Senate bill would renew Western water recycling and habitat programs and deauthorize long-unfunded Reclamation projects

The bill would add feasibility studies to what the large-scale water recycling and reuse grant program covers and change two time limits in that section. It changes subsection (d)(4) from 30 to 60 and subsection (k) from 5 to 10, except for any project under construction as of that date. The excerpt does not show what the changed numbers measure.

The bill would raise the ceiling on the federal share of a water recycling project from $20 million to $50 million, adjusted each year for inflation. It amends section 1631(d)(1) of the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act, changing $20,000,000 in October 1996 prices to $50,000,000 in December 2025 prices. It also sets certain provisions of the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to expire 15 years after that act's enactment.

The Interior Secretary, through the Bureau of Reclamation, may carry out or sign cooperative agreements for habitat and species recovery work from fiscal year 2028 through 2032. The work covers the Great Salt Lake and other saline inland lakes, Sacramento River fish habitat and passage, real-time monitoring tied to Shasta Dam operations, floodplain restoration, and fish hatcheries. Work at the Great Salt Lake in Utah may be done only at the request of, and in agreement with, the State of Utah. This covers fiscal years 2028 through 2032.

The Secretary would publish lists of authorized Reclamation projects that have received no money for eight fiscal years, and those on the final list would be deauthorized. Projects are on the list if no funding was appropriated in the year of enactment or the 7 years before. Each entry includes its authorization date, description, completion cost, and remaining authorized amount. A project is not deauthorized if Congress funds it, the non-Federal sponsor pays to complete it, or a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted. The Secretary may leave off projects found vitally important for public health and safety, the economy, or the environment. An interim list is due within 1 year of enactment and a final list within 1 year after that. Deauthorization takes effect 2 years after the final list.