Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3918 To reauthorize the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin endangered fish and threatened fish recovery implementation programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 7, 2023 Mr. NEGUSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To reauthorize the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin endangered fish and threatened fish recovery im- plementation programs. 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 ‘‘Upper Colorado and 4 San Juan River Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Pro- 5 grams Reauthorization Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3918 IH SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF UPPER COLORADO AND SAN 1 JUAN RIVER BASIN ENDANGERED FISH AND 2 THREATENED FISH RECOVERY IMPLEMENTA- 3 TION PROGRAMS. 4 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 1 of Public Law 106–392 5 (114 Stat. 1602) is amended by inserting ‘‘and threat- 6 ened’’ after ‘‘endangered’’. 7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of Public Law 106–392 8 (114 Stat. 1602; 116 Stat. 3113) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘to implement 10 the Recovery Implementation Program for the En- 11 dangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River 12 dated September 29, 1987, and extended by the Ex- 13 tension of the Cooperative Agreement dated Decem- 14 ber 6, 2001, and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement to 15 implement the San Juan River Recovery Implemen- 16 tation Program dated October 21, 1992, and as they 17 may be amended’’ and inserting ‘‘for the Recovery 18 Implementation Program for Endangered Species in 19 the Upper Colorado River Basin dated September 20 29, 1987, and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement for 21 the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation 22 Program dated October 21, 1992, as the agreements 23 may be amended and extended’’; 24 (2) in paragraph (6)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3918 IH (A) by inserting ‘‘or threatened’’ after ‘‘en- 1 dangered’’; and 2 (B) by striking ‘‘removal or translocation’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘control’’; 4 (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘long-term’’ 5 each place it appears; 6 (4) in paragraph (8), in the second sentence, by 7 striking ‘‘1988 Cooperative Agreement and the 1992 8 Cooperative Agreement’’ and inserting ‘‘Recovery 9 Implementation Programs’’; 10 (5) in paragraph (9)— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘leases and agreements’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘acquisitions’’; 13 (B) by inserting ‘‘or threatened’’ after ‘‘en- 14 dangered’’; and 15 (C) by inserting ‘‘, as approved under the 16 Recovery Implementation Programs’’ after 17 ‘‘nonnative fishes’’; and 18 (6) in paragraph (10), by inserting ‘‘pursuant 19 to the Recovery Implementation Programs for En- 20 dangered Species in the Upper Colorado River 21 Basin’’ after ‘‘Service’’. 22 (c) AUTHORIZATION TO FUND RECOVERY PRO- 23 GRAMS.—Section 3 of Public Law 106–392 (114 Stat. 24 1603; 116 Stat. 3113; 120 Stat. 290; 123 Stat. 1310; 126 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3918 IH Stat. 2444; 133 Stat. 809) (as amended by section 101 1 of division CC of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2 2023 (Public Law 117–328)) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1), at the end, insert the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(4) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Each fiscal 7 year, the total amount authorized to be appropriated 8 under paragraph (1) shall be adjusted for inflation 9 from the date of enactment of the Upper Colorado 10 and San Juan River Basin Endangered Fish Recov- 11 ery Programs Reauthorization Act of 2023 to the 12 beginning of that fiscal year. 13 ‘‘(5) NONREIMBURSABLE FUNDS.—Amounts 14 made pursuant to paragraph (1)’’; 15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘for En- 16 dangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado 17 River Basin shall expire in fiscal year 2024’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘shall expire in fiscal year 2031’’; 19 and 20 (C) by striking paragraph (3); 21 (2) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and in- 22 serting the following: 23 ‘‘(b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAPITAL 24 PROJECTS.—The Secretary, acting through the Bureau of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3918 IH Reclamation, may accept contributed funds, interests in 1 land and water, or other contributions from the Upper Di- 2 vision States, political subdivisions of the Upper Division 3 States, or individuals, entities, or organizations within the 4 Upper Division States, pursuant to agreements that pro- 5 vide for the contributions to be used for capital projects 6 costs.’’; 7 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) through (j) 8 as subsections (c) through (i), respectively; 9 (4) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated)— 10 (A) in paragraph (2)— 11 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 12 ‘‘2024’’ and inserting ‘‘2031’’; 13 (ii) in the second sentence— 14 (I) by inserting ‘‘Basin’’ after 15 ‘‘San Juan River’’; and 16 (II) by striking ‘‘2024’’ and in- 17 serting ‘‘2031’’; and 18 (iii) in the third sentence, by striking 19 ‘‘in fiscal years commencing after the en- 20 actment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘for fis- 21 cal year 2024 and each fiscal year there- 22 after’’; and 23 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert- 24 ing the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3918 IH ‘‘(3) FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANNUAL 1 BASE FUNDING.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal 3 years 2024 through 2031, the Secretary, acting 4 through the Bureau of Reclamation, may accept 5 funds from other Federal agencies, including 6 power revenues collected pursuant to the Act of 7 April 11, 1956 (commonly known as the ‘‘Colo- 8 rado River Storage Project Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 9 620 et seq.). 10 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Funds 11 made available under subparagraph (A) shall be 12 available for expenditure by the Secretary, as 13 determined by the contributing agency and in 14 consultation with the Secretary. 15 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF POWER REVE- 16 NUES.—Any power revenues provided under 17 subparagraph (A) shall be treated as nonreim- 18 bursable Federal expenditures and as having 19 been repaid and returned to the general fund of 20 the Treasury. Funds provided by other Federal 21 agencies shall be considered as nonreimbursable 22 Federal expenditures. 23 ‘‘(4) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO AN- 24 NUAL BASE FUNDING.—The Secretary, acting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3918 IH through the Bureau of Reclamation, may accept con- 1 tributed funds from the Upper Division States, polit- 2 ical subdivisions of the Upper Division States, or in- 3 dividuals, entities, or organizations within the Upper 4 Division States, pursuant to agreements that provide 5 for the contributions to be used for annual base 6 funding. 7 ‘‘(5) REPLACEMENT POWER.—Contributions of 8 funds made pursuant to this subsection shall not in- 9 clude the cost of replacement power purchased to 10 offset modifications to the operation of the Colorado 11 River Storage Project to benefit threatened or en- 12 dangered fish species under the Recovery Implemen- 13 tation Programs.’’; 14 (5) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated)— 15 (A) in the first sentence, by striking 16 ‘‘funds for’’ and inserting ‘‘or contributed funds 17 for base funding or’’; and 18 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting 19 ‘‘and base funded’’ after ‘‘capital’’; 20 (6) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated), in the 21 first sentence, by inserting ‘‘or threatened’’ after 22 ‘‘endangered’’; 23 (7) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated), by 24 striking ‘‘unless the time period for the respective 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3918 IH Cooperative Agreement is extended to conform with 1 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘, as amended or extended’’; 2 (8) in subsection (h) (as so redesignated), in 3 the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Upper Colorado 4 River Endangered Fish Recovery Program or the 5 San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation 6 Program’’ and inserting ‘‘Recovery Implementation 7 Programs’’; and 8 (9) in subsection (i)(1) (as so redesignated)— 9 (A) by striking ‘‘2022’’ each place it ap- 10 pears and inserting ‘‘2031’’; 11 (B) by striking ‘‘2024’’ each place it ap- 12 pears and inserting ‘‘2031’’; and 13 (C) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(III), by strik- 14 ing ‘‘contributions by the States, power cus- 15 tomers, Tribes, water users, and environmental 16 organizations’’ and inserting ‘‘non-Federal con- 17 tributions’’. 18 (d) REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON TRAVEL FOR ADVO- 19 CACY PURPOSES.—Section 5 of Public Law 106–392 (126 20 Stat. 2444) is repealed. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Aug 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3918.IH H3918 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB