Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Extension Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3237 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 12, 2019 Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. TIPTON, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BUCK, Mr. LAM- BORN, Mr. CROW, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. BACON, and Mr. SMITH of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Platte River Recovery 4 Implementation Program Extension Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3237 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary 2 of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Rec- 3 lamation and in partnership with the States, other Federal 4 agencies, and other non-Federal entities, to continue the 5 cooperative effort among the Federal and non-Federal en- 6 tities through the continued implementation of the Platte 7 River Recovery Implementation Program First Increment 8 Extension for threatened and endangered species in the 9 Central and Lower Platte River Basin without creating 10 Federal water rights or requiring the grant of water rights 11 to Federal entities. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Agreement’’ 15 means the Platte River Recovery Implementation 16 Program Cooperative Agreement entered into by the 17 Governors of the States and the Secretary, including 18 an amendment or addendum to the Agreement to ex- 19 tend the Program. 20 (2) FIRST INCREMENT.—The term ‘‘First In- 21 crement’’ means the Program’s first 13 years from 22 January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2019. 23 (3) FIRST INCREMENT EXTENSION.—The term 24 ‘‘First Increment Extension’’ means the extension of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3237 IH the Program for 13 years from January 1, 2020, 1 through December 31, 2032. 2 (4) GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE.—The term 3 ‘‘Governance Committee’’ means the governance 4 committee established under the Agreement and 5 composed of members from the States, the Federal 6 Government, environmental interests, and water 7 users. 8 (5) INTEREST IN LAND OR WATER.—The term 9 ‘‘interest in land or water’’ includes fee title, short- 10 or long-term easement, lease, or other contractual 11 arrangement that is determined to be necessary by 12 the Secretary to implement the land and water com- 13 ponents of the Program. 14 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 15 the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program 16 established under the Agreement and continued 17 under an amendment or addendum to the Agree- 18 ment. 19 (7) PROJECT OR ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘project 20 or activity’’ means— 21 (A) the planning, design, permitting, or 22 other compliance activity, construction, con- 23 struction management, operation, maintenance, 24 and replacement of a facility; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3237 IH (B) the acquisition of an interest in land 1 or water; 2 (C) habitat restoration; 3 (D) research and monitoring; 4 (E) program administration; and 5 (F) any other activity that is determined to 6 be necessary by the Secretary to carry out the 7 Program. 8 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 10 Commissioner of Reclamation. 11 (9) STATES.—The term ‘‘States’’ means the 12 States of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. 13 SEC. 4. PLATTE RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PRO- 14 GRAM. 15 (a) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera- 17 tion with the Governance Committee, may— 18 (A) participate in the Program; and 19 (B) carry out any projects and activities 20 that are designated for implementation during 21 the First Increment Extension. 22 (2) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY.—For the 23 purposes of carrying out this section, the Secretary, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3237 IH in cooperation with the Governance Committee, 1 may— 2 (A) enter into agreements and contracts 3 with Federal and non-Federal entities; 4 (B) acquire interests in land, water, and 5 facilities from willing sellers without the use of 6 eminent domain; 7 (C) subsequently transfer any interests ac- 8 quired under subparagraph (B); and 9 (D) accept or provide grants. 10 (b) COST-SHARING CONTRIBUTIONS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—As provided in the Agree- 12 ment, the States shall contribute not less than 50 13 percent of the total contributions necessary to carry 14 out the Program. 15 (2) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The fol- 16 lowing contributions shall constitute the States’ 17 share of the Program: 18 (A) An additional $28,000,000 in non-Fed- 19 eral funds, with the balance of funds remaining 20 to be contributed to be adjusted for inflation on 21 October 1 of the year after the date of enact- 22 ment of this Act and each October 1 thereafter. 23 (B) Additional credit for contributions of 24 water or land for the purposes of implementing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3237 IH the Program, as determined to be appropriate 1 by the Secretary. 2 (3) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary 3 or the States may elect to provide a portion of the 4 Federal share or non-Federal share, respectively, in 5 the form of in-kind goods or services, if the contribu- 6 tion of goods or services is approved by the Govern- 7 ance Committee, as provided in Attachment 1 of the 8 Agreement. 9 (c) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY PROGRAM.—The Pro- 10 gram may be modified or amended before the completion 11 of the First Increment Extension if the Secretary and the 12 States determine that the modifications are consistent 13 with the purposes of the Program. 14 (d) EFFECT.— 15 (1) EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAWS.—No ac- 16 tion carried out under this section shall, with respect 17 to the acreage limitation provisions of the reclama- 18 tion laws— 19 (A) be considered in determining whether 20 a district (as the term is defined in section 202 21 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 22 U.S.C. 390bb)) has discharged the obligation of 23 the district to repay the construction cost of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3237 IH project facilities used to make irrigation water 1 available for delivery to land in the district; 2 (B) serve as the basis for reinstating acre- 3 age limitation provisions in a district that has 4 completed payment of the construction obliga- 5 tions of the district; or 6 (C) serve as the basis for increasing the 7 construction repayment obligation of the dis- 8 trict, which would extend the period during 9 which the acreage limitation provisions would 10 apply. 11 (2) EFFECT ON WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in 12 this section— 13 (A) creates Federal water rights; or 14 (B) requires the grant of water rights to 15 Federal entities. 16 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 18 appropriated to carry out projects and activities 19 under this section an additional $78,000,000 as ad- 20 justed under paragraph (3). 21 (2) NONREIMBURSABLE FEDERAL EXPENDI- 22 TURES.—Any amounts to be expended under para- 23 graph (1) shall be considered nonreimbursable Fed- 24 eral expenditures. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3237 IH (3) ADJUSTMENT.—The balance of funds re- 1 maining to be expended shall be adjusted for infla- 2 tion on October 1 of the year after the date of enact- 3 ment of this Act and each October 1 thereafter. 4 (4) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—At the end of 5 each fiscal year, any unexpended funds for projects 6 and activities made available under paragraph (1) 7 shall be retained for use in future fiscal years to im- 8 plement projects and activities under the Program. 9 Any unexpended funds appropriated during the 10 First Increment shall be retained and carried over 11 from the First Increment into the First Increment 12 Extension. 13 (f) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 14 for the Secretary to implement the First Increment Exten- 15 sion shall terminate on September 30, 2033. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3237.IH H3237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS