Public Water Supply Invasive Species Compliance Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 931 To exempt from the Lacey Act and the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 certain water transfers between any of the States of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Mr. GOHMERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To exempt from the Lacey Act and the Lacey Act Amend- ments of 1981 certain water transfers between any of the States of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Public Water Supply 4 Invasive Species Compliance Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H931.IH H931 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 931 IH SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN WATER TRANSFERS FROM 1 THE LACEY ACT AND THE LACEY ACT AMEND- 2 MENTS OF 1981. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) COVERED WATER TRANSFER.—The term 5 ‘‘covered water transfer’’ means a transfer of water 6 containing a prohibited species between public water 7 supplies located on, along, or across the State 8 boundaries between any of the States of Texas, Ar- 9 kansas, and Louisiana. 10 (2) PROHIBITED SPECIES.—The term ‘‘prohib- 11 ited species’’ means any species— 12 (A) the shipment of which is otherwise 13 prohibited by section 42 of title 18, United 14 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Lacey 15 Act’’); or 16 (B) the transfer of which is otherwise pro- 17 hibited by the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 18 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.). 19 (3) PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY.—The term ‘‘public 20 water supply’’ means any body of water, including 21 any river, lake, or stream, the water of which is 22 available or made available to the public. 23 (b) EXEMPTION.—Section 42 of title 18, United 24 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Lacey Act’’), and 25 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H931.IH H931 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 931 IH seq.) shall not apply with respect to any covered water 1 transfer, if— 2 (1)(A) all prohibited species in the water trans- 3 ferred are located in both of the public water sup- 4 plies between which the water is transferred; 5 (B) the water is transferred directly between 6 those public water supplies; and 7 (C) the water is subject to mitigation measures 8 that are reviewed and approved by the appropriate 9 State agency of the State to which the water is 10 being transferred, including— 11 (i) chemically treating the water for sus- 12 pected or known prohibited species; 13 (ii) limiting transfers to certain times; 14 (iii) withdrawing water only from certain 15 depths; 16 (iv) filtration; and 17 (v) enhanced monitoring; or 18 (2) the water is transferred in a closed convey- 19 ance system directly to treatment facilities where all 20 prohibited species contained in the water transferred 21 will be extirpated. 22 (c) NOTIFICATION.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the first covered 24 water transfer described in subsection (b)(1) occurs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H931.IH H931 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 931 IH in a calendar year and subject to paragraph (2), the 1 controlling authority of the public water supply from 2 which the water is to be transferred (referred to in 3 this subsection as the ‘‘donor public water supply’’) 4 shall submit to the controlling authority of the pub- 5 lic water supply to which the water is to be trans- 6 ferred (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘recipi- 7 ent public water supply’’) a written notification that 8 includes— 9 (A) the expected dates of the covered water 10 transfer; 11 (B) the volume of water to be transferred, 12 which may include a range of possible volumes 13 of water that may be transferred; 14 (C) a list of known prohibited species that 15 are contained in the donor public water supply; 16 (D) a certification that the known prohib- 17 ited species described in subparagraph (C) are 18 present in both the donor public water supply 19 and the recipient public water supply; and 20 (E) a notice of other known species 21 present in the donor public water supply that 22 may be of concern to the controlling authority 23 of the recipient public water supply, including 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H931.IH H931 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 931 IH species that are not prohibited by the laws re- 1 ferred to in subsection (b). 2 (2) ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION.—In addition to 3 the notification required under paragraph (1), the 4 controlling authority of the donor public water sup- 5 ply shall provide to the controlling authority of the 6 recipient public water supply a notification described 7 in that paragraph if the controlling authority of the 8 donor public water supply discovers a new prohibited 9 species in the donor public water supply. 10 (d) COSTS OF MITIGATION MEASURES.—The costs of 11 the mitigation measures described in subparagraph (C) of 12 subsection (b)(1) for water subject to a covered water 13 transfer described in that subsection shall be borne by the 14 entity that sells the water for financial gain. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Mar 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H931.IH H931 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS