Canal Conveyance Capacity Restoration Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1179 To provide financial assistance for projects to address certain subsidence impacts in the State of California, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 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 (1) to address severe subsidence impacts that 8 have substantially reduced the carrying capacity of 9 the water delivery system of the State; and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1179 IS (2) to provide additional water supply in the 1 State at a relatively low cost per acre-foot to in- 2 crease— 3 (A) resiliency to increasingly severe 4 droughts in the State; 5 (B) groundwater recharge needed to assist 6 in meeting groundwater sustainability goals es- 7 tablished under State law; and 8 (C) the reliability of surface or ground- 9 water supplies, portions of which serve dis- 10 advantaged communities. 11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) FEDERAL POOL.—The term ‘‘Federal pool’’ 14 means each of pools 13 through 21 of the San Luis 15 Canal/California Aqueduct, which are owned by the 16 United States and operated by the California De- 17 partment of Water Resources under the agreement 18 entitled ‘‘Agreement Between the United States of 19 America and the Department of Water Resources of 20 the State of California for the Construction and Op- 21 eration of the Joint-Use Facilities of the San Luis 22 Unit’’ and dated December 30, 1961. 23 (2) NET PRESENT VALUE OF THE LOCAL CON- 24 TRIBUTION TO REIMBURSABLE FEDERAL FUND- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1179 IS ING.—The term ‘‘net present value of the local con- 1 tribution to reimbursable Federal funding’’ means, 2 with respect to a project, the amount equal to the 3 difference between— 4 (A) the total amount of reimbursable Fed- 5 eral funds made available for a project; and 6 (B) the amount of the present value, as of 7 the date of the calculation, of any interest sub- 8 sidy provided through the repayment terms to 9 the Treasury over similarly structured munic- 10 ipal bond financing available to the non-Federal 11 entity on the disbursement of the reimbursable 12 Federal funds for the project. 13 (3) NON-FEDERAL POOL.—The term ‘‘non-Fed- 14 eral pool’’ means each of pools 22 through 40 of the 15 California Aqueduct, which are owned by the State 16 and operated by the California Department of Water 17 Resources. 18 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 20 Commissioner of Reclamation. 21 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 22 of California. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1179 IS SEC. 4. FRIANT-KERN CANAL AND DELTA-MENDOTA CANAL 1 SUBSIDENCE MITIGATION PROJECTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide finan- 3 cial assistance for the design, planning, and construction 4 of— 5 (1) Federal facility improvements to the Friant 6 Division, Central Valley Project, California, under 7 section 10201(a)(1) of the San Joaquin River Res- 8 toration Settlement Act (Public Law 111–11; 123 9 Stat. 1365); and 10 (2) a project to restore conveyance capacity at, 11 and to mitigate subsidence-related impacts on, the 12 Delta-Mendota Canal, through a partnership with— 13 (A) a public water agency that contracts 14 for the delivery of Central Valley Project water; 15 or 16 (B) a local joint powers authority formed 17 under State law by public water agencies that 18 contract for the delivery of Central Valley 19 Project water. 20 (b) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 21 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 22 the cost of carrying out a project under subsection 23 (a) shall be not more than 33 percent of the total 24 cost of the project, including amounts contributed 25 after October 1, 2018. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1179 IS (2) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non- 1 Federal share of the cost of carrying out a project 2 under subsection (a) may be provided in the form of 3 cash or in-kind contributions, including the net 4 present value of the local contribution to the reim- 5 bursable Federal funding for the project after Octo- 6 ber 1, 2018. 7 (c) REQUIRED DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.— 8 Federal funds shall not be made available under this Act 9 for a project under subsection (a) unless the Secretary de- 10 termines that— 11 (1) there is an adequate non-Federal cost share 12 to match the total amount of federally appropriated 13 financial assistance made available for the project as 14 of the date of the determination of the Secretary; 15 and 16 (2) the project is designed in a manner— 17 (A) to satisfy the purposes described in 18 section 2, after taking into account anticipated 19 future subsidence; and 20 (B) to comply with all applicable require- 21 ments of Federal and State law, including part 22 2.74 of division 6 of the California Water Code 23 (commonly known as the ‘‘California Sustain- 24 able Groundwater Management Act’’). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1179 IS SEC. 5. CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT SUBSIDENCE MITIGATION 1 PROJECT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide finan- 3 cial assistance for the design, planning, and construction 4 of projects to restore conveyance capacity at, and to miti- 5 gate subsidence-related impacts on, the Federal pool and 6 non-Federal pool. 7 (b) NON-FEDERAL PARTNERS.—To carry out this 8 section, the Secretary may enter into partnerships with— 9 (1) the State; or 10 (2) a local joint powers authority formed under 11 State law by public water agencies that contract for 12 delivery of water from the Central Valley Project or 13 the State Water Project. 14 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 15 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 16 the cost of carrying out a project under subsection 17 (a) shall be not more than 33 percent of the total 18 cost of the project, including any amounts expended 19 by the State for subsidence repairs in the Federal 20 pool and non-Federal pool for the project after Octo- 21 ber 1, 2018. 22 (2) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non- 23 Federal share of the cost of a project provided finan- 24 cial assistance under subsection (a) may be in the 25 form of cash or in-kind contributions. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1179 IS (d) REQUIRED DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.— 1 Federal funds shall not be made available under this Act 2 for a project under subsection (a) unless the Secretary de- 3 termines, with the concurrence of the Governor of the 4 State, that— 5 (1) there is an adequate non-Federal cost share 6 to match the total amount of federally appropriated 7 financial assistance made available for the project as 8 of the date of the determination of the Secretary; 9 and 10 (2) the project is designed in a manner— 11 (A) to satisfy the purposes described in 12 section 2, after taking into account anticipated 13 future subsidence; and 14 (B) to comply with all applicable require- 15 ments of Federal and State law, including part 16 2.74 of division 6 of the California Water Code 17 (commonly known as the ‘‘California Sustain- 18 able Groundwater Management Act’’). 19 SEC. 6. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE. 20 In carrying out a project under this Act, the Sec- 21 retary shall comply with applicable environmental laws, in- 22 cluding— 23 (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 24 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1179 IS (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 1 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 2 (3) applicable State law. 3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 5 priated to the Secretary, as adjusted annually to reflect 6 changes since March 2021 in the Bureau of Reclamation 7 Construction Cost Trends Index applicable to the types 8 of construction involved— 9 (1) $180,000,000 to carry out section 4(a)(1), 10 consistent with, and in addition to funding author- 11 ized under, section 10203(c) of the San Joaquin 12 River Restoration Settlement Act (Public Law 111– 13 11; 123 Stat. 1367); 14 (2) $183,900,000 to carry out section 4(a)(2); 15 (3) $194,000,000 to pay the Federal share for 16 the Federal pool under section 5; 17 (4) $95,500,000 to pay the Federal share for 18 the non-Federal pool under section 5; and 19 (5) $180,000,000 to implement the Restoration 20 Goal of the settlement described in section 10004 of 21 the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act 22 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 1350), in addition to 23 the funding authorized under section 10009 of that 24 Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1179 IS (b) LIMITATIONS.—Amounts made available under 1 subsection (a) may not be used— 2 (1) to build new surface storage; 3 (2) to raise existing reservoirs; or 4 (3) to enlarge the carrying capacity of a canal 5 constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation, except 6 for a temporary increase in carrying capacity that is 7 intended— 8 (A) to mitigate anticipated future subsid- 9 ence; and 10 (B) to avoid an increase in carrying capac- 11 ity that would otherwise be required on the oc- 12 currence of anticipated future subsidence. 13 (c) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—Amounts made avail- 14 able under subsection (a) shall be— 15 (1) in addition to any other amounts made 16 available for the purposes described in that sub- 17 section; and 18 (2) nonreimbursable. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1179.IS S1179 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS