93D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 7775 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 1973 Mr. JOHNSON of California. (for himself, Mr. HoSMER, Mr. RONCALIO of Wyoming, Mr. TowELL of Nevada, Mr. McKAY, Mr. KETCHUM, Mr. RUNNELS, Mr. HINSHAW, Mrs. BURKE of California, Mr. CONLAN, Mr. OWENS, and Mr. MOORHEAD of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to execute a program 1 of salinity control for the Colorado River, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 4 SEC. 101. That this Act may be cited as the "Colorado 5 River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1973". 6 SEC. 102. (a) In recognition of the problems caused by 7 the increasing concentration of dissolved solids in the waters 8 of the main stem of the Colorado River downstream from Lee 9 Ferry, and to preserve the general welfare of the citizens of I 31-174 O 74 - 4 2 1 the Nation, interstate harmony, and international comity 2 with Mexico, it is the objective of this Act to provide a pro 3 4 gram for salinity control in the Colorado River Basin. (b) It is the policy of Congress that the Secretary of 5 the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") 6 shall implement the salinity control policy adopted for the 7 Colorado River in the "Conclusions and Recommendations" 8 published in the Proceedings of the Reconvened Seventh 9 Session of the Conference in the Matter of Pollution of the 10 Interstate Waters of the Colorado River and Its Tributaries 11 in the States of California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, 12 New Mexico, and Wyoming, held in Denver, Colorado on 13 April 26-27, 1972, under the authority of section 10 of the 14 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1160), 15 and approved by the Administrator of the Environmental 16 Protection Agency on June 9, 1972. 17 (c) The Secretary is hereby directed to expedite the in18 vestigation, planning, and implementation of the salinity 19 control program generally as described in chapter VI of the 20 Secretary's report entitled, "Colorado River Water Quality 21 Improvement Program, February 1972". 223 (d) In conformity with section 102 (b) of this Act 23 and the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency 24 under Federal laws, the Secretary and the Administrator of 25 the Environmental Protection Agency are directed to co 3 1 operate and coordinate their activities to effectively carry 2 out the objective of this Act. 3 4 5 TITLE II-INITIAL STAGE SEC. 201. In conformity with sections 102 (b) and 102 (c) of this Act, the Secretary is authorized to construct the 6 following salinity control units as the initial stage of the 7 Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program: La Verkin 8 Springs, Paradox Valley, and Grand Valley. 9 10 11 TITLE III-CONTINUING PROGRAM SEC. 301. The Secretary is authorized and directed to: (a) Expedite completion of the planning reports on 12 the following units, of which (1) through (3) are described 13 in the Secretary's report, "Colorado River Water Quality 14 Improvement Program, February 1972." 7 4 San Rafael River; Dirty Devil River; McElmo Creek; and Big Sandy River. (4) Saline water collection system of Las Vegas Wash. (b) Submit each planning report on the units named 8 in section 301 (a) of this Act promptly to the Colorado 9 River Basin States and to such other parties as the Secre10 tary deems appropriate for their review and comments. After 11 receipt of comments on a unit and careful consideration 12 thereof, the Secretary shall submit each final report with his 13 recommendations to the President, other concerned Federal 14 departments and agencies, the Congress, and the Colorado River Basin States. 15 16 17 SEC. 302. The Secretary is directed: (a) In the investigation, planning, construction, and 18 implementation of any salinity control unit involving control 19 of salinity from irrigation sources, to cooperate with the Sec20 retary of Agriculture in carrying out research and demon21 stration projects and in implementing on-the-farm improve22 ments and farm management practices and programs which 23 will further the objective of this Act. 24 (b) To undertake research on additional methods for 25 accomplishing the objective of this Act, utilizing to the fullest 5 1 extent practicable the capabilities and resources of other 2 Federal departments and agencies, interstate institutions, 3 States, and private organizations. 4 5 TITLE IV-ADVISORY COUNCIL SEC. 401. (a) There is hereby created the Colorado 6 River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council composed of 7 no more than three members from each State appointed by 8 the Governor of each of the Colorado River Basin States. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (b) The Council shall be advisory only and shall: the Administrator of the Environmental Protection (2) receive reports from the Secretary on the progress of the salinity control program and review and comment on said reports; and (3) recommend to both the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency appropriate studies of further projects, techniques, or methods for accomplishing the purposes of this Act. 21 TITLE V-ALLOCATION OF COSTS, REPAYMENTS SEC. 501. The Secretary shall allocate the total costs 22 23 of each unit or separable feature thereof authorized by section 24 201 of this Act, as follows: |