I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3794 
To direct the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, 
to carry out a program to prevent flooding and wastewater, sewage, 
trash, and sediment spills in the Tijuana River Valley, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 
Mr. VARGAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Army, acting through the 
Chief of Engineers, to carry out a program to prevent 
flooding and wastewater, sewage, trash, and sediment 
spills in the Tijuana River Valley, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Sewage Free Tijuana 
River Valley Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF FLOODING AND WASTEWATER, 
SEWAGE, TRASH, AND SEDIMENT SPILLS IN 
TIJUANA RIVER VALLEY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 
program to enhance the physical infrastructure in both the 
United States and Mexico to prevent flooding and waste-
water, sewage, trash, and sediment spills in the Tijuana 
River Valley. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program in-
clude— 
(1) coordinating restoration and protection ac-
tivities among Mexican, Federal, State, local, and re-
gional entities and conservation partners relating to 
the Tijuana River Valley; and 
(2) carrying out coordinated restoration and 
protection activities, and providing for technical as-
sistance, relating to the Tijuana River Valley. 
(c) COORDINATION.—In establishing the program, 
the Secretary shall consult, as appropriate, with— 
(1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 
(A) the Secretary of the Interior; 
(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 
(C) the Administrator of General Services; 
(D) the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 
and Border Protection; and 
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(E) the Director of the United States Fish 
and Wildlife Service; 
(2) the United States Commissioner, Inter-
national Boundary and Water Commission, United 
States and Mexico; 
(3) the Border Environment Cooperation Com-
mission; 
(4) the North American Development Bank; 
(5) the Governor of California; 
(6) the California Environmental Protection 
Agency; 
(7) the city of Imperial Beach; 
(8) the city of San Diego; 
(9) the county of San Diego; 
(10) the San Diego Regional Water Quality 
Control Board; 
(11) the Tijuana River National Estuarine Re-
search Reserve; 
(12) Mexican governments; and 
(13) other public agencies and organizations 
with authority for the planning and implementation 
of conservation strategies relating to the Tijuana 
River Valley in both the United States and Mexico. 
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(d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share 
of the cost of any project carried out with grant assistance 
made available under the program shall be 50 percent. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) 
MEXICAN
GOVERNMENTS.—The 
term 
‘‘Mexican governments’’ means the Federal, State, 
and local governments of the United Mexican States. 
(2) RESTORATION
AND
PROTECTION.—The 
term ‘‘restoration and protection’’ means the con-
servation, stewardship, and enhancement of the 
physical infrastructure in both the United States 
and Mexico to prevent flooding and wastewater, sew-
age, trash, and sediment spills in the Tijuana River 
Valley. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief 
of Engineers. 
(4) TIJUANA RIVER VALLEY.—The term ‘‘Ti-
juana River Valley’’ means the planning area in San 
Diego County bounded by the city of Imperial Beach 
and the Otay Mesa-Nestor community to the north, 
the San Ysidro community to the east, Mexico to the 
south, and Border Field State Park and Imperial 
Beach to the west. 
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(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. 
Æ 
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