POWER Our Reservoirs Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2731 To require assessments of opportunities to install and maintain floating photo- voltaic solar panels at Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers projects, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 19, 2023 Mr. TONKO (for himself and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To require assessments of opportunities to install and main- tain floating photovoltaic solar panels at Bureau of Rec- lamation and Corps of Engineers projects, 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 ‘‘Protect Our Waters 4 and Expand Renewables on Our Reservoirs Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘POWER Our Reservoirs Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2731 IH SEC. 2. FLOATING SOLAR ENERGY AT RECLAMATION 1 PROJECTS. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 4 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Reclamation. 5 (2) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec- 6 lamation project’’ means— 7 (A) any reclamation or irrigation project, 8 including incidental features of the project— 9 (i) that is authorized by the reclama- 10 tion laws; 11 (ii) that is constructed by the United 12 States pursuant to the reclamation laws; or 13 (iii) in connection with which there is 14 a repayment or water service contract exe- 15 cuted by the United States pursuant to the 16 reclamation laws; or 17 (B) any project constructed by the Sec- 18 retary of the Interior for the reclamation of 19 land. 20 (b) ASSESSMENT.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner, in con- 22 sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the rel- 23 evant National Laboratories of the Department of 24 Energy, shall conduct an assessment of opportuni- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2731 IH ties to install and maintain floating photovoltaic 1 solar panels at Reclamation projects. 2 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting the assess- 3 ment under paragraph (1), the Commissioner 4 shall— 5 (A) determine the economic, environ- 6 mental, and technical feasibility of installing 7 and maintaining, or contracting with third par- 8 ties to install and maintain, photovoltaic solar 9 panels at Reclamation projects; 10 (B)(i) identify Reclamation projects with a 11 high potential for the installation and mainte- 12 nance of floating photovoltaic solar panels, in- 13 cluding which Reclamation projects are likely to 14 have high cobenefits; and 15 (ii) determine whether the installation and 16 maintenance at Reclamation projects identified 17 under clause (i) would require additional au- 18 thorization; 19 (C) account for potential effects and bene- 20 fits on Reclamation projects and the authorized 21 purposes of the Reclamation projects of install- 22 ing and maintaining floating photovoltaic solar 23 panels at the Reclamation projects, including— 24 (i) evaporation suppression; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2731 IH (ii) energy yield; 1 (iii) dam safety; 2 (iv) recreation; 3 (v) water quality; and 4 (vi) fish and wildlife; 5 (D) account for potential damage to float- 6 ing photovoltaic solar panels from— 7 (i) weather; 8 (ii) water-level fluctuations; and 9 (iii) recreational and other uses of the 10 Reclamation projects; 11 (E)(i) identify methods to monetarily 12 quantify cobenefits of floating photovoltaic solar 13 panel projects; and 14 (ii) identify mechanisms to pass those ben- 15 efits to project developers, and assess whether 16 the use of such mechanisms may increase the 17 viability of floating photovoltaic solar panel 18 projects; and 19 (F) account for the availability of electric 20 grid infrastructure close to Reclamation 21 projects, including underutilized transmission 22 infrastructure. 23 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2731 IH Commissioner shall submit to Congress and make 1 publicly available (including on a publicly available 2 website) a report describing the results of the assess- 3 ment conducted under paragraph (1). 4 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 6 the date of enactment of this Act, if the Commis- 7 sioner determines, based on the results of the assess- 8 ment conducted under subsection (b), that estab- 9 lishing a pilot program is advisable, the Commis- 10 sioner shall establish a pilot program under which 11 the Commissioner, or an applicable non-Federal en- 12 tity that is acting in partnership with the Commis- 13 sioner, subject to paragraph (2), shall carry out 14 projects to deploy floating photovoltaic solar panels 15 at Reclamation projects identified under subsection 16 (b)(2)(B). 17 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to carry 18 out a project under paragraph (1), a non-Federal 19 entity shall— 20 (A) agree to invest in and deploy floating 21 photovoltaic solar panels at the applicable Rec- 22 lamation project; and 23 (B) have the authority to enter into agree- 24 ments, including through public-private partner- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2731 IH ships, for the purpose of carrying out the appli- 1 cable project under that paragraph. 2 (3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 3 the cost of carrying out a project under paragraph 4 (1)— 5 (A) shall not exceed 100 percent, in the 6 case of a project carried out by the Commis- 7 sioner; and 8 (B) shall not exceed 50 percent, in the 9 case of a project carried out by a non-Federal 10 entity, acting in partnership with the Commis- 11 sioner. 12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 13 authorized to be appropriated to the Commissioner to 14 carry out this section $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, 15 to remain available until expended. 16 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROJECT PURPOSES.—Nothing 17 in this section affects the authorized purposes of a Rec- 18 lamation project. 19 SEC. 3. FLOATING SOLAR ENERGY AT CORPS OF ENGI- 20 NEERS PROJECTS. 21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) CORPS OF ENGINEERS PROJECT.—The term 23 ‘‘Corps of Engineers project’’ means any water re- 24 sources development project— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2731 IH (A) constructed by the Secretary; or 1 (B) for which the Secretary has financial 2 or operational responsibility. 3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of the Army. 5 (b) SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS.—Beginning not later 6 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 7 Secretary shall include renewable energy from floating 8 photovoltaic solar panels as part of any sustainability re- 9 port and implementation plan of the Corps of Engineers. 10 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 12 the date of enactment of this Act, if supported by 13 the results of the assessment conducted under sub- 14 section (a) of section 8232 of the Water Resources 15 Development Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–263), 16 the Secretary shall establish a pilot program for the 17 deployment of floating photovoltaic solar panels at 18 Corps of Engineers projects identified under para- 19 graph (2)(B) of that subsection under which the 20 Secretary or an applicable non-Federal interest— 21 (A) agrees to invest in and deploy floating 22 photovoltaic solar panels; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2731 IH (B) may enter into agreements, including 1 through public-private partnerships, for the 2 purpose of carrying out such activities. 3 (2) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the 4 cost of a project carried out under this subsection 5 shall be— 6 (A) not more than 100 percent, in the case 7 of a project carried out by the Secretary; and 8 (B) not more than 50 percent, in the case 9 of a project carried out by a non-Federal inter- 10 est. 11 (d) FUNDING.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 13 out this section using amounts made available to the 14 Secretary to carry out section 8232 of the Water 15 Resources Development Act of 2022 (Public Law 16 117–263) that are not otherwise obligated. 17 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 18 addition to amounts made available under paragraph 19 (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to the 20 Secretary to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 21 fiscal year 2024, to remain available until expended. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2731 IH (e) NO EFFECT ON PROJECT PURPOSES.—Nothing 1 in this section affects the authorized purposes of a Corps 2 of Engineers project. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2731.IH H2731 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB