Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2023

II Calendar No. 661 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1898 [Report No. 118–259] To amend the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act to make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 8, 2023 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Mr. HEINRICH, and Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on In- dian Affairs DECEMBER 4, 2024 Reported by Mr. SCHATZ, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend the Northwestern New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act to make improvements to that Act, 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 ‘‘Navajo-Gallup Water 4 Supply Project Amendments Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1898 RS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 Section 10302 of the Northwestern New Mexico 2 Rural Water Projects Act (43 U.S.C. 407 note; Public 3 Law 111–11) is amended— 4 (1) by striking paragraph (29); 5 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (12), (13), 6 (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), 7 (23), (24), (25), (26), (27), (28), and (30) as para- 8 graphs (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), 9 (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (27), (28), (30), (31), 10 and (32), respectively; 11 (3) by inserting after paragraph (11) the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(12) DEFERRED CONSTRUCTION FUND.—The 14 term ‘Deferred Construction Fund’ means the Nav- 15 ajo Nation’s Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project 16 Deferred Construction Fund established by section 17 10602(i)(1)(A).’’; 18 (4) in paragraph (14) (as so redesignated)— 19 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 20 ‘‘DRAFT’’ and inserting ‘‘FINAL ENVIRON- 21 MENTAL’’; 22 (B) by striking ‘‘Draft Impact’’ and insert- 23 ing ‘‘Final Environmental’’; 24 (C) by striking ‘‘draft environmental’’ and 25 inserting ‘‘final environmental’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1898 RS (D) by striking ‘‘March 2007’’ and insert- 1 ing ‘‘July 6, 2009’’; 2 (5) in paragraph (19) (as so redesignated), by 3 striking ‘‘Draft’’ and inserting ‘‘Final Environ- 4 mental’’; 5 (6) by inserting after paragraph (25) (as so re- 6 designated) the following: 7 ‘‘(26) PROJECT SERVICE AREA.—The term 8 ‘Project Service Area’ means the area that encom- 9 passes the 43 Nation chapters, the southwest por- 10 tion of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, and the 11 City that is identified to be served by the Project, 12 as illustrated in figure IV–5 (Drawing No. 1695– 13 406–49) of the Final Environmental Impact State- 14 ment.’’; 15 (7) by inserting after paragraph (28) (as so re- 16 designated) the following: 17 ‘‘(29) SETTLEMENT TRUST FUNDS.—The term 18 ‘Settlement Trust Funds’ means— 19 ‘‘(A) the Navajo Nation Water Resources 20 Development Trust Fund established by sub- 21 section (a)(1) of section 10702; 22 ‘‘(B) the Navajo Nation Operations, Main- 23 tenance, and Replacement Trust Fund estab- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1898 RS lished under subsection (b)(1) of that section; 1 and 2 ‘‘(C) the Jicarilla Apache Nation Oper- 3 ations, Maintenance, and Replacement Trust 4 Fund established under subsection (c)(2) of 5 that section.’’; and 6 (8) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(33) WORKING COST ESTIMATE.—The term 8 ‘Working Cost Estimate’ means the Bureau of Rec- 9 lamation document entitled ‘NGWSP October 2022 10 WCE’ and dated February 26, 2023, that details the 11 costs totaling $2,138,387,000, at the October 2022 12 price level, of the Project, as configured on that 13 date.’’. 14 SEC. 3. NAVAJO-GALLUP WATER SUPPLY PROJECT. 15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF NAVAJO-GALLUP WATER 16 SUPPLY PROJECT.—Section 10602 of the Northwestern 17 New Mexico Rural Water Projects Act (Public Law 111– 18 11; 123 Stat. 1379) is amended— 19 (1) in subsection (a)— 20 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 21 ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘AUTHORIZA- 22 TION’’; 23 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in- 24 serting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1898 RS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; 1 (C) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 2 striking ‘‘Draft Impact Statement’’ and insert- 3 ing ‘‘Final Environmental Impact Statement, as 4 further refined in, and including the facilities 5 identified in, the Working Cost Estimate and 6 any subsequent supplemental documents pre- 7 pared in accordance with the National Environ- 8 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 9 seq.).’’; and 10 (D) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL SERVICE AREAS.— 12 ‘‘(A) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 13 ‘‘(i) expanding the Project Service 14 Area would create opportunities to increase 15 service for additional Nation Tribal mem- 16 bers and would not increase the cost of the 17 Project beyond authorization levels de- 18 scribed in section 10609(a); and 19 ‘‘(ii) the unit operations and mainte- 20 nance costs of the Project would be re- 21 duced by adding more customers to the 22 Project. 23 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL 24 PROJECT SERVICE AREAS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1898 RS ‘‘(i) NEW MEXICO.—In addition to de- 1 livering water supply from the Project to 2 the Nation communities in the San Juan 3 River Basin, the Nation may expand the 4 Project Service Area in order to deliver 5 water supply from the Project to commu- 6 nities of the Nation within the Rio San 7 Jose Basin, New Mexico. 8 ‘‘(ii) ARIZONA.—In addition to deliv- 9 ering water supply from the Project to the 10 Nation communities of Fort Defiance and 11 Window Rock, Arizona, and subject to sec- 12 tion 10603(c)(1), the Nation may expand 13 the Project Service Area in order to deliver 14 water supply from the Project to the Na- 15 tion community of Lupton, Arizona, within 16 the Little Colorado River Basin, Arizona.’’; 17 (2) in subsection (b)— 18 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 19 (1)— 20 (i) by inserting ‘‘acquire,’’ before 21 ‘‘construct,’’; and 22 (ii) by striking ‘‘Draft Impact State- 23 ment’’ and inserting ‘‘Final Environmental 24 Impact Statement, as further refined in, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1898 RS and including the facilities identified in, 1 the Working Cost Estimate and any subse- 2 quent supplemental documents prepared in 3 accordance with the National Environ- 4 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 5 4321 et seq.)’’; 6 (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert- 7 ing the following: 8 ‘‘(1) The water conveyance and storage facili- 9 ties associated with the San Juan Generating Sta- 10 tion (the coal-fired, 4-unit electric power plant and 11 ancillary features located by the San Juan Mine 12 near Waterflow, New Mexico), including the diver- 13 sion dam, the intake structure, the river pumping 14 plant, the pipeline from the river to the reservoir, 15 the dam and associated reservoir, and any associated 16 land, or interest in land, or ancillary features.’’; 17 (C) in paragraph (2)(A)— 18 (i) by striking ‘‘River near Kirtland, 19 New Mexico,’’ and inserting ‘‘Generating 20 Station Reservoir’’; and 21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘generally’’ before 22 ‘‘follows United States Highway 491’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1898 RS (D) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 1 ‘‘generally’’ before ‘‘follows United States High- 2 way 550’’; and 3 (E) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘(in- 4 cluding any reservoir facility)’’ after ‘‘treatment 5 facility’’; 6 (3) in subsection (c)— 7 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 8 ‘‘AND FACILITIES’’ after ‘‘LAND’’; 9 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘any 10 land or interest in land that is’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘any land or facilities, or interest in land or fa- 12 cilities, that are’’; and 13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(4) LAND TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On satisfaction of the 16 conditions described in paragraph (7) of the 17 Agreement and after the requirements of sec- 18 tions 10701(e) and 10703 are met, the Sec- 19 retary shall take legal title to the following land 20 and, subject to subparagraph (D), hold that 21 land in trust for the benefit of the Nation: 22 ‘‘(i) Fee land of the Nation, includ- 23 ing— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1898 RS ‘‘(I) the parcels of land on which 1 the Tohlakai Pumping Plant, Reach 2 12A and Reach 12B, are located, in- 3 cluding, in McKinley County, New 4 Mexico— 5 ‘‘(aa) sec. 5, T. 16 N., R. 18 6 W., New Mexico Prime Meridian; 7 and 8 ‘‘(bb) sec. 33, T. 17 N., R. 9 17 W., New Mexico Prime Merid- 10 ian (except lot 9 and the NW1⁄4 11 of lot 4); 12 ‘‘(II) the parcel of land on which 13 Reach 12.1 is located, including— 14 ‘‘(aa) NW1⁄4 and SW1⁄4 sec. 15 5, T. 16 N., R. 18 W.; 16 ‘‘(bb) N1⁄2 sec. 11, T. 16 N., 17 R. 19 W.; and 18 ‘‘(cc) sec. 12, T. 16 N., R. 19 20 W.; and 20 ‘‘(III) the parcel of land on which 21 Reach 12.2 is located, including 22 NW1⁄4. sec. 2, T. 16 N., R. 21 W. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1898 RS ‘‘(ii) Public domain land managed by 1 the Bureau of Land Management, includ- 2 ing— 3 ‘‘(I) the parcel of land on which 4 the Cutter Lateral Water Treatment 5 Plant is located, including S1⁄2 sec. 9, 6 T. 25 N., R. 9 W., New Mexico Prime 7 Meridian; and 8 ‘‘(II) the parcel of land on which 9 the Navajo Agricultural Products In- 10 dustry turnout is located, including 11 NW1⁄4 and NE1⁄4 sec. 34, T. 26 N., 12 R. 9 W., New Mexico Prime Meridian. 13 ‘‘(iii) The land underlying the San 14 Juan Generating Station (the coal-fired, 4- 15 unit electric power plant and ancillary fea- 16 tures located by the San Juan Mine near 17 Waterflow, New Mexico) acquired by the 18 United States, as described in subsection 19 (b)(1). 20 ‘‘(B) PART OF NAVAJO NATION.—The land 21 taken into trust under subparagraph (A) shall 22 be part of the Navajo Reservation and adminis- 23 tered in accordance with the laws and regula- 24 tions generally applicable to land held in trust 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1898 RS by the United States for the benefit of an In- 1 dian Tribe. 2 ‘‘(C) RESTRICTIONS.— 3 ‘‘(i) FEE LAND OF THE NATION.—The 4 fee land of the Nation taken into trust 5 under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be subject 6 to valid existing rights, contracts, and 7 management agreements, including ease- 8 ments and rights-of-way, unless the holder 9 of the right, contract, lease, permit, or 10 right-of-way requests an earlier termi- 11 nation in accordance with existing law. 12 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC DOMAIN LAND.— 13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The public 14 domain land managed by the Bureau 15 of Land Management taken into trust 16 under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be 17 subject to valid existing rights, con- 18 tracts, leases, permits, and rights-of- 19 way, unless the holder of the right, 20 contract, lease, permit, or right-of-way 21 requests an earlier termination in ac- 22 cordance with existing law. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1898 RS ‘‘(II) BIA ASSUMPTION OF BENE- 1 FITS AND OBLIGATIONS.—The Bureau 2 of Indian Affairs shall— 3 ‘‘(aa) assume all benefits 4 and obligations of the previous 5 land management agency under 6 the existing rights, contracts, 7 leases, permits, or rights-of-way 8 described in subclause (I); and 9 ‘‘(bb) disburse to the Nation 10 any amounts that accrue to the 11 United States from those rights, 12 contracts, leases, permits, or 13 rights-of-ways after the date on 14 which the land described in 15 clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) is 16 taken into trust for the benefit of 17 the Nation from any sale, bonus, 18 royalty, or rental relating to that 19 land in the same manner as 20 amounts received from other land 21 held by the Secretary in trust for 22 the Nation. 23 ‘‘(iii) LAND UNDERLYING THE SAN 24 JUAN GENERATING STATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1898 RS ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The land un- 1 derlying the San Juan Generating 2 Station (the coal-fired, 4-unit electric 3 power plant and ancillary features lo- 4 cated by the San Juan Mine near Wa- 5 terflow, New Mexico) taken into trust 6 under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall be 7 subject to a perpetual easement on 8 and over all of the land underlying the 9 San Juan Generating Station reserved 10 to the United States for use by the 11 Bureau of Reclamation and its con- 12 tractors and assigns— 13 ‘‘(aa) for ingress and egress; 14 ‘‘(bb) to continue construc- 15 tion of the Project; and 16 ‘‘(cc) for operation and 17 maintenance of Project facilities 18 located on that land. 19 ‘‘(II) RESERVED PERPETUAL 20 EASEMENT.—The reserved perpetual 21 easement described in subclause (I) 22 shall remain vested in the United 23 States unless title to the Project fa- 24 cilities and appropriate interests in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Dec 05, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1898.RS S1898 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1898 RS land are conveyed pursuant to sub- 1 section (f). 2 ‘‘(D) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this 3 paragraph affects any— 4 ‘‘(i) water right of the Nation in exist- 5 ence on the day before the date of enact- 6 ment of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply 7 Project Amendments Act of 2023; and 8 ‘‘(ii) right or claim of the Nation to 9 any land or inter [Text truncated for display. 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