A bill to establish a lower Missouri River flood prevention program, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3403 To establish a lower Missouri River flood prevention program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 5, 2020 Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. HAWLEY, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. SASSE) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Envi- ronment and Public Works A BILL To establish a lower Missouri River flood prevention program, 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. LOWER MISSOURI RIVER FLOOD PREVENTION 3 PROGRAM. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) AFFECTED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘af- 6 fected community’’ means a legally constituted pub- 7 lic body (as that term is used in section 221(b) of 8 the Flood Control Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 1962d– 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3403 IS 5b(b)) the jurisdiction of which has been subject to 1 flooding from the lower Missouri River or a tribu- 2 tary of the lower Missouri River in not less than 2 3 events during any 10-year period beginning on or 4 after January 1, 2000, notwithstanding the provi- 5 sion of emergency flood fighting assistance under 6 section 5 of the Act of August 18, 1941 (commonly 7 known as the ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1941’’) (55 8 Stat. 650, chapter 377; 33 U.S.C. 701n), from the 9 Corps of Engineers during those flooding events. 10 (2) LOWER MISSOURI RIVER.—The term ‘‘lower 11 Missouri River’’ means— 12 (A) the lower 735 miles of the Missouri 13 River from Sioux City, Iowa, to the mouth of 14 the Missouri River; and 15 (B) the tributaries of the portion of the 16 Missouri River described in subparagraph (A). 17 (3) MISSOURI RIVER PROJECT.—The term 18 ‘‘Missouri River project’’ means— 19 (A) a project constructed as part of— 20 (i) the Pick-Sloan Missouri River 21 Basin Program authorized by section 9(b) 22 of the Act of December 22, 1944 (com- 23 monly known as the ‘‘Flood Control Act of 24 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891, chapter 665); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3403 IS (ii) the Missouri River Bank Stabiliza- 1 tion and Navigation Project authorized by 2 section 2 of the Act of March 2, 1945 3 (commonly known as the ‘‘River and Har- 4 bor Act of 1945’’) (59 Stat. 19, chapter 5 19); and 6 (B) a locally owned levee system, as identi- 7 fied by the Secretary for participation under the 8 program under subsection (b). 9 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of the Army. 11 (b) PROGRAM.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 13 out a program to study, design, and construct water 14 resources development projects, and modifications to 15 completed water resources development projects, to 16 provide flood protection to affected communities. 17 (2) PRELIMINARY TECHNICAL EVALUATIONS.— 18 The Secretary shall carry out, at full Federal ex- 19 pense, any technical evaluations or analyses of a 20 Missouri River project determined by the Secretary 21 to be necessary to formulate flood protection rec- 22 ommendations for affected communities that avoid 23 or minimize— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3403 IS (A) the potential for flood risk transfer; 1 and 2 (B) adverse impacts to navigation and 3 other authorized purposes of the applicable Mis- 4 souri River project. 5 (3) SYSTEM PLAN.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A preliminary technical 7 evaluation under paragraph (2) shall include 8 development of a system plan for reducing flood 9 risk and improving resiliency that shall be used 10 in recommending projects for construction. 11 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing a 12 system plan under subparagraph (A), the Sec- 13 retary shall consider— 14 (i) recommendations of the Pick-Sloan 15 Missouri River Basin Program authorized 16 by section 9(b) of the Act of December 22, 17 1944 (commonly known as the ‘‘Flood 18 Control Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891, chap- 19 ter 665), and subsequent relevant engi- 20 neering observations and reports; and 21 (ii) the use of both structural and 22 nonstructural measures, including the set- 23 ting back of levees and removing struc- 24 tures from areas of recurring flood vulner- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3403 IS ability where advantageous to reduce sys- 1 tem flood risk and damages, and where lo- 2 cally acceptable. 3 (4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall carry 4 out the program under this subsection in consulta- 5 tion with applicable Federal and State agencies, In- 6 dian Tribes, and other stakeholders. 7 (5) CONSTRUCTION.— 8 (A) FEASIBILITY REPORT.—For each 9 project recommended for construction under 10 this subsection, the District Commander of the 11 district in which the project is located shall de- 12 velop a feasibility report for approval by the 13 Commander of the Northwestern Division of 14 the Corps of Engineers that includes project 15 features, costs, cooperation requirements, and 16 justification. 17 (B) CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECTS.—After 18 approval of a feasibility report under subpara- 19 graph (A) and subject to paragraph (6), the 20 Secretary shall construct the project. 21 (C) TIMELINESS.—The Secretary shall 22 carry out feasibility studies and construction 23 phase activities under this subsection as expedi- 24 tiously as possible, including by concurrently 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3403 IS conducting project planning and construction 1 activities where advisable. 2 (6) COST.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 4 under subparagraph (B), not more than 5 $75,000,000 may be used for the Federal costs 6 of construction of a project under this sub- 7 section. 8 (B) SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATION.—The Sec- 9 retary may carry out a project under this sub- 10 section for which the Federal share of the cost 11 of the project exceeds $75,000,000 if Congress 12 provides a specific authorization for the project 13 prior to construction. 14 (7) COST-SHARE.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 16 other provision of law and subject to subpara- 17 graph (C), the Federal share of the cost of a 18 feasibility study or project carried out under 19 this subsection shall be 80 percent. 20 (B) INCLUSIONS.—Costs of a project car- 21 ried out under this subsection shall include the 22 costs of— 23 (i) design; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3403 IS (ii) design-related activities and data 1 gathering; 2 (iii) all land, easements, right-of-way 3 acquisitions, and borrow and disposal 4 areas, including related administrative 5 costs, required for construction and main- 6 tenance of the project; 7 (iv) costs to relocate compensable 8 public and private utilities; and 9 (v) construction and construction 10 management. 11 (C) ABILITY TO PAY.— 12 (i) IN GENERAL.—A cost-sharing 13 agreement for a project under this sub- 14 section shall be subject to the ability of the 15 affected community to pay. 16 (ii) DETERMINATION.—The ability of 17 an affected community to pay shall be de- 18 termined by the Secretary, in accordance 19 with procedures established by the Sec- 20 retary. 21 (iii) TREATMENT.—Any reduction in 22 the share of the affected community of the 23 cost of a project under this subsection in 24 accordance with clause (i) shall not be in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3403 IS cluded for purposes of the amount de- 1 scribed in paragraph (6)(A). 2 (8) TRANSFER.—On completion of a project 3 under this subsection, the Secretary shall transfer 4 ownership (including operation and maintenance re- 5 sponsibility) of the project, including any permanent 6 land and easements acquired for the project, to the 7 non-Federal interest. 8 (9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 There is authorized to be appropriated for planning, 10 design, and construction under this section 11 $500,000,000, to remain available until expended. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3403.IS S3403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS