way, dredged material disposal areas, and
relocations necessary for the project.
(c) CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS.—The value of land, easements,
rights-of-way, dredged material disposal areas, and relocations pro-
vided under subsection (b) for a project shall be credited toward
the non-Federal share of the costs of the project.
(d) ADDITIONAL COSTS.—
(1) 
NON-FEDERAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.—The 
non-Federal
participants in any project carried out under the Program on
land or at a facility that is not owned by the United States
shall be responsible for all costs associated with operating,
maintaining, repairing, rehabilitating, and replacing the
project.
(2) FEDERAL
RESPONSIBILITY.—The Federal Government
shall be responsible for costs referred to in paragraph (1) for
projects carried out on Federal land or at a Federal facility.
SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDING.
A project that receives funds under this Act shall be ineligible
to receive Federal funds from any other source for the same purpose.
SEC. 9. REPORT.
On the expiration of the third fiscal year for which amounts
are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall submit
to Congress a report describing—
(1) the projects that have been completed under this Act;
(2) the projects that will be completed with amounts made
available under this Act during the remaining fiscal years
for which amounts are authorized to be appropriated under
section 10; and
(3) recommended changes to the Program as a result of
projects that have been carried out under this Act.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through
2005.
(b) LIMITATIONS.—
(1) SINGLE STATE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph
(B), not more than 25 percent of the total amount of funds
made available under this section may be used for one
or more projects in any single State.
(B) WAIVER.—On notification to Congress, the Sec-
retary may waive the limitation under subparagraph (A)
if a State is unable to use the entire amount of funding
made available to the State under this Act.
(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 6 percent
of the funds authorized under this section for any fiscal year
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may be used for Federal administrative expenses of carrying
out this Act.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.