S.Amdt. 6043

SA 6043, submitted by Mr. Padilla, is an amendment to bill S. 4784. Its purpose is to reauthorize and modify various water-related programs and establish a process for removing inactive projects from the books.

The amendment aims to change or add the following to the bill:

Water Program Reauthorizations and Changes

• Large-scale Water Recycling and Reuse Program: Adds feasibility studies to the planning process, increases certain timeframes from 30 to 60, and extends the program duration from 5 years to 10 years (except for projects already under construction).
• Recycling and Environmental Restoration Programs: Reauthorizes specific sections of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to expire 15 years after enactment.
• Funding Ceiling: Increases the federal share ceiling for water recycling projects from $20 million (1996 prices) to $50 million (December 2025 prices), with annual adjustments based on the consumer price index.
• Environmental Support: Allows the Secretary of the Interior to enter into agreements from fiscal years 2028 through 2032 for:
  • Restoration of the Great Salt Lake and other saline inland lakes.
  • Habitat restoration, fish passage improvements, and monitoring for the Sacramento River and other basins to benefit endangered species like Chinook salmon and steelhead trout.
  • Modernizing fish hatcheries and improving structural or operational controls.
  • Planning, design, and environmental reviews for these activities.

Deauthorization of Inactive Projects

• Creates a process to identify and remove "Reclamation projects" (U.S.-owned projects operated by the Bureau of Reclamation) that have not received funding for the current fiscal year or the previous 7 years.
• Requires the Secretary to publish an interim deauthorization list and later a final deauthorization list on a public website.
• Allows the Secretary to exclude projects from the final list if they are deemed vitally important for public health, safety, the economy, or the environment.
• Projects on the final list will be officially deauthorized unless Congress passes a resolution against it, provides funding, or a non-Federal sponsor pays to complete the project.