Clean Water for Rural Communities Act

II Calendar No. 253 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 334 [Report No. 116–133] To authorize the construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System and study of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System in the States of Montana and North Dakota, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 5, 2019 Mr. DAINES (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources OCTOBER 22, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment A BILL To authorize the construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System and study of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System in the States of Mon- tana and North Dakota, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 334 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Water for Rural 2 Communities Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 4 The purpose of this Act is to ensure a safe and ade- 5 quate municipal, rural, and industrial water supply for the 6 citizens of— 7 (1) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, Rich- 8 land, Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Valley, Fer- 9 gus, Yellowstone, and Musselshell Counties in the 10 State of Montana; and 11 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ 15 means— 16 (A) the Central Montana Regional Water 17 Authority, a publicly owned nonprofit water au- 18 thority formed in accordance with Mont. Code 19 Ann. Sec. 75–6–302 (2007); and 20 (B) any nonprofit successor entity to the 21 Authority described in subparagraph (A). 22 (2) MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL WATER SYS- 23 TEM.—The term ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 24 System’’ means the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 334 RS System authorized under section 4(a), with a project 1 service area that includes— 2 (A) Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Val- 3 ley, and Musselshell Counties in the State; 4 (B) the portion of Yellowstone County in 5 the State within 2 miles of State Highway 3 6 and within 4 miles of the county line between 7 Golden Valley and Yellowstone Counties in the 8 State, inclusive of the Town of Broadview, 9 Montana; and 10 (C) the portion of Fergus County in the 11 State within 2 miles of U.S. Highway 87 and 12 within 4 miles of the county line between Fer- 13 gus and Judith Basin Counties in the State, in- 14 clusive of the Town of Moore, Montana. 15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of the Interior. 17 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 18 of Montana. 19 SEC. 4. MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL WATER SYSTEM. 20 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may carry out 21 the planning, design, and construction of the Musselshell- 22 Judith Rural Water System in a manner that is substan- 23 tially in accordance with the feasibility report entitled 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 334 RS ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System Feasibility Re- 1 port’’ (including any and all revisions of the report). 2 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall 3 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Authority to 4 provide Federal assistance for the planning, design, and 5 construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water Sys- 6 tem. 7 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 8 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 10 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 11 construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural 12 Water System shall not exceed 65 percent of 13 the total cost of the Musselshell-Judith Rural 14 Water System. 15 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail- 16 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re- 17 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 18 laws. 19 (2) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 20 (A) GENERAL USES.—Subject to subpara- 21 graph (B), the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 22 System may use Federal funds made available 23 to carry out this section for— 24 (i) facilities relating to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 334 RS (I) water pumping; 1 (II) water treatment; 2 (III) water storage; 3 (IV) water supply wells; 4 (V) distribution pipelines; and 5 (VI) control systems; 6 (ii) transmission pipelines; 7 (iii) pumping stations; 8 (iv) appurtenant buildings, mainte- 9 nance equipment, and access roads; 10 (v) any interconnection facility that 11 connects a pipeline of the Musselshell-Ju- 12 dith Rural Water System to a pipeline of 13 a public water system; 14 (vi) electrical power transmission and 15 distribution facilities required for the oper- 16 ation and maintenance of the Musselshell- 17 Judith Rural Water System; 18 (vii) any other facility or service re- 19 quired for the development of a rural water 20 distribution system, as determined by the 21 Secretary; and 22 (viii) any property or property right 23 required for the construction or operation 24 of a facility described in this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 334 RS (B) LIMITATION.—Federal funds made 1 available to carry out this section shall not be 2 used for the operation, maintenance, or replace- 3 ment of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 4 System. 5 (C) TITLE.—Title to the Musselshell-Ju- 6 dith Rural Water System shall be held by the 7 Authority. 8 SEC. 5. DRY-REDWATER FEASIBILITY STUDY. 9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU- 11 THORITY.—The term ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional 12 Water Authority’’ means— 13 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au- 14 thority, a publicly owned nonprofit water au- 15 thority formed in accordance with Mont. Code 16 Ann. § 75–6–302 (2007); and 17 (B) any nonprofit successor entity to the 18 Authority described in subparagraph (A). 19 (2) DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU- 20 THORITY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re- 21 gional Water Authority System’’ means the project 22 entitled the ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water Author- 23 ity System’’, with a project service area that in- 24 cludes— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 334 RS (A) Garfield and McCone Counties in the 1 State; 2 (B) the area west of the Yellowstone River 3 in Dawson and Richland Counties in the State; 4 (C) T. 15 N. (including the area north of 5 the Township) in Prairie County in the State; 6 and 7 (D) the portion of McKenzie County, 8 North Dakota, that includes all land that is lo- 9 cated west of the Yellowstone River in the State 10 of North Dakota. 11 (3) RECLAMATION FEASIBILITY STANDARDS.— 12 The term ‘‘reclamation feasibility standards’’ means 13 the eligibility criteria and feasibility study require- 14 ments described in section 106 of the Reclamation 15 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 2405) 16 (as in effect on September 29, 2016). 17 (4) SUBMITTED FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The 18 term ‘‘submitted feasibility study’’ means the feasi- 19 bility study entitled ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water 20 System Feasibility Study’’ (including revisions of the 21 study), which received funding from the Bureau of 22 Reclamation on September 1, 2010. 23 (b) STUDY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 334 RS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta- 1 tion with the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Author- 2 ity, may undertake a study, including a review of the 3 submitted feasibility study, to determine the feasi- 4 bility of constructing the Dry-Redwater Regional 5 Water System. 6 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The study under para- 7 graph (1) shall comply with the reclamation feasi- 8 bility standards. 9 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—If the Secretary de- 10 termines that the study under subsection (b) does not 11 comply with the reclamation feasibility standards, the Sec- 12 retary may enter into a cooperative agreement with the 13 Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority to complete addi- 14 tional work to ensure that the study complies with the rec- 15 lamation feasibility standards. 16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 17 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 18 to carry out this section. 19 (e) TERMINATION.—The authority provided by this 20 section shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the 21 date of enactment of this Act. 22 SEC. 6. WATER RIGHTS. 23 Nothing in this Act— 24 (1) preempts or affects any State water law; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 334 RS (2) affects any authority of a State, as in effect 1 on the date of enactment of this Act, to manage 2 water resources within that State. 3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap- 5 propriated to carry out the planning, design, and construc- 6 tion of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System, sub- 7 stantially in accordance with the cost estimate set forth 8 in the feasibility report described in section 4(a), 9 $56,650,000. 10 (b) COST INDEXING.—The amount authorized to be 11 appropriated under subsection (a) may be increased or de- 12 creased in accordance with ordinary fluctuations in devel- 13 opment costs incurred after November 1, 2014, as indi- 14 cated by any available engineering cost indices applicable 15 to construction activities that are similar to the construc- 16 tion of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System. 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 253 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 334 [Report No. 116–133] A BILL To authorize the construction of the Musselshell- Judith Rural Water System and study of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System in the States of Montana and North Dakota, and for other purposes. OCTOBER 22, 2019 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S334.RS S334 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS