I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3698
To provide for improved flood protection along the American River Watershed,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 21, 1998
Mr. MATSUI (for himself and Mr. FAZIO of California) introduced the follow-
ing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and In-
frastructure
A BILL
To provide for improved flood protection along the American
River Watershed, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROJECT AUTHORIZATIONS.
(a) FOLSOM DAM AND LEVEE MODIFICATIONS, CALI-
FORNIA.—
(1) STUDY.—As soon as practicable after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Army (referred to hereinafter as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall complete a study of the feasibility of
enlarging the river outlets of the Folsom Dam, Cali-
fornia, and constructing new river outlets below the
emergency spillway of the dam.
(2) MODIFICATION OF REPORT.—If, after con-
ducting the study required by paragraph (1), the
Secretary determines that enlarging the river outlets
of the Folsom Dam and constructing new river out-
lets below the emergency spillway of the dam would
achieve substantially the same benefits as the Fol-
som Dam and levee modifications described in the
March 1996 Supplemental Information Report of
the Chief of Engineers, with a shorter construction
time, less construction-related impacts, and at a
comparable cost, the Secretary shall modify such re-
port in accordance with the determination.
(3) AUTHORIZATION.—After completion of the
study required by paragraph (1) and any modifica-
tion of the March 1996 Supplemental Information
Report of the Chief of Engineers pursuant to para-
graph (2), the Secretary is authorized to carry out
the Folsom Dam and levee modification project sub-
stantially in accordance with the report.
(b) HOWE AVENUE BRIDGE PROJECT, CALIFOR-
NIA—.
(1) STUDY.—As soon as practicable after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall complete a study to determine which of the fol-
lowing options is feasible and allows for the safe
passage of 180,000 cubic feet of flow of water under
the Howe Avenue bridge, California, or a replace-
ment crossing for that bridge:
(A)(i) Raise the Howe Avenue Bridge by
not less than 3 feet and not more than 5 feet;
and
(ii) construct a floodgate and make modi-
fications to the right trestle of the Union Pa-
cific Railroad where the railroad track crosses
the north levee below the levee crown.
(B) Construct a replacement crossing for
the Howe Avenue bridge.
(C) Maintain the Howe Avenue bridge and
the right trestle of the Union Pacific Railroad
where the railroad track crosses the north levee
below the levee crown without modification.
(3) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is author-
ized to carry out a project to implement the option
that the Secretary determines appropriate under
paragraph (1).
(c) DOWNSTREAM
LEVEE
IMPROVEMENTS.—The
Secretary is authorized to carry out the downstream levee
improvement project described in the March 1996 Supple-
mental Information Report of the Chief of Engineers sub-
stantially in accordance with that report and the conclu-
sions and findings of Chief of Engineers’ system-wide eval-
uation of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL SHARE.
(a) FEDERAL SHARE FOR LOSS OF WATER AND
POWER RESOURCES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the
cost that a non-Federal interest incurs as a result of
loss of water and power resources as a result of con-
struction of the projects authorized by section 1
shall be 75 percent.
(2) FINANCE PLAN.—Not later than 2 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall transmit to Congress a long-term plan
to finance the Federal share of the cost payable
under paragraph (1).
(b) CREDIT TOWARD NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The
non-Federal interest of a project authorized by section 1
shall receive full credit toward the non-Federal share of
the cost of the project for expenses that the non-Federal
interest incurs, before the date on which Federal funds
are made available for construction of such projects, for
design or construction of the projects authorized by sec-
tion 1.
SEC. 3. VARIABLE STORAGE SPACE.
Upon completion of the projects authorized by section
1, the Secretary of the Interior shall operate the Folsom
Dam and Reservoir to the variable 400,000/600,000 acre–
feet of flood control storage capacity.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the Amer-
ican River Watershed Investigation and transmit to Con-
gress a report containing the results of that investigation
and any recommendations for measures to reduce the risk
of flooding in the American River Watershed.
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