Bill 110-S-1751 — Government Operations / General
Subject: Water resources development

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2008 - Title I: Corps of Engineers-Civil - Makes FY2008 appropriations for: (1) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for civil functions pertaining to rivers and harbors, flood and storm damage reduction, and aquatic ecosystem restoration; (2) general investigations and construction (including rescissions of funds); (3) flood damage reduction for the Mississippi River alluvial valley below Cape Girardeau, Missouri; (4) operation, maintenance, and administration of laws pertaining to regulation of navigable waters and wetlands; (5) clean up of contamination from sites resulting from work performed as part of the early atomic energy program; (6) flood control, hurricane, and natural disasters emergency operations; (7) general administration and related civil works functions in the headquarters of the Corps; and (8) the Office of Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works). (Sec. 102) Prohibits expenditure of funds under this Act for the following activities: (1) certain competitive sourcing actions for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; (2) divestment or transfer of Civil Works missions, functions, or responsibilities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to other government agencies without specific direction in a subsequent Act of Congress; (3) closure or removal of the St. Georges Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway, Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland; and (4) a water reallocation project or component under the Wolf Creek Project, Lake Cumberland, Kentucky. (Sec. 107) Modifies the project for flood control at Milton, West Virginia, to authorize its construction substantially in accordance with a certain draft report of the Corps of Engineers, at certain estimated costs. (Sec. 108) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army (the Secretary in this title) to: (1) construct a new Environmental Laboratory and improvements to the Information Technology Laboratory at the Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi; and (2) enter into cooperative agreements with any Indian Tribe whose lands are located in New Mexico and occupied by a flood control project owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers, to assist in carrying out associated operation and maintenance activities. (Sec. 110) Directs the Secretary to credit toward the nonfederal share of the cost of the Rio Grande Basin Watershed Study, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, the cost of in-kind services contributed by the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission for the Study up to the full amount of the required nonfederal share. (Sec. 111) Amends the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2006, to modify the authority of the Secretary regarding compliance with the 2003 Biological Opinion, and to authorize planning studies, watershed surveys and assessments, or technical studies at 100% federal expense. Authorizes the Secretary to provide planning and administrative assistance to the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program, which shall not be subject to cost sharing requirements with nonfederal interests. (Sec. 112) Prohibits expenditure of funds for an the update of disputed water control manuals for: (1) the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Rivers without the approval of the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia; (2) the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Rivers without the approval of the states of Alabama and Georgia; or (3) until such time as all legal proceedings in relation to the water use disputes are concluded and all appeals exhausted. (Sec. 113) Authorizes the Secretary to construct, at specified costs, a project for flood damage reduction, Rio de Flag, Flagstaff, Arizona. (Sec. 114) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 to double the funding for avian predation management on the Columbia/Snake River System native fishes. (Sec. 115) Modifies funding for California projects for flood control located at: (1) Santa Ana River Mainstem, including Santiago Creek; and (2) Upper Guadalupe River. (Sec. 117) Directs the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to convey, at no cost, lands to Tate County School District, Tate County, Mississippi, including the transfer of any real property interests, not to exceed 50 acres, at Arkabutla Lake deemed available by the Army that is located adjacent to school district property in the vicinity of State Highway 306 west of Coldwater, Mississippi. (Sec. 118) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 to add North Dakota to a program providing federal environmental assistance to nonfederal interests. (Sec. 119) Instructs the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to: (1) conduct preconstruction engineering and design activities at full federal expense for the Kahuku Storm Damage Reduction Project, Oahu, Hawaii; (2) fully utilize the federal dredging fleet in support of all Army Corps of Engineers missions; (3) maintain the federal dredging fleet to technologically modern and efficient standards; and (4) use the revolving fund to undertake necessary health and safety improvements to the dredge "McFarland." (Sec. 123) Authorizes the Secretary to use or transfer certain funds appropriated under the Missouri River Recovery and Mitigation Program for ecosystem restoration. (Sec. 124) Limits to a specified amount the Corps of Engineers share of the total cost for certain authorized water projects and activities. (Sec. 125) Amends the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2006 to repeal the prohibition against commitment of funds for continuing contracts if they exceed appropriations for the project. (Sec. 126) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 to extend from seven to 12 years the Shore Line Erosion Control Development and Demonstration Program. (Sec. 127) Requires budget documents and justification materials included in the Corps of Engineers annual budget submission to Congress to be based upon the most recent annual appropriations Act. Requires new budget proposals for FY2008 to be submitted separately from the budget justification documents. (Sec. 128) Instructs the Secretary, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to design and construct a rural health care facility on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation of the Three Affiliated Tribes, North Dakota. (Sec. 129) Amends the Flood Control Act of 1968 to increase from $5 million to $7 million the amount of federal reimbursement to states, including reductions in state contributions, for work performed at an authorized water resource development project. (Sec. 130) Modifies a certain project for flood damage reduction, Johnson Creek, Arlington, Texas, to authorize the Secretary to construct the project in accordance with a specified report at a total cost of $80 million, with an estimated federal cost of $52 million and an estimated nonfederal cost of $28 million. (Sec. 131) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 to increase to $430 million the federal share of costs for McAlpine Lock and Dam, Indiana and Kentucky. Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to reimburse local governments for expenses incurred in storm-proofing pumping stations, constructing safe houses for operators, and other interim flood control measures in and around the New Orleans, Louisiana, metropolitan area. (Sec. 133) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 to direct the Secretary to credit toward the nonfederal share of the project up to $2 million of the costs expended by nonfederal interests for the replacement and reconstruction of the Soquel Avenue Bridge. (Sec. 134) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 to extend until FY2015 the authorization of appropriations for the Missouri and Middle Mississippi Rivers Enhancement Project. (Sec. 135) Modifies flood damage reduction projects at Nogales Wash, and Tucson Drainage Area, Arizona, to authorize the Secretary to construct the projects at specified revised estimated federal cost and nonfederal costs. (Sec. 137) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to revise federal funding requirements for Coronado, California. (Sec. 138) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 to authorize: (1) specified appropriations for rural Utah; and (2) the provision of in-kind services as the local match for funds appropriated for flood plain delineation on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. (Sec. 140) Authorizes the Nature Conservancy to act as the nonfederal interest to carry out the work detailed in a specified agreement executed between the Conservancy and the Department of the Army. (Sec. 141) Declares that the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Dispersal Barriers Projects, Illinois, shall be considered to constitute a single project. Sets forth the duties of the Secretary of the Army for such projects. (Sec. 142) Prohibits the use of appropriated funds by the Secretary of the Army for modification of certain statutory water projects unless they are matched by an equal cost share from the Department of the Interior. (Sec. 143) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to contract with any public or private entity to provide visitor reservation services. (Sec. 144) Modifies the project costs for flood control, Redwood River, Marshall, Minnesota, to authorize the Secretary to construct the project at a total cost of $11.863 million, with specified estimated first federal and first nonfederal costs. (Sec. 145) Declares the project for St. John's Bayou and New Madrid Floodway, Missouri, economically justified and environmentally acceptable. Instructs the Secretary to initiate construction consistent with specified terms and conditions. (Sec. 146) Amends the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 to require inclusion of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control project as an integral element of the comprehensive (100-year) protection system for certain areas of the New Orleans metropolitan area. (Sec. 147) Amends the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 to authorize funds for shore protection restoration projects in New Jersey damaged by the same meteorological events that resulted in Presidential Disaster Declaration FEMA-1694-DR. Title II: Department of the Interior - Makes FY2008 appropriations for: (1) the Central Utah Project Completion Account; (2) the Bureau of Reclamation for management, development, and restoration of water and related natural resources; (3) the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund; (6) California Bay-Delta restoration; and (7) policy and administration in the Office of the Commissioner, the Denver office, and offices in the five regions of the Bureau of Reclamation. (Sec. 201) Prohibits the use of funds to determine the final point of discharge for the interceptor drain for the San Luis Unit until development by the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary in this title) and the state of California of a plan, conforming to California water quality standards, to minimize any detrimental effect of the San Luis drainage waters. States that costs of the Kesterson Reservoir Cleanup Program and the San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program shall be classified as reimbursable or nonreimbursable and collected until fully repaid. Declares future U.S. obligations relating to drainage for the San Luis Unit fully reimbursable by Unit beneficiaries. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the use of funds to pay salaries and expenses of personnel to purchase or lease water in the Middle Rio Grande, or the Carlsbad Projects in New Mexico, unless such purchase or lease complies with certain statutory requirements. (Sec. 203) Requires funds scheduled for Drought Emergency Assistance to be made available primarily for the leasing of water for specified drought-related purposes from willing lessors and administered under state water priority allocation. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, to enter into agreements to fund up to 50% of water conservation measures with irrigation or water districts and states, including water use efficiency, or enhanced water management. (Sec. 205) Amends the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2004 to: (1) repeal the Endangered Species Collaborative Program; and (2) require the Secretary to establish an Executive Committee of the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program. (Sec. 206) Directs the Secretary to continue to participate in implementation of the Project at Las Vegas Wash and Lake Mead. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants to the Southern Nevada Water Authority to implement the Project. (Sec. 207) Directs the Secretary to provide grants, to be divided equally, to the states of Nevada and California, the Federal Watermaster, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to implement the Truckee River Settlement Act. (Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to provide funds under the Farm and Rural Investment Act of 2002 for various specified projects, including: (1) removal of the Numana Dam and other irrigation structures located on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation; (2) Derby Dam Fish Screen and Ladder; and (3) construction of specified Lower Truckee Restoration Projects. (Sec. 209) Amends the Mni Wiconi Project Act of 1988 to extend from 2008 to 2013 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the Oglala Sioux Rural Water Supply System; (2) the West River Rural Water System; and (3) the Lyman-Jones Rural Water System. (Sec. 210) Amends the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2004 to require the Secretary to enter into an agreement with New Mexico State University for activities at the Tularosa Basin National Desalination Research Facility. (Sec. 211) Requires the Secretary to report to certain congressional committees before the unilateral termination or removal of cabin or trailer sites on Bureau of Reclamation lands in North Dakota for the purpose of changing land use. (Sec. 212) Amends the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to increase the authorization of appropriations for irrigation within certain boundaries of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Title III: Department of Energy - Makes FY2008 appropriations to the Department of Energy (DOE) for: (1) energy efficiency and renewable energy; (2) electricity delivery and energy reliability; (3) nuclear energy; (4) legacy management; (5) clean coal technology; (6) fossil energy research and development; (7) naval petroleum and oil shale reserves; (8) the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; (9) the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve; (10) the Energy Information Administration; (11) non-defense environmental cleanup; (12) the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund; (13) science activities; (14) nuclear waste disposal; (15) the Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee program; (16) departmental administration; and (17) the Office of Inspector General. Makes FY2008 appropriations for activities pertaining to: (1) weapons activities of the National Nuclear Security Administration; (2) defense nuclear nonproliferation; (3) naval reactors; (4) the Office of the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; (5) defense environmental cleanup; and (6) defense nuclear waste disposal. Approves specified expenditures from the Bonneville Power Administration Fund for fisheries and designated fish hatcheries. Makes FY2008 appropriations for operation and maintenance of: (1) the Southeastern, Southwestern, and Western Area Power Administrations; (2) the Falcon and Amistad Dams; and (3) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). (Sec. 301) Prohibits the use of FY2008 funds to make payments for a noncompetitive management and operating contract unless the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary under this title) has taken specified steps to use competitive procedures for the award of the contract, or to not renew the contract, when the term of the contract expires. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the use of appropriations under this Act to: (1) develop or implement a workforce restructuring plan that covers DOE employees; (2) provide certain enhanced statutory severance benefits for DOE employees; or (3) augment certain funds made available for obligation by this Act for severance benefits and community assistance grants under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993, unless DOE submits a reprogramming request to congressional committees. (Sec. 304) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to prepare or initiate requests for proposals for unfunded programs. (Sec. 306) Prohibits the use of Bonneville Power Administration funds for any agreement to perform energy efficiency services outside the legally defined Bonneville service territory, with the exception of services provided internationally, including services provided on a reimbursable basis, unless the Administrator certifies in advance that such services are not available from private sector businesses. (Sec. 307) Requires DOE: (1) when it makes a user facility available to universities or other potential users, or seeks their input on significant user facility characteristics or equipment, to ensure broad public notice of such availability or input need; and (2) to employ full and open competition in selecting a potential user as a formal partner in the establishment or operation of a user facility.(Sec. 308) Deems any funds appropriated by this or any other Act, or made available by the transfer of funds in this Act, for intelligence activities to be specifically authorized by Congress for purposes of the National Security Act of 1947 during FY2008, until the enactment of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2008.(Sec. 309) Authorizes the use of specified funds by: (1) government-owned, contractor-operator operated laboratories for laboratory-directed research and development; and (2) the plant manager of a covered nuclear weapons production plant or the manager of the Nevada Site Office for plant or site-directed research and development. (Sec. 310) Requires the Administrators of the Southeastern, Southwestern and the Western Area Power Administrations to use, for FY2008, the "yield" rate in computing interest during construction and interest on the unpaid balance of the costs of federal power facilities. (Sec. 311) States that a specified Use Permit for activities conducted at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory continues in effect during the term of the existing Operating Contract and extensions or renewals shall be incorporated into any future management and operating contract for such Laboratory.. (Sec. 312) Prohibits the use of certain funds during FY2008 for payment on bonds issued by the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, or for an appropriated Federal Columbia River Power investment, if the payment is both: (1) greater than a certain amount; and (2) based or conditioned on the Administrator's actual or expected net secondary power sales receipts. (Sec. 313) Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary to direct that not more than $25 million from specified federal royalties, rents, and bonuses shall be used for land acquisition for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Instructs the Secretary to use not more than $25 million from specified accounts to support the land acquisition of the SPR at Bayou Choctaw, Louisiana, Big Hill, Texas, and Richton, Mississippi, to meet the required one billion barrel capacity. Denies the Secretary authority to begin contracting for filling the new capacity of the SPR, either through means of purchase or royalty-in-kind, until such time as the Secretary certifies construction is complete. Title IV: Independent Agencies - Makes FY2008 appropriations to: (1) the Appalachian Regional Commission; (2) the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board; (3) the Delta Regional Authority; (4) the Denali Commission; (5) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; (6) the Office of Inspector General; (7) the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board; and (8) Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects. Title V: General Provisions - (Sec. 501) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to: (1) influence congressional action on legislation or appropriation matters pending before Congress; or (2) be transferred to any federal department, agency, or instrumentality except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appropriations Act.