Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Extension Act

II Calendar No. 268 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 990 [Report No. 116–146] To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program First Increment Extension for threatened and endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 2, 2019 Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. GARDNER, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. BENNET, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. SASSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources OCTOBER 24, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Im- plementation Program First Increment Extension for threatened and endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin, 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 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 990 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Platte River Recovery 2 Implementation Program Extension Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 4 The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary 5 of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Rec- 6 lamation and in partnership with the States, other Federal 7 agencies, and other non-Federal entities, to continue the 8 cooperative effort among the Federal and non-Federal en- 9 tities through the continued implementation of the Platte 10 River Recovery Implementation Program First Increment 11 Extension for threatened and endangered species in the 12 Central and Lower Platte River Basin without creating 13 Federal water rights or requiring the grant of water rights 14 to Federal entities. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Agreement’’ 18 means the Platte River Recovery Implementation 19 Program Cooperative Agreement entered into by the 20 Governors of the States and the Secretary, including 21 an amendment or addendum to the Agreement to ex- 22 tend the Program. 23 (2) FIRST INCREMENT.—The term ‘‘First In- 24 crement’’ means the Program’s first 13 years from 25 January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2019. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 990 RS (3) FIRST INCREMENT EXTENSION.—The term 1 ‘‘First Increment Extension’’ means the extension of 2 the Program for 13 years from January 1, 2020 3 through December 31, 2032. 4 (4) GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE.—The term 5 ‘‘Governance Committee’’ means the governance 6 committee established under the Agreement and 7 composed of members from the States, the Federal 8 Government, environmental interests, and water 9 users. 10 (5) INTEREST IN LAND OR WATER.—The term 11 ‘‘interest in land or water’’ includes fee title, short- 12 or long-term easement, lease, or other contractual 13 arrangement that is determined to be necessary by 14 the Secretary to implement the land and water com- 15 ponents of the Program. 16 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 17 the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program 18 established under the Agreement and continued 19 under an amendment or addendum to the Agree- 20 ment. 21 (7) PROJECT OR ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘project 22 or activity’’ means— 23 (A) the planning, design, permitting, or 24 other compliance activity, construction, con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 990 RS struction management, operation, maintenance, 1 and replacement of a facility; 2 (B) the acquisition of an interest in land 3 or water; 4 (C) habitat restoration; 5 (D) research and monitoring; 6 (E) program administration; and 7 (F) any other activity that is determined to 8 be necessary by the Secretary to carry out the 9 Program. 10 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 12 Commissioner of Reclamation. 13 (9) STATES.—The term ‘‘States’’ means the 14 States of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. 15 SEC. 4. PLATTE RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PRO- 16 GRAM. 17 (a) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera- 19 tion with the Governance Committee, may— 20 (A) participate in the Program; and 21 (B) carry out any projects and activities 22 that are designated for implementation during 23 the First Increment Extension. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 990 RS (2) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.—For the 1 purposes of carrying out this section, the Secretary, 2 in cooperation with the Governance Committee, 3 may— 4 (A) enter into agreements and contracts 5 with Federal and non-Federal entities; 6 (B) acquire interests in land, water, and 7 facilities from willing sellers without the use of 8 eminent domain; 9 (C) subsequently transfer any interests ac- 10 quired under subparagraph (B); and 11 (D) accept or provide grants. 12 (b) COST-SHARING CONTRIBUTIONS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—As provided in the Agree- 14 ment, the States shall contribute not less than 50 15 percent of the total contributions necessary to carry 16 out the Program. 17 (2) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The fol- 18 lowing contributions shall constitute the States’ 19 share of the Program: 20 (A) An additional $28,000,000 in non-Fed- 21 eral funds, with the balance of funds remaining 22 to be contributed to be adjusted for inflation on 23 October 1 of the year after the date of enact- 24 ment of this Act and each October 1 thereafter. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 990 RS (B) Additional credit for contributions of 1 water or land for the purposes of implementing 2 the Program, as determined to be appropriate 3 by the Secretary. 4 (3) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary 5 or the States may elect to provide a portion of the 6 Federal share or non-Federal share, respectively, in 7 the form of in-kind goods or services, if the contribu- 8 tion of goods or services is approved by the Govern- 9 ance Committee, as provided in Attachment 1 of the 10 Agreement. 11 (c) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY PROGRAM.—The Pro- 12 gram may be modified or amended before the completion 13 of the First Increment Extension if the Secretary and the 14 States determine that the modifications are consistent 15 with the purposes of the Program. 16 (d) EFFECT.— 17 (1) EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAWS.—No ac- 18 tion carried out under this section shall, with respect 19 to the acreage limitation provisions of the reclama- 20 tion laws— 21 (A) be considered in determining whether 22 a district (as the term is defined in section 202 23 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 24 U.S.C. 390bb)) has discharged the obligation of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 990 RS the district to repay the construction cost of 1 project facilities used to make irrigation water 2 available for delivery to land in the district; 3 (B) serve as the basis for reinstating acre- 4 age limitation provisions in a district that has 5 completed payment of the construction obliga- 6 tions of the district; or 7 (C) serve as the basis for increasing the 8 construction repayment obligation of the dis- 9 trict, which would extend the period during 10 which the acreage limitation provisions would 11 apply. 12 (2) EFFECT ON WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in 13 this section— 14 (A) creates Federal water rights; or 15 (B) requires the grant of water rights to 16 Federal entities. 17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 19 appropriated to carry out projects and activities 20 under this section an additional $78,000,000 as ad- 21 justed under paragraph (3). 22 (2) NONREIMBURSABLE FEDERAL EXPENDI- 23 TURES.—Any amounts to be expended under para- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 990 RS graph (1) shall be considered nonreimbursable Fed- 1 eral expenditures. 2 (3) ADJUSTMENT.—The balance of funds re- 3 maining to be expended shall be adjusted for infla- 4 tion on October 1 of the year after the date of enact- 5 ment of this Act and each October 1 thereafter. 6 (4) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—At the end of 7 each fiscal year, any unexpended funds for projects 8 and activities made available under paragraph (1) 9 shall be retained for use in future fiscal years to im- 10 plement projects and activities under the Program. 11 Any unexpended funds appropriated during the 12 First Increment shall be retained and carried over 13 from the First Increment into the First Increment 14 Extension. 15 (f) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 16 for the Secretary to implement the First Increment Exten- 17 sion shall terminate on September 30, 2033. 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 268 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 990 [Report No. 116–146] A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to par- ticipate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program First Incre- ment Extension for threatened and endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin, and for other purposes. OCTOBER 24, 2019 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Oct 24, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S990.RS S990 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS