I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 678 
To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities for hydropower 
development under Federal Reclamation law, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2013 
Mr. TIPTON (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. COSTA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. 
SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. CRAMER, Mrs. LUMMIS, and Mr. 
COFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
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, 
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— 
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(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: 
‘‘(2) 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 
work, or to the irrigation district or water users 
association receiving water from the applicable 
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reserved work. The Secretary shall determine a 
reasonable time frame for the irrigation district 
or water users association to accept or reject a 
lease of power privilege offer. 
‘‘(3) The National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall not 
apply to small conduit hydropower development, 
excluding siting of associated transmission on 
Federal lands, under this subsection. 
‘‘(4) The Power Resources Office of the 
Bureau of Reclamation shall be the lead office 
of small conduit hydropower activities con-
ducted under this subsection. 
‘‘(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 
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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-
pacts to the project or division involved, and 
shall be on such terms and conditions as in the 
judgment of the Secretary in consultation with 
the appropriate irrigation district or water 
users association, will adequately protect the 
planning, design, construction, operation, main-
tenance, and other interests of the United 
States and the project or division involved. 
‘‘(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) In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) CONDUIT.—The term ‘conduit’ 
means any Bureau of Reclamation tunnel, 
canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or 
similar manmade water conveyance that is 
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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, multicounty water 
conservation district, or any separate pub-
lic entity composed of two or more such 
districts and jointly exercising powers of 
its member districts. 
‘‘(C) RESERVED
WORK.—The term 
‘reserved work’ 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
WORK.—The 
term ‘transferred work’ means any conduit 
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. 
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‘‘(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.’’. 
Æ 
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