Western Water Security Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2718 To provide for the conduct of certain water security measures in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 28, 2019 Mr. UDALL (for himself and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To provide for the conduct of certain water security measures in the State of New Mexico, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Western Water Security Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE AND WATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2718 IS Sec. 101. Watersmart extension and expansion. Sec. 102. Rural desalination. Sec. 103. Emergency drought funding. Sec. 104. Rio Grande Pueblo irrigation infrastructure reauthorization. TITLE II—GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT Sec. 201. Reauthorization and expansion of the Transboundary Aquifer Assess- ment Program. Sec. 202. Groundwater management assessment and improvement. Sec. 203. Surface and groundwater water availability and the energy nexus. TITLE III—WATER CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION Sec. 301. Definitions. Sec. 302. Water acquisition program. Sec. 303. Middle Rio Grande water conservation. Sec. 304. Sustaining biodiversity during droughts. Sec. 305. Reauthorization of cooperative watershed management program. TITLE IV—EFFECT ON EXISTING LAW Sec. 401. Effect on existing law. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) RIO GRANDE COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Rio 3 Grande Compact’’ means the compact approved by 4 Congress under the Act of May 31, 1939 (53 Stat. 5 785, chapter 155). 6 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of the Interior. 8 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 9 of New Mexico. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2718 IS TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE AND 1 WATER MANAGEMENT IM- 2 PROVEMENT 3 SEC. 101. WATERSMART EXTENSION AND EXPANSION. 4 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—Section 5 9502 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 6 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10362) is amended— 7 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 8 striking ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘subtitle’’; 9 (2) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the 10 following: 11 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘eligible 12 applicant’ means— 13 ‘‘(A) any State, Indian tribe, irrigation dis- 14 trict, or water district; 15 ‘‘(B) any State, regional, or local author- 16 ity, the members of which include one or more 17 organizations with water or power delivery au- 18 thority; 19 ‘‘(C) any other organization with water or 20 power delivery authority; and 21 ‘‘(D) any nonprofit conservation organiza- 22 tion.’’; 23 (3) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘450b’’ and 24 inserting ‘‘5304’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2718 IS (4) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 1 (17) as paragraphs (14) through (18), respectively; 2 and 3 (5) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(13) NATURAL WATER RECHARGE INFRA- 6 STRUCTURE.—The term ‘natural water recharge in- 7 frastructure’ means a single project, a number of 8 distributed projects across a watershed, or the rede- 9 sign and replacement, or removal, of built infra- 10 structure to incorporate natural aquatic elements, in 11 which the project— 12 ‘‘(A) uses natural materials appropriate to 13 the specific site and landscape setting; 14 ‘‘(B) mimics natural riverine, floodplain, 15 riparian, wetland, hydrologic, or other ecological 16 processes; and 17 ‘‘(C) results in aquifer recharge, transient 18 floodplain water retention, or restoration of 19 water in the landscape such that the water re- 20 turns to a wetland, riparian area, or surface 21 water channel.’’. 22 (b) RESEARCH AGREEMENTS.—Section 9504(b)(1) 23 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (42 24 U.S.C. 10364(b)(1)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2718 IS (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 1 by inserting ‘‘nonprofit conservation organization,’’ 2 before ‘‘or organization’’; 3 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 4 the end; 5 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 6 paragraph (D); and 7 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(C) to increase natural water recharge in- 10 frastructure; or’’. 11 (c) WATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT.—Section 12 9504(e) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 13 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364(e)) is amended by striking 14 ‘‘$480,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$650,000,000, subject to 15 the condition that $50,000,000 of that amount shall be 16 used to carry out section 206 of the Energy and Water 17 Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 18 2015 (43 U.S.C. 620 note; Public Law 113–235)’’. 19 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4009(d) of 20 Public Law 114–322 (42 U.S.C. 10364 note) is amended 21 by striking ‘‘on the condition that of that amount, 22 $50,000,000 of it is used to carry out section 206 of the 23 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Ap- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2718 IS propriation Act, 2015 (43 U.S.C. 620 note; Public Law 1 113–235)’’. 2 SEC. 102. RURAL DESALINATION. 3 Section 4(a) of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 4 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104–298) is amended 5 by striking the second paragraph (1) (relating to projects) 6 and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.— 8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 9 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE DESALINATION 10 PROJECT.—The term ‘eligible desalination 11 project’ means any project located in a 12 Reclamation State, or for which the con- 13 struction, operation, sponsorship, or fund- 14 ing is the responsibility of, and the pri- 15 mary water supply benefit accrues to, one 16 or more entities in a Reclamation State, 17 that— 18 ‘‘(I) involves an ocean or brack- 19 ish water desalination facility— 20 ‘‘(aa) constructed, operated, 21 and maintained by a State, In- 22 dian Tribe, irrigation district, 23 water district, or other organiza- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2718 IS tion with water or power delivery 1 authority; or 2 ‘‘(bb) sponsored or funded 3 by any combination of a State, 4 department of a State, political 5 subdivision of a State, or public 6 agency organized pursuant to 7 State law, including through— 8 ‘‘(AA) direct sponsor- 9 ship or funding; or 10 ‘‘(BB) indirect sponsor- 11 ship or funding, such as by 12 paying for the water pro- 13 vided by the facility; and 14 ‘‘(II) provides a Federal benefit 15 in accordance with the reclamation 16 laws. 17 ‘‘(ii) RURAL DESALINATION 18 PROJECT.—The term ‘rural desalination 19 project’ means a project located in a Rec- 20 lamation State, or for which the construc- 21 tion, operation, sponsorship, or funding is 22 the responsibility of, and the primary 23 water supply benefit accrues to, one or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2718 IS more entities in a Reclamation State, 1 that— 2 ‘‘(I) involves an ocean or brack- 3 ish water desalination facility; and 4 ‘‘(II) is designed to serve a com- 5 munity or group of communities, each 6 of which has a population of not more 7 than 40,000 inhabitants. 8 ‘‘(B) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the re- 10 quirements of this subsection and notwith- 11 standing section 7, the Federal share of an 12 eligible desalination project carried out 13 under this subsection shall be— 14 ‘‘(I) not more than 25 percent of 15 the total cost of the eligible desalina- 16 tion project; or 17 ‘‘(II) in the case of a rural de- 18 salination project, the applicable per- 19 centage determined in accordance 20 with clause (ii). 21 ‘‘(ii) RURAL DESALINATION 22 PROJECTS.— 23 ‘‘(I) COST-SHARING REQUIRE- 24 MENT FOR APPRAISAL STUDIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2718 IS Subject to subclause (IV), in the case 1 of a rural desalination project carried 2 out under this subsection, the Federal 3 share of the cost of appraisal studies 4 for the rural desalination project shall 5 be— 6 ‘‘(aa) 100 percent of the 7 total costs of the appraisal stud- 8 ies, up to $200,000; and 9 ‘‘(bb) if the total costs of 10 the appraisal studies are more 11 than $200,000, 50 percent of any 12 amounts over $200,000. 13 ‘‘(II) COST-SHARING REQUIRE- 14 MENT FOR FEASIBILITY STUDIES.— 15 Subject to subclause (IV), in the case 16 of a rural desalination project carried 17 out under this subsection, the Federal 18 share of the cost of feasibility studies 19 for the rural desalination project shall 20 be not more than 50 percent. 21 ‘‘(III) COST-SHARING REQUIRE- 22 MENT FOR CONSTRUCTION COSTS.—In 23 the case of a rural desalination project 24 carried out under this subsection, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2718 IS Federal share of the cost of construc- 1 tion of the rural desalination project 2 shall be not more than 75 percent, 3 unless— 4 ‘‘(aa) the Secretary deter- 5 mines during the feasibility study 6 phase, on a project-by-project 7 basis, that the non-Federal share 8 should be increased; or 9 ‘‘(bb) the Secretary deter- 10 mines that the non-Federal share 11 should be reduced under sub- 12 clause (IV). 13 ‘‘(IV) REDUCTION IN NON-FED- 14 ERAL SHARE.—The Secretary may re- 15 duce the non-Federal share of a rural 16 desalination project required under 17 subclause (I), (II), or (III) if the Sec- 18 retary determines, after consultation 19 with the heads of any other Federal 20 agencies that are partners in the rural 21 desalination project and in accordance 22 with applicable Reclamation stand- 23 ards, that the reduction is appropriate 24 due to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2718 IS ‘‘(aa) an overwhelming Fed- 1 eral interest in the rural desali- 2 nation project; and 3 ‘‘(bb) the sponsor of the 4 rural desalination project dem- 5 onstrating financial hardship. 6 ‘‘(C) STATE ROLE.—Participation by the 7 Secretary in an eligible desalination project 8 under this subsection shall not occur unless— 9 ‘‘(i)(I) the eligible desalination project 10 is included in a State-approved plan; or 11 ‘‘(II) the participation has been re- 12 quested by the Governor of the State in 13 which the eligible desalination project is lo- 14 cated; 15 ‘‘(ii) the State or local sponsor of the 16 eligible desalination project determines, 17 and the Secretary concurs, that— 18 ‘‘(I) the eligible desalination 19 project— 20 ‘‘(aa) is technically and fi- 21 nancially feasible; and 22 ‘‘(bb) provides a Federal 23 benefit in accordance with the 24 reclamation laws; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2718 IS ‘‘(II) the non-Federal project 1 sponsor is financially capable of fund- 2 ing the non-Federal share of the 3 project costs; and 4 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary submits to Con- 5 gress a written notification of the deter- 6 minations under clause (ii) by not later 7 than 30 days after the date of the deter- 8 minations. 9 ‘‘(D) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In partici- 10 pating in an eligible desalination project under 11 this paragraph, the Secretary shall comply with 12 all applicable environmental laws, including the 13 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 14 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 15 ‘‘(E) INFORMATION.—In participating in 16 an eligible desalination project under this sub- 17 section, the Secretary— 18 ‘‘(i) may rely on reports prepared by 19 the sponsor of the eligible desalination 20 project, including feasibility or equivalent 21 studies, environmental analyses, and other 22 pertinent reports and analyses; but 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2718 IS ‘‘(ii) shall retain responsibility for 1 making the independent determinations de- 2 scribed in subparagraph (C). 3 ‘‘(F) FUNDING.— 4 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 5 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro- 6 priated to carry out this paragraph 7 $65,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 8 2020 through 2024, of which not less than 9 $15,000,000 shall be made available dur- 10 ing that period for rural desalination 11 projects. 12 ‘‘(ii) FUNDING OPPORTUNITY AN- 13 NOUNCEMENT.—The Commissioner of Rec- 14 lamation shall release a funding oppor- 15 tunity announcement for a grant program 16 under this paragraph by not later than 75 17 days after the date of enactment of an Act 18 that provides funding for the program. 19 ‘‘(iii) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL INI- 20 TIALLY REQUIRED.— 21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each initial 22 award under this paragraph for de- 23 sign and study, or for construction, of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2718.IS S2718 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 2718 IS an eligible desalination project shall 1 be approved in an appropriations Act. 2 ‘‘(II) RECLAMATION REC- 3 OMMENDATIONS.—The Commissioner 4 of Reclamation shall submit rec- 5 ommendations regarding the initial 6 award of design and study funding 7 and construction funding for consider- 8 ation under subclause (I) to— 9 ‘‘(aa) the Committee on Ap- 10 propriations of [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]