Canal Conveyance Capacity Restoration Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2552 To provide financial assistance for projects to address certain subsidence impacts in the State of California, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. COSTA (for himself, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Mr. HARDER of California) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat- ural Resources A BILL To provide financial assistance for projects to address certain subsidence impacts in the State of California, 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 ‘‘Canal Conveyance Ca- 4 pacity Restoration Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2552 IH (1) to address severe subsidence impacts that 1 have substantially reduced the carrying capacity of 2 the water delivery system of the State; and 3 (2) to provide additional water supply in the 4 State at a relatively low cost per acre-foot to in- 5 crease— 6 (A) resiliency to increasingly severe 7 droughts in the State; 8 (B) groundwater recharge needed to assist 9 in meeting groundwater sustainability goals es- 10 tablished under State law; and 11 (C) the reliability of surface or ground- 12 water supplies, portions of which serve dis- 13 advantaged communities. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this Act: 16 (1) FEDERAL POOL.—The term ‘‘Federal pool’’ 17 means each of pools 13 through 21 of the San Luis 18 Canal/California Aqueduct, which are owned by the 19 United States and operated by the California De- 20 partment of Water Resources under the agreement 21 entitled ‘‘Agreement Between the United States of 22 America and the Department of Water Resources of 23 the State of California for the Construction and Op- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2552 IH eration of the Joint-Use Facilities of the San Luis 1 Unit’’ and dated December 30, 1961. 2 (2) NET PRESENT VALUE OF THE LOCAL CON- 3 TRIBUTION TO REIMBURSABLE FEDERAL FUND- 4 ING.—The term ‘‘net present value of the local con- 5 tribution to reimbursable Federal funding’’ means, 6 with respect to a project, the amount equal to the 7 difference between— 8 (A) the total amount of reimbursable Fed- 9 eral funds made available for a project; and 10 (B) the amount of the present value, as of 11 the date of the calculation, of any interest sub- 12 sidy provided through the repayment terms to 13 the Treasury over similarly structured munic- 14 ipal bond financing available to the non-Federal 15 entity on the disbursement of the reimbursable 16 Federal funds for the project. 17 (3) NON-FEDERAL POOL.—The term ‘‘non-Fed- 18 eral pool’’ means each of pools 22 through 40 of the 19 California Aqueduct, which are owned by the State 20 and operated by the California Department of Water 21 Resources. 22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 24 Commissioner of Reclamation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2552 IH (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 1 of California. 2 SEC. 4. FRIANT-KERN CANAL AND DELTA-MENDOTA CANAL 3 SUBSIDENCE MITIGATION PROJECTS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide finan- 5 cial assistance for the design, planning, and construction 6 of— 7 (1) Federal facility improvements to the Friant 8 Division, Central Valley Project, California, under 9 section 10201(a)(1) of the San Joaquin River Res- 10 toration Settlement Act (Public Law 111–11; 123 11 Stat. 1365); and 12 (2) a project to restore conveyance capacity at, 13 and to mitigate subsidence-related impacts on, the 14 Delta-Mendota Canal, through a partnership with— 15 (A) a public water agency that contracts 16 for the delivery of Central Valley Project water; 17 or 18 (B) a local joint powers authority formed 19 under State law by public water agencies that 20 contract for the delivery of Central Valley 21 Project water. 22 (b) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 23 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 24 the cost of carrying out a project under subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2552 IH (a) shall be not more than 33 percent of the total 1 cost of the project, including amounts contributed 2 after October 1, 2018. 3 (2) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non- 4 Federal share of the cost of carrying out a project 5 under subsection (a) may be provided in the form of 6 cash or in-kind contributions, including the net 7 present value of the local contribution to the reim- 8 bursable Federal funding for the project after Octo- 9 ber 1, 2018. 10 (c) REQUIRED DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.— 11 Federal funds shall not be made available under this Act 12 for a project under subsection (a) unless the Secretary de- 13 termines that— 14 (1) there is an adequate non-Federal cost share 15 to match the total amount of federally appropriated 16 financial assistance made available for the project as 17 of the date of the determination of the Secretary; 18 and 19 (2) the project is designed in a manner— 20 (A) to satisfy the purposes described in 21 section 2, after taking into account anticipated 22 future subsidence; and 23 (B) to comply with all applicable require- 24 ments of Federal and State law, including part 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2552 IH 2.74 of division 6 of the California Water Code 1 (commonly known as the ‘‘California Sustain- 2 able Groundwater Management Act’’). 3 SEC. 5. CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT SUBSIDENCE MITIGATION 4 PROJECT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide finan- 6 cial assistance for the design, planning, and construction 7 of projects to restore conveyance capacity at, and to miti- 8 gate subsidence-related impacts on, the Federal pool and 9 non-Federal pool. 10 (b) NON-FEDERAL PARTNERS.—To carry out this 11 section, the Secretary may enter into partnerships with— 12 (1) the State; or 13 (2) a local joint powers authority formed under 14 State law by public water agencies that contract for 15 delivery of water from the Central Valley Project or 16 the State Water Project. 17 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 18 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 19 the cost of carrying out a project under subsection 20 (a) shall be not more than 33 percent of the total 21 cost of the project, including any amounts expended 22 by the State for subsidence repairs in the Federal 23 pool and non-Federal pool for the project after Octo- 24 ber 1, 2018. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2552 IH (2) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non- 1 Federal share of the cost of a project provided finan- 2 cial assistance under subsection (a) may be in the 3 form of cash or in-kind contributions. 4 (d) REQUIRED DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.— 5 Federal funds shall not be made available under this Act 6 for a project under subsection (a) unless the Secretary de- 7 termines, with the concurrence of the Governor of the 8 State, that— 9 (1) there is an adequate non-Federal cost share 10 to match the total amount of federally appropriated 11 financial assistance made available for the project as 12 of the date of the determination of the Secretary; 13 and 14 (2) the project is designed in a manner— 15 (A) to satisfy the purposes described in 16 section 2, after taking into account anticipated 17 future subsidence; and 18 (B) to comply with all applicable require- 19 ments of Federal and State law, including part 20 2.74 of division 6 of the California Water Code 21 (commonly known as the ‘‘California Sustain- 22 able Groundwater Management Act’’). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2552 IH SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE. 1 In carrying out a project under this Act, the Sec- 2 retary shall comply with applicable environmental laws, in- 3 cluding— 4 (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 5 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 6 (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 7 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 8 (3) applicable State law. 9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 11 priated to the Secretary, as adjusted annually to reflect 12 changes since March 2021 in the Bureau of Reclamation 13 Construction Cost Trends Index applicable to the types 14 of construction involved— 15 (1) $180,000,000 to carry out section 4(a)(1), 16 consistent with, and in addition to funding author- 17 ized under, section 10203(c) of the San Joaquin 18 River Restoration Settlement Act (Public Law 111– 19 11; 123 Stat. 1367); 20 (2) $183,900,000 to carry out section 4(a)(2); 21 (3) $194,000,000 to pay the Federal share for 22 the Federal pool under section 5; 23 (4) $95,500,000 to pay the Federal share for 24 the non-Federal pool under section 5; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2552 IH (5) $180,000,000 to implement the Restoration 1 Goal of the settlement described in section 10004 of 2 the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act 3 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 1350), in addition to 4 the funding authorized under section 10009 of that 5 Act. 6 (b) LIMITATIONS.—Amounts made available under 7 subsection (a) may not be used— 8 (1) to build new surface storage; 9 (2) to raise existing reservoirs; or 10 (3) to enlarge the carrying capacity of a canal 11 constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation, except 12 for a temporary increase in carrying capacity that is 13 intended— 14 (A) to mitigate anticipated future subsid- 15 ence; and 16 (B) to avoid an increase in carrying capac- 17 ity that would otherwise be required on the oc- 18 currence of anticipated future subsidence. 19 (c) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—Amounts made avail- 20 able under subsection (a) shall be— 21 (1) in addition to any other amounts made 22 available for the purposes described in that sub- 23 section; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2552 IH (2) nonreimbursable. 1 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:01 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2552.IH H2552 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS