A bill to provide for a memorandum of understanding to address the impacts of a certain record of decision on the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund.

Bill: 118-s-5000
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2024-09-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Arizona
California
Dams and canals
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Fishes
Government trust funds
Lakes and rivers
Nevada
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2024-12-18
text: 
This bill directs the Bureau of Reclamation and the Western Area Power Administration, in consultation with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group, to enter into a memorandum of understanding to explore and address the potential impact that the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan (LTEMP) has on the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund. The memorandum of understanding must include a plan to (1) explore and address the effects that the decision may have on the contents of the fund, (2) analyze and address the long-term impact that the decision may have on hydropower production at Glen Canyon Dam, and (3) protect the Colorado River Basin and any threatened or endangered species in the basin from the effects of invasive species and sustained drought.

By way of background, Reclamation published the SEIS under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the LTEMP in 2024. The SEIS revises the 2016 LTEMP Record of Decision to address two issues: (1) responding to the threat of the invasive smallmouth bass below Glen Canyon Dam, and (2) incorporating the latest sediment science to assess when high-flow experiments should be conducted in order to protect the endangered humpback chub.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2024-12-19
text: Held at the desk.
action_date: 2024-12-19
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2024-12-19
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2024-12-18
text: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S7166; text: CR S7167)
action_date: 2024-12-18
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2024-11-21
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 639.
action_date: 2024-11-21
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. Without written report.
action_date: 2024-11-21
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. Without written report.
action_date: 2024-11-19
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2024-09-11
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held.
action_date: 2024-09-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2024-09-10
text: Introduced in Senate