IB
Union Calendar No. 37
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 331
[Report No. 119–60]
To amend the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act to clarify a provision relating
to conveyances for aquifer recharge purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY13, 2025
Mr. F
ULCHER(for himself and Mr. SIMPSON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A
PRIL17, 2025
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 13, 2025]
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•HR 331 RH
A BILL
To amend the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act to clarify
a provision relating to conveyances for aquifer recharge
purposes.
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•HR 331 RH
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE FOR AQUIFER RECHARGE PUR-3
POSES. 4
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subsection (c)(3) of the Aquifer Re-5
charge Flexibility Act (43 U.S.C. 390g–9) is amended— 6
(1) by striking ‘‘The holder’’ and inserting the 7
following: 8
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The holder’’; 9
(2) in subparagraph (A) (as so designated), by 10
striking ‘‘may transport water for aquifer recharge 11
purposes without requiring additional authorization 12
from the Secretary where the use does not expand or 13
modify the operation’’ and inserting ‘‘may, acting for 14
the holder or on behalf of a State, political subdivi-15
sion of a State, Indian Tribe, or public entity and 16
subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), use the existing 17
right-of-way, easement, permit, or other authorization 18
for the purpose of aquifer recharge and the transport 19
and use of water rights for aquifer recharge without 20
requiring additional authorization from the Sec-21
retary, which use shall not be considered an expan-22
sion, modification, or substantial deviation’’; and 23
(3) by adding at the end the following: 24
‘‘(B) N
OTICE REQUIRED.— 25
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•HR 331 RH
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 30 1
days before using an existing right-of-way, 2
easement, permit, or other authorization for 3
the purpose of aquifer recharge under sub-4
paragraph (A), the holder of the right-of- 5
way, easement, permit, or other authoriza-6
tion shall submit to the Bureau of Land 7
Management notice of the intended use, in 8
accordance with clause (ii). 9
‘‘(ii) R
EQUIREMENTS.—A notice sub-10
mitted under clause (i) shall— 11
‘‘(I) identify the State, political 12
subdivision of the State, Indian Tribe, 13
or public entity intending to use the 14
existing right-of-way, easement, per-15
mit, or other authorization for the pur-16
pose of aquifer recharge; 17
‘‘(II) identify the existing right-of- 18
way, easement, permit, other author-19
ization, or recognized authorized use 20
for ditches and canals constructed on 21
public land before or on October 21, 22
1976, under the authority of sections 23
2339 and 2340 of the Revised Statutes 24
(43 U.S.C. 661) intended to be used; 25
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•HR 331 RH
‘‘(III) provide details on the in-1
tended use and scope of use for the 2
purpose of aquifer recharge of the exist-3
ing right-of-way, easement, permit, or 4
other authorization; and 5
‘‘(IV) provide a copy of the agree-6
ment between the State, political sub-7
division of the State, Indian Tribe, or 8
public entity and the holder of the 9
right-of-way, easement, permit, or 10
other authorization to use the existing 11
right-of-way, easement, permit, or 12
other authorization for the purpose of 13
aquifer recharge.’’. 14
(b) E
FFECT.—Subsection (c)(4) of the Aquifer Re-15
charge Flexibility Act (43 U.S.C. 390g–9) is amended— 16
(1) by striking ‘‘Act creates’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-17
tion— 18
‘‘(A) creates’’; 19
(2) in subparagraph (A) (as so designated), by 20
striking the period at the end and inserting a semi-21
colon; and 22
(3) by adding at the end of the following: 23
‘‘(B) waives the obligation of the holder of 24
a right-of-way, easement, permit, or other au-25
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•HR 331 RH
thorization described in paragraph (3)(A) to 1
comply with all applicable— 2
‘‘(i) Federal laws; and 3
‘‘(ii) policies of the Bureau; or 4
‘‘(C) provides authority to construct, mod-5
ify, or expand any existing infrastructure cov-6
ered under subsection (c)(3).’’. 7
(c) T
ECHNICALAMENDMENTS.—The Aquifer Recharge 8
Flexibility Act (43 U.S.C. 390g–9) is amended in each of 9
subsections (a) and (c)(5) by striking ‘‘Act’’ each place it 10
appears and inserting ‘‘section’’. 11
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kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No.
37
119
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
H. R. 331
[Report No. 119–60]
A BILL
To amend the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act to
clarify a provision relating to conveyances for aq-
uifer recharge purposes.
A
PRIL
17, 2025
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H331.RH H331
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB