Western Water Infrastructure Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2185 To reauthorize certain Bureau of Reclamation programs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 23, 2021 Mr. BARRASSO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To reauthorize certain Bureau of Reclamation programs, 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 Infra- 4 structure Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) GRANDFATHERED PROJECT.—The term 8 ‘‘grandfathered project’’ means a project that has 9 been included in a feasibility level study by the Sec- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2185 IS retary that was commenced, including at the ap- 1 praisal level, on or before January 1, 2021, in an- 2 ticipation of Federal funding or recommended by the 3 Secretary and approved by an Act of Congress prior 4 to the date of enactment of this Act pursuant to— 5 (A) section 4007 of the WIIN Act (43 6 U.S.C. 390b note; Public Law 114–322); 7 (B) section 4(a)(2) of the Water Desalina- 8 tion Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public 9 Law 104–298); or 10 (C) section 1602(e) of the Reclamation 11 Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facili- 12 ties Act (43 U.S.C. 390h(e)). 13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 15 Commissioner of Reclamation. 16 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF CERTAIN RECLAMATION 17 PROGRAMS. 18 (a) WATER STORAGE PROGRAM.—Section 4007 of 19 the WIIN Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; Public Law 114– 20 322) is amended— 21 (1) in subsection (h)— 22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(1) 23 $335,000,000’’ and inserting the following: 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—$1,600,000,000’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2185 IS (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert- 1 ing the following: 2 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 4 graph (B), a project may only receive funding 5 under this section if the project has been in- 6 cluded in an Act of Congress that specifically 7 approves a project recommendation in an an- 8 nual report issued in accordance with section 5 9 of the Western Water Infrastructure Act of 10 2021. 11 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 12 shall not apply to a grandfathered project (as 13 defined in section 2 of the Western Water In- 14 frastructure Act of 2021).’’; 15 (2) by striking subsection (i); and 16 (3) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 17 subsections (i) and (j), respectively. 18 (b) ELIGIBLE DESALINATION PROJECTS.—Section 19 4(a) of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 20 10301 note; Public Law 104–298) is amended— 21 (1) by redesignating the second paragraph (1) 22 (relating to eligible desalination projects) as para- 23 graph (2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2185 IS (2) in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2) (as 1 so redesignated)— 2 (A) in clause (i)— 3 (i) by striking ‘‘(i) $30,000,000’’ and 4 inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—$125,000,000’’; 6 and 7 (ii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and at the end 8 and inserting a period; and 9 (B) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.— 12 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Subject to 13 subclause (II), a project may only re- 14 ceive funding under this section if the 15 project has been included in an Act of 16 Congress that specifically approves a 17 project recommendation in an annual 18 report issued in accordance with sec- 19 tion 5 of the Western Water Infra- 20 structure Act of 2021. 21 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—Subclause 22 (I) shall not apply to a grandfathered 23 project (as defined in section 2 of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2185 IS Western Water Infrastructure Act of 1 2021).’’. 2 (c) RECLAMATION AND REUSE OF WASTEWATER AND 3 GROUNDWATER.—Section 1602(g) of the Reclamation 4 Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act 5 (43 U.S.C. 390h(g)) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 7 (A) by striking the paragraph designation 8 and all that follows through ‘‘There is’’ and in- 9 serting the following: 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is’’; and 11 (B) by striking ‘‘$50,000,000’’ and insert- 12 ing ‘‘$375,000,000’’; and 13 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 17 graph (B), a project may only receive funding 18 under this section if the project has been in- 19 cluded in an Act of Congress that specifically 20 approves a project recommendation in an an- 21 nual report issued in accordance with section 5 22 of the Western Water Infrastructure Act of 23 2021. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2185 IS ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) 1 shall not apply to a grandfathered project (as 2 defined in section 2 of the Western Water In- 3 frastructure Act of 2021).’’. 4 (d) DURATION OF CERTAIN RECLAMATION 5 PROJECTS.—Section 4013 of the WIIN Act (43 U.S.C. 6 390b note; Public Law 114–322) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the 8 end; 9 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 10 the end the following and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(2) sections 4006, 4007 (other than a project 13 under construction under that section that is covered 14 by paragraph (2)), 4008, 4009 (other than a project 15 under construction under the amendment made by 16 subsection (a) or (c) of section 4009 that is covered 17 by paragraph (2)), and 4011 (including any amend- 18 ments made by those sections), which shall expire 5 19 years after the date of enactment of the Western 20 Water Infrastructure Act of 2021.’’. 21 (e) APPLICABLE LAW.—A grandfathered project 22 shall continue to be subject to the applicable requirements 23 of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2185 IS (1) Section 4007 of the WIIN Act (43 U.S.C. 1 390b note; Public Law 114–322). 2 (2) Section 4(a)(2) of the Water Desalination 3 Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 4 104–298). 5 (3) Section 1602(e) of the Reclamation Waste- 6 water and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act (43 7 U.S.C. 390h(e)). 8 SEC. 4. INCREASED FUNDING FOR WATER MANAGEMENT 9 IMPROVEMENT. 10 Section 9504(e) of the Omnibus Public Land Man- 11 agement Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364(e)) is amended 12 by striking ‘‘$700,000,000’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘$1,000,000,000’’. 14 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON FUTURE WEST- 15 ERN WATER STORAGE PROJECTS. 16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—The term ‘‘annual re- 18 port’’ means a report required under subsection 19 (b)(1). 20 (2) AUTHORIZED RECLAMATION PROJECT.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authorized 22 Reclamation project’’ means a project author- 23 ized under— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2185 IS (i) section 4007 of the WIIN Act (43 1 U.S.C. 390b note; Public Law 114–322); 2 (ii) section 4(a)(2) of the Water De- 3 salination Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 10301 4 note; Public Law 104–298); or 5 (iii) section 1602(e) of the Reclama- 6 tion Wastewater and Groundwater Study 7 and Facilities Act (43 U.S.C. 390h(e)). 8 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘authorized 9 Reclamation project’’ does not include a grand- 10 fathered project. 11 (3) AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES OF CON- 12 GRESS.—The term ‘‘authorizing committees of Con- 13 gress’’ means— 14 (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 15 Resources of the Senate; and 16 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 17 of the House of Representatives. 18 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1 20 of each year, the Secretary shall develop and submit 21 to the authorizing committees of Congress a report, 22 to be entitled ‘‘Report to Congress on Future Water 23 Storage Projects’’, that identifies each authorized 24 Reclamation project that the Secretary has deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2185 IS mined meets the criteria and eligibility requirements 1 under subsection (a) or (b) of section 4007 of the 2 WIIN Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; Public Law 114– 3 322), section 4(a)(2) of the Water Desalination Act 4 of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104– 5 298), or section 1602(e) of the Reclamation Waste- 6 water and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act (43 7 U.S.C. 390h(e)), as applicable. 8 (2) TRANSPARENCY.—For each authorized Rec- 9 lamation project included in the annual report under 10 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include— 11 (A) the name of the associated non-Fed- 12 eral entity, including the name of any non-Fed- 13 eral entity that has contributed, or is expected 14 to contribute, a non-Federal share of the cost 15 of the authorized Reclamation project; 16 (B) a letter or statement of support from 17 each associated non-Federal entity; and 18 (C) a summary of the basis for the deter- 19 mination of the Secretary that the authorized 20 Reclamation project meets the eligibility re- 21 quirements referred to in paragraph (1), includ- 22 ing an estimate, to the maximum extent prac- 23 ticable, of the monetary and nonmonetary bene- 24 fits of the authorized Reclamation project. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2185 IS SEC. 6. CONTRACTS FOR ENHANCED INSPECTION. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 (1) AGING INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 3 ‘‘aging infrastructure’’ means any infrastructure 4 subject to an enhanced inspection under this section 5 that is associated with a facility that— 6 (A) was constructed by the Bureau of Rec- 7 lamation (or a precursor to the Bureau of Rec- 8 lamation), in accordance with the reclamation 9 laws; and 10 (B) is greater than 50 years old as of the 11 date of the enhanced inspection. 12 (2) ENHANCED INSPECTION.—The term ‘‘en- 13 hanced inspection’’ means an inspection that uses 14 current or innovative technology, including Light 15 Detection and Ranging (commonly known as 16 ‘‘LiDAR’’), ground penetrating radar, subsurface 17 imaging, or subsurface geophysical techniques, to de- 18 tect whether the features of aging infrastructure— 19 (A)(i) are structurally sound; and 20 (ii) can operate as intended; or 21 (B) are at risk of failure. 22 (3) RECLAMATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘reclama- 23 tion laws’’ means Federal reclamation law (the Act 24 of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2185 IS Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act 1 (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.)). 2 (b) ENHANCED INSPECTION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out 4 enhanced inspections of aging infrastructure, pursu- 5 ant to a contract with the owner or operator of the 6 aging infrastructure. 7 (2) CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.—Subject to the 8 availability of appropriations or funds otherwise 9 available pursuant to subsection (d), the Secretary 10 shall enter into a contract described in paragraph 11 (1), if the owner or operator of the aging infrastruc- 12 ture requests that the Secretary carry out the en- 13 hanced inspections. 14 (3) REIMBURSABILITY.—Any Federal funds 15 used to carry out the enhanced inspections under 16 this section are nonreimbursable. 17 (c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not require an 18 owner or operator of a project under the jurisdiction of 19 another Federal agency to carry out corrective or remedial 20 actions in response to an enhanced inspection carried out 21 under this section. 22 (d) FUNDING.— 23 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 24 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2185 IS this section $50,000,000, to remain available until 1 expended. 2 (2) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 3 may— 4 (A) accept funds from an owner or oper- 5 ator of aging infrastructure to carry out an en- 6 hanced inspection of the aging infrastructure 7 under this section; and 8 (B) use the funds accepted under subpara- 9 graph (A) to carry out an enhanced inspection 10 of the aging infrastructure pursuant to a con- 11 tract entered into with the owner or operator 12 under this section. 13 SEC. 7. RESERVOIR SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT. 14 (a) DEFINITION OF SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT 15 PLAN.—In this section, the term ‘‘sediment management 16 plan’’ means a plan for— 17 (1) preventing sediment from reducing water 18 storage capacity at a reservoir; and 19 (2) increasing water storage capacity through 20 sediment removal at a reservoir. 21 (b) SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.—The Sec- 22 retary shall carry out a program for the development and 23 implementation of sediment management plans for res- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2185.IS S2185 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2185 IS ervoirs owned by the Secretary, on request by project 1 beneficiaries. 2 (c) PLAN ELEMENTS.—A sediment management plan 3 under subsection (b) shall— 4 (1) provide opportunities for States, project 5 beneficiaries, and other stakeholders to participate 6 in sediment management decisions; 7 (2) evaluate the volume of sediment in a res- 8 ervoir and impacts on project purposes, including 9 storage capacity; 10 (3) identify sediment management options, in- 11 cluding sediment dikes and dredging; 12 (4) identify constraints; 13 (5) assess technical feasibility, economic jus- 14 tification, and environmental impacts; 15 (6) identify beneficial [Text truncated for display. 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