Western Water Security Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1679 To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from conditioning any permit, lease, or other use agreement on the transfer of any water right to the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2021 Mrs. BOEBERT (for herself, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BUCK, Mr. ESTES, Mr. FULCHER, Mr. GOSAR, Ms. HERRELL, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. LAM- BORN, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MOORE of Utah, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. SIMPSON, and Mr. STEWART) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from conditioning any permit, lease, or other use agreement on the transfer of any water right to the United States, 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 ‘‘Western Water Secu- 4 rity Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1679.IH H1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1679 IH SEC. 2. POLICY DEVELOPMENT. 1 When developing any rule, policy, directive, manage- 2 ment plan, or similar Federal action relating to the 3 issuance, renewal, amendment, or extension of any permit, 4 approval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, 5 or other land use or occupancy agreement, the Secretary— 6 (1) shall— 7 (A) recognize the longstanding authority of 8 the States relating to evaluating, protecting, al- 9 locating, regulating, permitting, and adjudi- 10 cating water use; and 11 (B) coordinate with the States to ensure 12 that any rule, policy, directive, management 13 plan, or similar Federal action is consistent 14 with, and imposes no greater restriction or reg- 15 ulatory requirement, than applicable State 16 water law; and 17 (2) shall not— 18 (A) assert any connection between surface 19 and groundwater that is inconsistent with such 20 a connection recognized by State water law; or 21 (B) take any action that adversely affects 22 the authority of a State in permitting the bene- 23 ficial use of water, adjudicating water rights, 24 definitions established by a State with respect 25 to the term ‘‘beneficial use’’, ‘‘priority of water 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1679.IH H1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1679 IH rights’’, or ‘‘terms of use’’, or any other rights 1 or obligations of a State established under 2 State law. 3 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF WATER RIGHTS. 4 The Secretary shall not— 5 (1) condition the issuance, renewal, amendment, 6 or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, 7 allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use 8 or occupancy agreement on the transfer of any water 9 right (including joint and sole ownership) directly or 10 indirectly to the United States, or on any impair- 11 ment of title or interest, in whole or in part, granted 12 or otherwise recognized under State law, by Federal 13 or State adjudication, decree, or other judgment, or 14 pursuant to any interstate water compact; or 15 (2) require any water user (including any feder- 16 ally recognized Indian Tribe) to apply for or acquire 17 a water right in the name of the United States 18 under State law as a condition of the issuance, re- 19 newal, amendment, or extension of any permit, ap- 20 proval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of- 21 way, or other land use or occupancy agreement. 22 SEC. 4. EFFECT. 23 (a) EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act lim- 24 its or expands any existing legally recognized authority of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1679.IH H1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1679 IH the Secretary to issue, grant, or condition any permit, ap- 1 proval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or 2 other land use or occupancy agreement on Federal land 3 that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary. 4 (b) RECLAMATION CONTRACTS.—Nothing in this Act 5 in any way interferes with any existing or future Bureau 6 of Reclamation contract entered into pursuant to Federal 7 reclamation law (the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, 8 chapter 1093), and Acts supplemental to and amendatory 9 of that Act). 10 (c) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—Nothing in this 11 Act affects the implementation of the Endangered Species 12 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 13 (d) FEDERAL RESERVED WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing 14 in this Act limits or expands any existing and future re- 15 served water rights of the Federal Government on land 16 administered by the Secretary. 17 (e) FEDERAL POWER ACT.—Nothing in this Act lim- 18 its or expands authorities pursuant to section 4(e), 10(j), 19 or 18 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 797(e), 803(j), 20 811). 21 (f) INDIAN WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act 22 limits or expands any existing and future reserved water 23 right or treaty right of any federally recognized Indian 24 Tribe. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1679.IH H1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1679 IH (g) FEDERALLY HELD STATE WATER RIGHTS.— 1 Nothing in this Act limits the ability of the Secretary, 2 through applicable State procedures, to acquire, use, en- 3 force, or protect a State water right owned by the United 4 States. 5 (h) INTERSTATE COMPACTS.—Nothing in this Act ef- 6 fects the allocations contained in, or limitations and re- 7 quirements of, any interstate water compact or Supreme 8 Court decree interpreting or enforcing the same. 9 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 10 In this Act: 11 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 12 means, as applicable— 13 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; or 14 (B) the Secretary of the Interior. 15 (2) WATER RIGHT.—The term ‘‘water right’’— 16 (A) means any surface, groundwater, or 17 storage use filed, permitted, certificated, con- 18 firmed, decreed, adjudicated, or otherwise rec- 19 ognized by a judicial proceeding or by the State 20 in which the user acquires possession of the 21 water or puts it to beneficial use; and 22 (B) includes water rights of federally rec- 23 ognized Indian Tribes. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:03 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1679.IH H1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS