I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1060 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take actions to support non- 
Federal investments in water infrastructure improvements in the Sac-
ramento Valley, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2015 
Mr. LAMALFA (for himself and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take actions to 
support non-Federal investments in water infrastructure 
improvements in the Sacramento Valley, 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 ‘‘Sacramento Valley 
Water Storage and Restoration Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The State of California and much of the 
West are experiencing one of the driest years on 
record, exacerbating water supply problems caused 
by a lack of surface water storage infrastructure. 
The drought conditions have caused reductions in 
water supplies to almost all water users in the State. 
(2) The Sites Project has been identified by the 
State of California and the Federal Government as 
an important component to integrated water man-
agement in the Sacramento Valley that would ad-
vance the co-equal objectives of improving water 
management and restoring ecological health for ben-
eficial uses of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 
and the Sacramento River watershed. 
(3) Among other things, the Sites Project 
would— 
(A) increase surface water storage to en-
hance water management flexibility in the Sac-
ramento Valley; 
(B) provide flood control benefits; 
(C) improve conditions for fish, waterfowl, 
and wildlife in the Sacramento Valley, including 
anadromous fish in the Sacramento River; and 
(D) improve the operation of the State’s 
water system to provide improvements in eco-
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system and water quality conditions in the Bay- 
Delta while providing a more reliable water sup-
ply for the State of California. 
(4) The Sites Project has been shown to provide 
approximately 1,300,000 of additional yield when 
the Sites Project is integrated into the operations of 
other State and Federal reservoirs upstream of the 
Bay-Delta. 
(5) Healthy wetlands are of vital importance to 
wildlife in California and require a reliable supply of 
water, and additional surface water storage can help 
meet water supply goals under the Central Valley 
Project Improvement Act. 
(6) It is in the interests of the United States 
for the Federal Government to work with the Sites 
Project Authority, which has been established under 
laws of the State of California as an independent 
joint powers authority to, among other things, study, 
promote, develop, design, finance, acquire, construct, 
manage, and operate Sites Reservoir and related fa-
cilities, in order to advance the Sites Project in the 
most expeditious and cost-effective manner possible. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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SEC. 4. FEASIBILITY STUDY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 
STATEMENT. 
(a) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—No later than December 
15, 2016, the Secretary, acting through the Bureau, shall 
finalize and publish in the Federal Register, the feasibility 
study authorized in section 103(d)(1)(i)(II) of title I of 
Public Law 108–361. 
(b) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT AND EN-
VIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT.—No later than June 30, 
2015, the Secretary shall work with the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environ-
mental Protection Agency Administrator to coordinate the 
efforts of the relevant agencies and work with the State, 
the Authority, and other stakeholders to complete and 
issue the final joint environmental impact statement and 
environmental impact report on the Sites Project. 
(c) AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that all documents associated with the prepa-
ration of planning and feasibility studies and applicable 
environmental reviews under the National Environmental 
Policy Act for the Sites Project shall be made available 
to the Authority. 
(d) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
AND OTHER AGREE-
MENTS.—To assist the Secretary in meeting the deadlines 
for completing the feasibility study and environmental im-
pact statement identified in this section, no later than 90 
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days following enactment, the Secretary, acting through 
the Bureau, shall enter into such agreements with the Au-
thority, including financial assistance agreements, to carry 
out such work as the Bureau and the Authority mutually 
agree is appropriate to ensure that all studies and environ-
mental reviews are completed on an expeditious basis and 
that the shortest applicable process under the National 
Environmental Policy Act shall be utilized, including in 
the completion of the final feasibility study and final joint 
environmental impact statement and environmental im-
pact report on the Sites Project. 
(e) NON-FEDERAL
COST-SHARE.—The Secretary 
shall attribute all funds expended, or in-kind services pro-
vided, by the Authority or the State to advance the Sites 
Project, including the $42,379,999 in non-Federal funds 
provided to the North-of-Delta Offstream Storage Feasi-
bility Study reflected in the Bureau’s fiscal year 2015 
Budget Justification, to the non-Federal share of cost- 
share requirements for any Federal support provided to 
the Sites Project. 
(f) REQUIREMENTS OF EXISTING LAW.—Nothing in 
the section herein modifies existing requirements of Fed-
eral law. 
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SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION
OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 
103(d)(1)(B) of title I of Public Law 108–361 (the Calfed 
Bay-Delta Authorization Act, 118 Stat. 1681) is amended 
by— 
(1) adding after clause (i) the following: 
‘‘(ii) 
CONSTRUCTION
AUTHORIZA-
TION.—If the Secretary determines the 
project described in clause (ii)(I) of sub-
paragraph (A) is feasible, the Secretary is 
authorized to carry out the project in a 
manner that is substantially in accordance 
with the recommended plan, and subject to 
the conditions described in the feasibility 
study.’’; 
(2) striking in clause (iii), ‘‘the project’’ and in-
serting ‘‘a project described in clause (ii)(I) of sub-
paragraph (A)’’; and 
(3) redesignating clause (ii) and (iii) as clause 
(iii) and (iv), respectively. 
(b) PROJECT PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS.—At the 
request of the Authority, the Bureau shall— 
(1) enter into a project partnership agreement 
with the Authority for the Authority to provide full 
project management control for construction of the 
Sites Project, or a separable element of the project, 
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in accordance with plans approved by the Secretary; 
and 
(2) following execution of the project partner-
ship agreement, transfer to the Authority interest to 
carry out construction of the project, or a separable 
element of the project— 
(A) if applicable, the balance of the unobli-
gated amounts appropriated for the Sites 
Project, except that the Secretary shall retain 
sufficient amounts for the Bureau to carry out 
any responsibilities of the Bureau relating to 
the project; and 
(B) additional amounts, as determined by 
the Secretary, from amounts made available to 
the Secretary, except that the total amount 
transferred to the non-Federal interest shall not 
exceed the updated estimate of the Federal 
share of the cost of construction, including any 
required design. 
(c) DETAILED PROJECT SCHEDULE.—Not later than 
180 days after entering into a Project Partnership agree-
ment, the Authority, to the maximum extent practicable, 
shall submit to the Secretary a detailed project schedule, 
based on estimated funding levels, that lists all deadlines 
for each milestone in the construction of the project. 
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(d) ADMINISTRATION.—All laws and regulations that 
would apply to the Secretary if the Secretary were car-
rying out the project shall apply to Authority, if the Au-
thority enters into an agreement with the Secretary to 
carry out the project under this section. 
SEC. 6. NON-FEDERAL PROJECT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—At any time, notwithstanding any 
other provision of this Act, if the Commissioner deter-
mines and the Secretary concurs, that the Sites Project 
can be expedited by the Authority as a non-Federal 
project, and that there is a demonstrable Federal interest 
for the Sites Project to be constructed and operated as 
a non-Federal project, the Bureau is authorized and di-
rected to take any and all actions possible to advance the 
Sites Project as a non-Federal project, including, but not 
limited to, entering into cost-shared financial assistance 
agreements with the Authority to support construction of 
the Sites Project as a non-Federal project. 
(b) TITLE; OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.—The 
Authority shall hold title to all facilities constructed under 
this section, and shall be solely responsible for the oper-
ation and maintenance costs of such facilities. 
(c) FEDERAL REVIEWS AND PERMITS.—The Bureau 
shall be the lead Federal agency for the purposes of all 
Federal reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, 
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licenses, or other approvals or decisions required under 
Federal law to allow the Authority to construct the Sites 
Project as a non-Federal project. 
(d) COORDINATED OPERATIONS.—The Secretary of 
the Interior is authorized and directed to execute and im-
plement a long-term agreement between the United States 
of America and the Authority that shall provide for the 
coordination of operations of the Central Valley Project 
and the Sites Project to— 
(1) satisfy any contracts entered into in sub-
section (e) of this Act; 
(2) help meet any unmet needs for Sacramento 
Valley in-basin water uses; 
(3) help meet any unmet needs of existing Cen-
tral Valley Project repayment and water service con-
tracts; and 
(4) ensure that any surplus water supplies from 
the Sites Project are put to full and beneficial use. 
(e) CONTRACTS.—The Secretary is authorized to 
enter into long-term contracts with the Authority to ac-
quire water supplies made available from the Sites Project 
for the purposes of meeting the requirements section 
3406(b)(3) and section 3408(j) of Public Law 102–575, 
the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, and such 
other purposes as the Secretary may deem appropriate. 
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SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING. 
With respect to the Sites Project, the Bureau shall— 
(1) be the lead Federal agency for the purposes 
of all Federal reviews, analyses, opinions, state-
ments, permits, licenses, or other approvals or deci-
sions required under Federal law to allow either the 
Bureau or the Authority to construct the Sites 
Project, including all requirements under— 
(A) the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 
(B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 
(C) any other Federal law applicable to the 
construction of the Sites Project facilities by 
the Bureau or the Authority; and 
(2) take such steps as are necessary to ensure 
that all Federal reviews, analyses, opinions, state-
ments, permits, licenses, or other approvals or deci-
sions required under Federal law to allow either the 
Bureau or the Authority to construct the Sites 
Project are completed on an expeditious basis and 
utilize the shortest applicable process. 
SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS. 
Nothing in this Act modifies or alters any obligations 
under— 
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(1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or 
(2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
SEC. 9. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt any 
existing State law, including but not limited to area of 
origin and other water rights protections. 
Æ 
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