II
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 128
To provide for the assumption of full ownership and control of the Inter-
national Outfall Interceptor in Nogales, Arizona, by the International
Boundary and Water Commission, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY30, 2023
Ms. S
INEMA(for herself and Mr. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To provide for the assumption of full ownership and control
of the International Outfall Interceptor in Nogales, Ari-
zona, by the International Boundary and Water Commis-
sion, 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 ‘‘Nogales Wastewater 4
Improvement Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. NOGALES WASTEWATER IMPROVEMENT. 6
(a) A
MENDMENT TO THE ACT OFJULY27, 1953.— 7
The first section of the Act of July 27, 1953 (67 Stat. 8
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•S 128 IS
195, chapter 242; 22 U.S.C. 277d–10), is amended by 1
striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘: Provided 2
further, That the equitable portion of the Nogales sanita-3
tion project for the city of Nogales, Arizona, shall be lim-4
ited to the costs directly associated with the treatment and 5
conveyance of the wastewater of the city and, to the extent 6
practicable, shall not include any costs directly associated 7
with the quality or quantity of wastewater originating in 8
Mexico.’’. 9
(b) N
OGALESSANITATIONPROJECT.— 10
(1) D
EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 11
(A) C
ITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the 12
City of Nogales, Arizona. 13
(B) C
OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commis-14
sion’’ means the United States Section of the 15
International Boundary and Water Commission. 16
(C) I
NTERNATIONAL OUTFALL INTER -17
CEPTOR.—The term ‘‘International Outfall In-18
terceptor’’ means the pipeline that conveys 19
wastewater from the United States-Mexico bor-20
der to the Nogales International Wastewater 21
Treatment Plant. 22
(D) N
OGALES INTERNATIONAL WASTE -23
WATER TREATMENT PLANT .—The term 24
‘‘Nogales International Wastewater Treatment 25
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•S 128 IS
Plant’’ means the wastewater treatment plant 1
that— 2
(i) is operated by the Commission; 3
(ii) is located in Rio Rico, Santa Cruz 4
County, Arizona, after manhole 99; and 5
(iii) treats sewage and wastewater 6
originating from— 7
(I) Nogales, Sonora, Mexico; and 8
(II) Nogales, Arizona. 9
(2) O
WNERSHIP AND CONTROL .— 10
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-11
graph (B) and in accordance with authority 12
under the Act of July 27, 1953 (67 Stat. 195, 13
chapter 242; 22 U.S.C. 277d–10 et seq.), on 14
transfer by donation from the City of the cur-15
rent stake of the City in the International Out-16
fall Interceptor to the Commission, the Com-17
mission shall enter into such agreements as are 18
necessary to assume full ownership and control 19
over the International Outfall Interceptor. 20
(B) A
GREEMENTS REQUIRED .—The Com-21
mission shall assume full ownership and control 22
over the International Outfall Interceptor under 23
subparagraph (A) after all applicable governing 24
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•S 128 IS
bodies in the State of Arizona, including the 1
City, have— 2
(i) signed memoranda of under-3
standing granting to the Commission ac-4
cess to existing easements for a right of 5
entry to the International Outfall Inter-6
ceptor for the life of the International Out-7
fall Interceptor; 8
(ii) entered into an agreement with re-9
spect to the flows entering the Inter-10
national Outfall Interceptor that are con-11
trolled by the City; and 12
(iii) agreed to work in good faith to 13
expeditiously enter into such other agree-14
ments as are necessary for the Commission 15
to operate and maintain the International 16
Outfall Interceptor. 17
(3) O
PERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE .— 18
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Beginning on the date 19
on which the Commission assumes full owner-20
ship and control of the International Outfall In-21
terceptor under paragraph (2)(A), but subject 22
to paragraph (5), the Commission shall be re-23
sponsible for the operations and maintenance of 24
the International Outfall Interceptor. 25
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•S 128 IS
(B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA -1
TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro-2
priated to the Commission to carry out this 3
paragraph, to remain available until ex-4
pended— 5
(i) $6,500,000 for fiscal year 2025; 6
and 7
(ii) not less than $2,500,000 for fiscal 8
year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter. 9
(4) D
EBRIS SCREEN.— 10
(A) D
EBRIS SCREEN REQUIRED .— 11
(i) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission 12
shall construct, operate, and maintain a 13
debris screen at Manhole One of the Inter-14
national Outfall Interceptor for inter-15
cepting debris and drug bundles coming to 16
the United States from Nogales, Sonora, 17
Mexico. 18
(ii) R
EQUIREMENT.—In constructing 19
and operating the debris screen under 20
clause (i), the Commission and the Com-21
missioner of U.S. Customs and Border 22
Protection shall coordinate— 23
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•S 128 IS
(I) the removal of drug bundles 1
and other illicit goods caught in the 2
debris screen; and 3
(II) other operations at the Inter-4
national Outfall Interceptor that re-5
quire coordination. 6
(B) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA -7
TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro-8
priated to the Commission, to remain available 9
until expended— 10
(i) for fiscal year 2025— 11
(I) $8,000,000 for construction 12
of the debris screen described in sub-13
paragraph (A)(i); and 14
(II) not less than $1,000,000 for 15
the operations and maintenance of the 16
debris screen described in subpara-17
graph (A)(i); and 18
(ii) not less than $1,000,000 for fiscal 19
year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter 20
for the operations and maintenance of the 21
debris screen described in subparagraph 22
(A)(i). 23
(5) L
IMITATION OF CLAIMS.—Chapter 171 and 24
section 1346(b) of title 28, United States Code 25
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•S 128 IS
(commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort Claims 1
Act’’), shall not apply to any claim arising from the 2
activities of the Commission in carrying out this 3
subsection, including any claim arising from dam-4
ages that result from overflow of the International 5
Outfall Interceptor due to excess inflow to the Inter-6
national Outfall Interceptor originating from 7
Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. 8
(c) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—This section (including the 9
amendments made by this section) takes effect on October 10
1, 2024. 11
Æ
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