Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4530 To establish a Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program within the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 13, 2020 Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To establish a Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program within the Department of the Interior, 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 ‘‘Snow Water Supply 4 Forecasting Program Authorization Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4530 IS (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 1 the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program estab- 2 lished by section 3. 3 (2) RECLAMATION STATE.—The term ‘‘Rec- 4 lamation State’’ means a State or territory described 5 in the first section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 6 Stat. 388, chapter 1093; 43 U.S.C. 391). 7 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8 the Secretary of the Interior. 9 SEC. 3. SNOW WATER SUPPLY FORECASTING PROGRAM. 10 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.—The Snow Water 11 Supply Forecasting Program is hereby established within 12 the Department of the Interior. 13 (b) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.—To implement the 14 program, the Secretary shall— 15 (1) develop the program framework in coordina- 16 tion with other Federal agencies pursuant to section 17 4, culminating in the report required under section 18 4(c); and 19 (2) after submitting the report required by sec- 20 tion 4(c), implement activities to improve snowpack 21 measurement in particular watersheds pursuant to 22 section 5. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4530 IS SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM FRAMEWORK IN CO- 1 ORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGEN- 2 CIES. 3 (a) SNOWPACK MEASUREMENT DATA.—When deter- 4 mining water supply forecasts or allocations to Federal 5 water contractors, the Secretary, acting through the Com- 6 missioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, shall incorporate, 7 to the greatest extent practicable, information from 8 emerging technologies for snowpack measurement, such 9 as— 10 (1) synthetic aperture radar; 11 (2) laser altimetry; and 12 (3) other emerging technologies that the Sec- 13 retary determines are likely to provide more accurate 14 or timely snowpack measurement data. 15 (b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 16 the Secretary shall coordinate data use and collection ef- 17 forts with other Federal agencies that use or may benefit 18 from the use of emerging technologies for snowpack meas- 19 urement. 20 (c) EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES REPORT.—Not later 21 than October 1, 2021, the Secretary shall submit to Con- 22 gress a report that— 23 (1) summarizes the use of emerging tech- 24 nologies pursuant to this section; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4530 IS (2) describes benefits derived from the use of 1 technologies summarized under paragraph (1) re- 2 lated to the environment and increased water supply 3 reliability; and 4 (3) describes how Federal agencies will coordi- 5 nate to implement emerging technologies. 6 SEC. 5. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION. 7 (a) ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTING FRAMEWORK.—After 8 submitting the report required under section 4(c), the Sec- 9 retary shall participate with program partners in imple- 10 menting activities to improve snowpack measurement in 11 particular watersheds. 12 (b) FOCUS.—The program shall focus on activities 13 that will maintain, establish, expand, or advance snowpack 14 measurement consistent with the report required by sec- 15 tion 4(c), with an emphasis on— 16 (1) enhancing activities in river basins to 17 achieve improved snow and water supply forecasting 18 results; 19 (2) activities in river basins where snow water 20 supply forecasting related activities described in this 21 section are not occurring on the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4530 IS (3) demonstrating or testing new, or improving 1 existing, snow and water supply forecasting tech- 2 nology. 3 (c) INFORMATION SHARING.—The Secretary may 4 provide information collected and analyzed under this Act 5 to program partners through appropriate mechanisms, in- 6 cluding interagency agreements with Federal agencies, 7 States, State agencies, or a combination thereof, leases, 8 contracts, cooperative agreements, grants, loans, and 9 memoranda of understanding. 10 (d) PROGRAM PARTNERS.—Program partners with 11 whom the Secretary enters into cooperative agreements 12 pursuant to subsection (e) may include water districts, ir- 13 rigation districts, water associations, universities, State 14 agencies, other Federal agencies, private sector entities, 15 non-governmental organizations, and other entities, as de- 16 termined by the Secretary. 17 (e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 18 may— 19 (1) enter into cooperative agreements with pro- 20 gram partners to allow the program to be adminis- 21 tered efficiently and cost effectively through cost- 22 sharing or by providing additional in-kind resources 23 necessary for program implementation; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4530 IS (2) provide nonreimbursable matching funding 1 for programmatic and operational activities under 2 this section in consultation with program partners. 3 (f) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—Nothing in this Act 4 shall modify any obligation of the Secretary to comply with 5 applicable Federal and State environmental laws in car- 6 rying out this Act. 7 SEC. 6. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION REPORT. 8 Not later than 4 years after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to 10 the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee 11 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 12 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the 13 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, that in- 14 cludes— 15 (1) a list of basins and sub-basins for which 16 snowpack measurement technologies are being used 17 under the program, including a description of each 18 technology used; and 19 (2) a list of Federal agencies and program part- 20 ners participating in each basin or sub-basin listed 21 in paragraph (1). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4530 IS SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 2 retary to carry out this Act $15,000,000, in the aggregate, 3 for fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4530.IS S4530 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS