WATER for California

IB Union Calendar No. 751 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 215 [Report No. 118–919] To provide long-term water supply and regulatory reliability to drought- stricken California, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2023 Mr. VALADAO (for himself, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California, Mr. ISSA, Mr. KILEY, Mrs. KIM of Cali- fornia, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. OBERNOLTE, and Mrs. STEEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 18, 2024 Additional sponsor: Mr. FONG DECEMBER 18, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 9, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 215 RH A BILL To provide long-term water supply and regulatory reliability to drought-stricken California, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 215 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Working to Advance 4 Tangible and Effective Reforms for California Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘WATER for California Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Definitions. TITLE I—CVP AND SWP OPERATIONS Sec. 101. Operation of the CVP and SWP. Sec. 102. Operations and reviews. Sec. 103. Application of State laws. Sec. 104. Reconsultation of NOAA biological opinion and FWS biological opin- ion. Sec. 105. Sunset. Sec. 106. Consultation on coordinated operations. TITLE II—ALLOCATIONS FOR SACRAMENTO VALLEY CONTRACTORS Sec. 201. Definitions. Sec. 202. Allocations of water. Sec. 203. Protection of refuge, municipal and industrial, and other contractors. Sec. 204. Other contractors. TITLE III—INFRASTRUCTURE Sec. 301. Shasta reservoir enlargement project. Sec. 302. Water supply plan; projects. Sec. 303. Conservation fish hatcheries. Sec. 304. Storage; duration. Sec. 305. Shasta dam enlargement. TITLE IV—CVPIA ACTIONS Sec. 401. CVPIA restoration actions. TITLE V—WATER SUPPLY PERMITTING COORDINATION ACT Sec. 501. Short title. Sec. 502. Definitions. Sec. 503. Establishment of lead agency and cooperating agencies. Sec. 504. Bureau responsibilities. VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6213 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 215 RH Sec. 505. Cooperating agency responsibilities. Sec. 506. Funding to process permits. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 2 (1) CVP.—The term ‘‘CVP’’ means the Central 3 Valley Project. 4 (2) CVP CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘CVP con- 5 tractor’’ means any public water agency, water user 6 organization, or person that has entered into a con- 7 tract with the United States for water service from 8 the CVP, whether in the form of a water service con- 9 tract, repayment contract, water rights settlement 10 contract, exchange contract, or refuge contract. 11 (3) FWS BIOLOGICAL OPINION.—The term ‘‘FWS 12 Biological Opinion’’ means the United States Fish 13 and Wildlife Service ‘‘Biological Opinion for the Re- 14 initiation of Consultation on the Coordinated Oper- 15 ations of the Central Valley Project and State Water 16 Project’’ (Service File No. 08FBTD00–2019–F–0164) 17 signed on October 21, 2019. 18 (4) NOAA BIOLOGICAL OPINION.—The term 19 ‘‘NOAA Biological Opinion’’ means the National Oce- 20 anic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries ‘‘Bio- 21 logical Opinion on the Long-term Operation of the 22 Central Valley Project and the State Water Project’’ 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 215 RH (Consultation Tracking Number: WCRO–2016–00069) 1 signed on October 21, 2019. 2 (5) PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.—The term ‘‘Pre- 3 ferred Alternative’’ means the Alternative 1 (Preferred 4 Alternative), as described in the Final Environmental 5 Impact Statement on the Reinitiation of Consultation 6 on the Coordinated Long-Term Operation of the Cen- 7 tral Valley Project and the State Water Project, 8 issued by the Bureau of Reclamation, and dated De- 9 cember 2019. 10 (6) SWP.—The term ‘‘SWP’’ means the Cali- 11 fornia State Water Project. 12 (7) SWP CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘‘SWP con- 13 tractor’’ means a public agency that has entered into 14 a long-term water supply contract with the California 15 Department of Water Resources for water service from 16 the SWP. 17 TITLE I—CVP AND SWP 18 OPERATIONS 19 SEC. 101. OPERATION OF THE CVP AND SWP. 20 (a) CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTION REGARDING CVP AND 21 SWP OPERATIONS.—The CVP and the SWP shall be oper- 22 ated, and reporting shall be done, in accordance with the 23 Preferred Alternative and FWS Biological Opinion and 24 NOAA Biological Opinion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 215 RH (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Operation of the CVP and SWP 1 shall proceed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, ex- 2 cept: 3 (1) to the extent changes to operations are under- 4 taken pursuant to one or more agreements, which are 5 voluntarily entered into, approved, and implemented 6 by CVP contractors, for operations of the CVP, and 7 SWP contractors, for operations of the SWP, with all 8 applicable Federal departments and the State of Cali- 9 fornia, including any agency or board of the State of 10 California; or 11 (2) to the extent changes in operations of the 12 CVP, SWP, or both can be made while improving the 13 supply of water available to CVP contractors, SWP 14 contractors, or both. 15 (c) COSTS.—No cost, including water supply, finan- 16 cial, mintigation-related, or otherwise, associated with the 17 implementation of any agreement under subsection (b)(1) 18 or the implementation of any reoperation under subsection 19 (b)(2) shall be imposed by any Federal department or agen- 20 cy or the State of California, including any agency or board 21 of the State of California, directly or indirectly on any CVP 22 contractor, SWP contractor, or any other person or entity, 23 unless such costs are incurred on a voluntary basis. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 215 RH (d) NO REDIRECTED ADVERSE IMPACTS.—The Sec- 1 retary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce shall not 2 carry out any specific action authorized under the applica- 3 ble provisions of this title that would directly or through 4 State agency action indirectly result in the involuntary re- 5 duction of water supply to an individual, district, or agen- 6 cy that has in effect a contract for water with the SWP 7 or the CVP, including settlement, exchange, and refuge con- 8 tracts, and Friant Division contracts. 9 (e) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—Notwithstanding 10 subsection (b), implementation of subsection (a) shall not 11 conflict with the FWS Biological Opinion and the NOAA 12 Biological Opinion. 13 (f) NATIVE SPECIES PROTECTION.—The State of Cali- 14 fornia shall not impose any bag, catch, or size restriction 15 or limit on the take or harvest of striped bass or any species 16 of black bass, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, 17 and spotted bass, that occupy the Sacramento-San Joaquin 18 Rivers Delta or its tributaries. 19 SEC. 102. OPERATIONS AND REVIEWS. 20 In carrying out section 101(a), the Secretary of the 21 Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall implement 22 their statutory authorities in a manner that improves water 23 supply reliability and enables the CVP and SWP to provide 24 the maximum quantity of water supplies practicable to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 215 RH CVP agricultural, municipal, and industrial contractors, 1 water service or repayment contractors, water rights settle- 2 ment contractors, exchange contractors, refuge contractors, 3 and SWP contractors, in accordance with the Preferred Al- 4 ternative, NOAA Biological Opinion, and FWS Biological 5 Opinion. 6 SEC. 103. APPLICATION OF STATE LAWS. 7 (a) REDUCED WATER SUPPLY.—If, as a result of the 8 application of applicable State law or regulation, the State 9 of California (including any agency or board of the State 10 of California) alters operation of the SWP in a manner 11 that directly or indirectly results in reduced water supply 12 to the SWP as compared with the water supply available 13 under the Preferred Alternative, and as a result, CVP yield 14 is greater than it otherwise would have been under the Pre- 15 ferred Alternative, then that additional yield shall be made 16 available to the SWP for delivery to SWP Contractors to 17 offset that reduced water supply. If it is necessary to reduce 18 water supplies for any authorized uses of the CVP or CVP 19 Contractors to make available to the SWP that additional 20 yield, such reductions shall be applied proportionately to 21 those authorized uses or CVP contractors that benefit from 22 that increased yield. 23 (b) NO RESTRICTION OF CERTAIN WATER RIGHTS.— 24 The State of California (including any agency or board of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 215 RH the State of California) shall not restrict the exercise of any 1 water right obtained pursuant to State law, including but 2 not limited to a pre-1914 appropriative right or riparian 3 right in order to offset any impact resulting from the imple- 4 mentation of this title on any species affected by operations 5 of the CVP or the SWP. 6 (c) NO INVOLUNTARY WATER REDUCTION.—The State 7 of California (including any agency or board of the State 8 of California), the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary 9 of Commerce shall not take any action related to operation 10 of the CVP or SWP that would directly or indirectly result 11 in the involuntary reduction of water supply to any CVP 12 agricultural, municipal and industrial contractor, water 13 service or repayment contractor, water rights settlement 14 contractor, exchange contractor, refuge contractor or any 15 SWP contractor, as compared to the water supply available 16 under the Preferred Alternative; and nothing in this section 17 is intended to modify, amend, or affect any of the rights 18 and obligations of the parties to such contracts. 19 SEC. 104. RECONSULTATION OF NOAA BIOLOGICAL OPIN- 20 ION AND FWS BIOLOGICAL OPINION. 21 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR RECONSULTATION.— 22 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Unless action is taken pur- 23 suant to section 101(b), neither the Secretary of the 24 Interior, acting through the Commissioner of the Bu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 215 RH reau of Reclamation, nor the Secretary of Commerce, 1 or their designees shall commence, complete, or request 2 reinitiation of consultation on the coordinated long- 3 term operation of the Central Valley Project and the 4 State Water Project that will result in changes to or 5 the replacement of the documents listed in paragraph 6 (2) unless— 7 (A) more than 75 percent of California has 8 experienced 4 consecutive years of D3 or D4 level 9 drought, as defined by the U.S. Drought Monitor; 10 (B) the Commissioner of the Bureau of Rec- 11 lamation identifies one specific factor or com- 12 bination of factors under section 402.16 of title 13 50, Code of Federal Regulations; and 14 (C) not fewer than 120 days before officially 15 commencing or requesting reinitiation, the Sec- 16 retary of the Interior notifies the Committee on 17 Natural Resources of the House of Representa- 18 tives and Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 19 sources of the Senate, in writing, of— 20 (i) the intent to commence or request 21 reinitiation under this section; and 22 (ii) the detailed justification for the 23 identification of the specific factor or com- 24 bination of factors under section 402.16 of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 215 RH title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, that 1 was identified to satisfy the requirement in 2 subparagraph (B). 3 (2) DOCUMENTS.—The documents referred to in 4 paragraph (1) are the following: 5 (A) The FWS Biological Opinion. 6 (B) The NOAA Biological Opinion. 7 (C) The Record of Decision for the Reiniti- 8 ation of Consultation on the Coordinated Long- 9 Term Modified Operations of the Central Valley 10 Project and State Water Project, signed on Feb- 11 ruary 18, 2020. 12 (b) APPLICABLE PROCEDURES AND REVIEW.—For the 13 purposes of this Act, before reinitiating consultation on the 14 Long-Term Operation of the CVP and SWP, a request by 15 the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Commerce, 16 or any other Federal employee, to reinitiate consultation 17 shall be made in writing and considered a rule under sec- 18 tion 551 of title 5, United States Code, and subject to the 19 requirements of sections 801 through 808 of that title. 20 (c) COOPERATION.—In implementing this section, the 21 Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce 22 shall comply with requirements included in section 4004 23 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation 24 Act (Public Law 114–322). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H215.RH H215 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 215 RH (d) EXCLUSION.—Notwithstanding subsection (b), in 1 implementing this section, section 801(b)(2) of title 5, 2 United States Code, shall not apply. 3 SEC. 105. SUNSET. 4 Sections 101 through 104 shall have no force or effect 5 on and after the date that is 7 years after the date of the 6 enactment of this Act. 7 SEC. 106. CONSULTATION ON COORDINATED OPERATIONS. 8 The Water Infrastructure I [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]