I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8263 
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 
MAY 7, 2024 
Ms. BOEBERT 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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(A) by striking ‘‘conduit’’ before ‘‘hydro-
power generation’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘transferred conduit’’ and 
inserting ‘‘transferred works facility’’; 
(8) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘conduit’’; 
(9) in paragraph (8)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(referred to in this sec-
tion as an ‘authorization’)’’ before ‘‘issued by 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘August 9, 2013,’’ and in-
serting ‘‘the date of the enactment of the Rural 
Jobs and Hydropower Expansion Act’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end ‘‘Any authoriza-
tion issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission with respect to a project shall re-
main in place until such authorization becomes 
inactive. As allowed by the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, an authorization may 
be renewed and remain active. Once the author-
ization becomes inactive, project site jurisdic-
tion shall shift to the Bureau of Reclamation 
exclusively.’’; 
(10) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (10); 
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