| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1242 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to carry out watershed pilots, |
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| 6 | 6 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | APRIL1 (legislative day, MARCH31), 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. W |
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| 10 | 10 | | YDENintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred |
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| 11 | 11 | | to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to carry out |
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| 14 | 14 | | watershed pilots, and for other purposes. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Watershed Results 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Act’’. 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | In this Act: 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) A |
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| 23 | 23 | | DVANCE WATERSHED ANALYTICS .—The 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | term ‘‘advance watershed analytics’’ means the tech-9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | nical analysis that— 10 |
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| 27 | 27 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 29 | 29 | | (A) is conducted before providing funding 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | for a watershed outcomes project; 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (B) identifies and quantifies the outcomes 3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | and costs of all potential qualifying activities 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | across the watershed outcomes project; and 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (C) assesses how different groups of quali-6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | fying activities in the watershed outcomes 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | project could efficiently maximize outcomes for 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | the least cost. 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (2) A |
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| 39 | 39 | | PPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON -10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | gress’’ means— 12 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 13 |
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| 43 | 43 | | Resources of the Senate; and 14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | of the House of Representatives. 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (3) E |
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| 47 | 47 | | LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ty’’ includes— 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (A) a State, Indian Tribe, Tribal organiza-19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | tion, irrigation district, or water district; 20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (B) a State, regional, or local authority, 21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | the members of which include 1 or more organi-22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | zations with water or power delivery authority; 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (C) any other organization with water or 24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | power delivery authority; and 25 |
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| 57 | 57 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 59 | 59 | | (D) any nongovernmental entity. 1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (4) P |
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| 61 | 61 | | AY-FOR-PERFORMANCE CONTRACT .—The 2 |
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| 62 | 62 | | term ‘‘pay-for-performance contract’’ means a con-3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | tract to purchase verified outcomes produced by im-4 |
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| 64 | 64 | | plemented qualifying activities in a watershed out-5 |
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| 65 | 65 | | comes project at a negotiated price. 6 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (5) Q |
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| 67 | 67 | | UALIFYING ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘quali-7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | fying activity’’ means a conservation project carried 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | out in a watershed identified through advance water-9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | shed analytics as having a high likelihood of cost-ef-10 |
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| 71 | 71 | | fectively achieving 1 or more outcomes if implement 11 |
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| 72 | 72 | | consistent with applicable performance standards 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | made available under section 3(e)(4). 13 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (6) R |
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| 75 | 75 | | ECLAMATION STATE .—The term ‘‘Rec-14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | lamation State’’ means— 15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (A) a State or territory described in the 16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | first section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | Stat. 388, chapter 1093; 43 U.S.C. 391); 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (B) the State of Hawaii; 19 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (C) the State of Alaska; and 20 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (D) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 21 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (7) S |
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| 84 | 84 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | Commissioner of Reclamation. 24 |
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| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 90 | 90 | | (8) WATERSHED OUTCOMES PROJECT .—The 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | term ‘‘watershed outcomes project’’ means the over-2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | all watershed project managed by the watershed 3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | partner. 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (9) W |
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| 95 | 95 | | ATERSHED PARTNER .—The term ‘‘water-5 |
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| 96 | 96 | | shed partner’’ means an eligible entity selected by 6 |
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| 97 | 97 | | the Secretary under section 3(a)(2) to carry out a 7 |
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| 98 | 98 | | watershed outcomes project. 8 |
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| 99 | 99 | | SEC. 3. WATERSHED OUTCOMES PROJECTS. 9 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (a) P |
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| 101 | 101 | | ROPOSALS; SELECTION.—The Secretary shall— 10 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en-11 |
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| 103 | 103 | | actment of this Act, solicit the submission from eligi-12 |
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| 104 | 104 | | ble entities of proposals to develop and implement a 13 |
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| 105 | 105 | | strategy that develops and uses advance watershed 14 |
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| 106 | 106 | | analytics to cost-effectively carry out watershed out-15 |
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| 107 | 107 | | comes projects to achieve meaningful watershed- 16 |
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| 108 | 108 | | scale outcomes in a Reclamation State; and 17 |
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| 109 | 109 | | (2) from among the proposals submitted under 18 |
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| 110 | 110 | | paragraph (1), select a watershed partner for each 19 |
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| 111 | 111 | | watershed to complete advance watershed analytics, 20 |
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| 112 | 112 | | carry out watershed outcomes projects in a Reclama-21 |
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| 113 | 113 | | tion State, manage watershed partnership duties 22 |
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| 114 | 114 | | during the term of the partnership agreement, and 23 |
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| 115 | 115 | | support pay-for-performance contracts. 24 |
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| 117 | 117 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 119 | 119 | | (b) GUIDELINES ANDCRITERIA FORPROPOSALS.— 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | The Secretary— 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (1) shall develop criteria and guidelines for the 3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | submission and selection of proposals under sub-4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | section (a); and 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (2) for purposes of developing the criteria and 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | guidelines under paragraph (1), may consider— 7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (A) the scope of the proposed watershed 8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | outcomes project, including the selected sub-9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | region or basin-level watershed for consider-10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | ation; 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (B) the purpose and goals of the proposed 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | watershed outcomes project; 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (C) any stakeholder outreach conducted 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | with respect to the proposed watershed out-15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | comes project; 16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (D) evidence of widespread support within 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | the local community for, the proposed water-18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | shed outcomes project; 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (E) the capability of the watershed partner 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | to perform the required duties in accordance 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | with subsection (d); 22 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (F) how the watershed partner will procure 23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | and use advance watershed analytics to identify 24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | and quantify the outcomes and costs of all po-25 |
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| 145 | 145 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 146 | 146 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 147 | 147 | | tential qualifying activities for the proposed wa-1 |
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| 148 | 148 | | tershed outcomes project; 2 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (G) estimated costs of completing advance 3 |
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| 150 | 150 | | watershed analytics and operating the proposed 4 |
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| 151 | 151 | | watershed outcomes project; 5 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (H) the anticipated qualifying activity 6 |
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| 153 | 153 | | types that are relevant for the selected water-7 |
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| 154 | 154 | | shed identified under subparagraph (A); and 8 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (I) plans for monitoring, evaluating, and 9 |
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| 156 | 156 | | reporting on progress made toward achieving 10 |
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| 157 | 157 | | the outcomes of the proposed watershed out-11 |
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| 158 | 158 | | comes project. 12 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (c) P |
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| 160 | 160 | | ARTNERSHIPAGREEMENTS.— 13 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (1) I |
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| 162 | 162 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | into a partnership agreement with a watershed part-15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | ner selected under subsection (a)(2) to design and 16 |
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| 165 | 165 | | implement a watershed outcomes project that uses 17 |
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| 166 | 166 | | advance watershed analytics to achieve meaningful 18 |
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| 167 | 167 | | watershed-scale outcomes in accordance with this 19 |
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| 168 | 168 | | section. 20 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (2) T |
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| 170 | 170 | | ERM.— 21 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (A) I |
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| 172 | 172 | | N GENERAL.—A partnership agree-22 |
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| 173 | 173 | | ment entered into under paragraph (1) shall be 23 |
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| 174 | 174 | | for a term— 24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (i) of not more 5 years; or 25 |
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| 177 | 177 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 178 | 178 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 179 | 179 | | (ii) if the Secretary determines that a 1 |
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| 180 | 180 | | longer term is necessary to meet the objec-2 |
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| 181 | 181 | | tives of the watershed outcomes project, a 3 |
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| 182 | 182 | | longer term established by the Secretary. 4 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (B) R |
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| 184 | 184 | | ENEWAL.—A partnership agreement 5 |
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| 185 | 185 | | entered into under paragraph (1) may be re-6 |
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| 186 | 186 | | newed for a term of not more than 5 years. 7 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (C) E |
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| 188 | 188 | | XTENSION.—A partnership agree-8 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ment entered into under paragraph (1) or re-9 |
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| 190 | 190 | | newed under subparagraph (B) may be ex-10 |
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| 191 | 191 | | tended 1 time for a term of not more than 2 11 |
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| 192 | 192 | | years, as determined by the Secretary. 12 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (3) T |
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| 194 | 194 | | ECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE .— 13 |
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| 195 | 195 | | Through a partnership agreement entered into under 14 |
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| 196 | 196 | | paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide to a wa-15 |
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| 197 | 197 | | tershed partner— 16 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (A) technical or financial assistance to de-17 |
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| 199 | 199 | | sign and implement a watershed outcomes 18 |
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| 200 | 200 | | project; and 19 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (B) grants, cooperative agreements, or 20 |
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| 202 | 202 | | other financial assistance to support— 21 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (i) the activities under subparagraph 22 |
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| 204 | 204 | | (A); and 23 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (ii) performance payments to quali-24 |
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| 206 | 206 | | fying activities under subsection (g)(4). 25 |
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| 209 | 209 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 210 | 210 | | (4) PROJECT DEVELOPMENT COSTS .—The Sec-1 |
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| 211 | 211 | | retary may annually award to a watershed partner 2 |
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| 212 | 212 | | an amount equal to not more than 50 percent of es-3 |
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| 213 | 213 | | timated costs of the watershed outcomes project to 4 |
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| 214 | 214 | | carry out the duties described in subsection (d). 5 |
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| 215 | 215 | | (d) D |
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| 216 | 216 | | UTIES OFWATERSHEDPARTNERS.—Under a 6 |
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| 217 | 217 | | partnership agreement entered into under subsection 7 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (c)(1), the Secretary shall establish duties to be carried 8 |
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| 219 | 219 | | out by the watershed partner, including considering estab-9 |
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| 220 | 220 | | lishing the following duties: 10 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (1) Preparing a funding and implementation 11 |
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| 222 | 222 | | strategy that uses advance watershed analytics to 12 |
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| 223 | 223 | | cost-effectively carry out a watershed outcomes 13 |
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| 224 | 224 | | project by selecting a sufficient number of qualifying 14 |
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| 225 | 225 | | activities to achieve meaningful watershed-scale out-15 |
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| 226 | 226 | | comes by— 16 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (A) completing advance watershed ana-17 |
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| 228 | 228 | | lytics to identify and quantify the outcomes and 18 |
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| 229 | 229 | | costs of all potential qualifying activities for the 19 |
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| 230 | 230 | | watershed outcomes project; 20 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (B) establishing baseline metrics to sup-21 |
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| 232 | 232 | | port the development of setting outcome prices 22 |
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| 233 | 233 | | and performance standards for the watershed 23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | outcomes project; 24 |
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| 236 | 236 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 237 | 237 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 238 | 238 | | (C) developing performance standards for 1 |
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| 239 | 239 | | the watershed outcomes project; 2 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (D) leveraging financial assistance pro-3 |
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| 241 | 241 | | vided by the Secretary to secure additional 4 |
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| 242 | 242 | | funds for the watershed outcomes project; 5 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (E) designing, recruiting, and verifying 6 |
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| 244 | 244 | | qualifying activities for the watershed outcomes 7 |
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| 245 | 245 | | project; and 8 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (F) providing outcome and financial ac-9 |
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| 247 | 247 | | counting services relating to qualifying activities 10 |
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| 248 | 248 | | carried out to achieve outcomes. 11 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (2) Using the strategy prepared under para-12 |
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| 250 | 250 | | graph (1) to prioritize qualifying activity outreach 13 |
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| 251 | 251 | | efforts. 14 |
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| 252 | 252 | | (3) Working with local stakeholders to recruit 15 |
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| 253 | 253 | | and design an implementation-ready queue of pri-16 |
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| 254 | 254 | | ority qualifying activities. 17 |
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| 255 | 255 | | (4) Ensuring that any proposed priority quali-18 |
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| 256 | 256 | | fying activities have the support of affected local 19 |
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| 257 | 257 | | stakeholders. 20 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (5) Setting activity outcome prices and devel-21 |
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| 259 | 259 | | oping performance standards for qualifying activi-22 |
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| 260 | 260 | | ties. 23 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (6) Developing a plan to carry out qualifying 24 |
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| 262 | 262 | | activities having a high likelihood of cost-effectively 25 |
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| 264 | 264 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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| 265 | 265 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 266 | 266 | | achieving 1 or more outcomes described in sub-1 |
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| 267 | 267 | | section (f) if implemented consistent with the appli-2 |
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| 268 | 268 | | cable performance standards made available by the 3 |
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| 269 | 269 | | Secretary under subsection (e)(4). 4 |
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| 270 | 270 | | (7) Selecting, developing pay-for-performance 5 |
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| 271 | 271 | | contracts for, funding, and carrying out qualifying 6 |
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| 272 | 272 | | activities, in accordance with the plan developed 7 |
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| 273 | 273 | | under paragraph (6), to achieve meaningful water-8 |
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| 274 | 274 | | shed-scale outcomes. 9 |
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| 275 | 275 | | (8)(A) Quantifying the outcomes for qualifying 10 |
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| 276 | 276 | | activities. 11 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (B) Verifying that qualifying activities have 12 |
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| 278 | 278 | | been implemented consistent with applicable per-13 |
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| 279 | 279 | | formance standards. 14 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (C) Providing applicable documentation to the 15 |
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| 281 | 281 | | Secretary with respect to the information quantified 16 |
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| 282 | 282 | | and verified under subparagraphs (A) and (B). 17 |
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| 283 | 283 | | (9) Monitoring qualifying activities at appro-18 |
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| 284 | 284 | | priate levels to confirm ongoing performance. 19 |
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| 285 | 285 | | (10) Other duties necessary to carry out a wa-20 |
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| 286 | 286 | | tershed outcomes project, as determined to be nec-21 |
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| 287 | 287 | | essary by the Secretary. 22 |
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| 288 | 288 | | (e) D |
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| 289 | 289 | | UTIES OFSECRETARY.—Under a partnership 23 |
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| 290 | 290 | | agreement entered into under subsection (c), the Secretary 24 |
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| 291 | 291 | | shall— 25 |
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| 294 | 294 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 295 | 295 | | (1) ensure that there is widespread support 1 |
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| 296 | 296 | | within the local community for the watershed out-2 |
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| 297 | 297 | | comes project; 3 |
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| 298 | 298 | | (2) verify the advance watershed analytics com-4 |
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| 299 | 299 | | pleted by the watershed partner, to the maximum 5 |
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| 300 | 300 | | extent practicable; 6 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (3) ensure that there are made available to the 7 |
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| 302 | 302 | | public outcome price tables, by qualifying activity 8 |
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| 303 | 303 | | type, for use as the basis for negotiating pay-for-per-9 |
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| 304 | 304 | | formance contracts for the applicable watershed out-10 |
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| 305 | 305 | | comes project; 11 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (4) ensure that there are made available to the 12 |
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| 307 | 307 | | public qualifying activity and watershed outcomes 13 |
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| 308 | 308 | | project performance standards that are to be used as 14 |
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| 309 | 309 | | the basis for— 15 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (A) identifying, quantifying, and verifying 16 |
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| 311 | 311 | | qualifying activity outcomes; and 17 |
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| 312 | 312 | | (B) executing pay-for-performance con-18 |
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| 313 | 313 | | tracts; 19 |
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| 314 | 314 | | (5) review outcome quantification and 20 |
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| 315 | 315 | | verification documentation provided by the water-21 |
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| 316 | 316 | | shed partner under subsection (d)(8)(C); 22 |
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| 317 | 317 | | (6) provide to a watershed partner financial as-23 |
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| 318 | 318 | | sistance to purchase verified outcomes from quali-24 |
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| 319 | 319 | | fying activities in a watershed outcomes project, at 25 |
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| 321 | 321 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 |
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| 322 | 322 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 323 | 323 | | prices set for the watershed outcomes project in ac-1 |
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| 324 | 324 | | cordance with this section; and 2 |
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| 325 | 325 | | (7) coordinate with other Federal agencies, to 3 |
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| 326 | 326 | | the maximum extent practicable, to help leverage 4 |
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| 327 | 327 | | and concentrate funding into watershed outcomes 5 |
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| 328 | 328 | | projects. 6 |
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| 329 | 329 | | (f) R |
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| 330 | 330 | | EQUIREDOUTCOMES FORQUALIFYINGACTIVI-7 |
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| 331 | 331 | | TIES.—To be eligible for a performance payment under 8 |
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| 332 | 332 | | subsection (g)(4), a qualified activity shall produce 1 or 9 |
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| 333 | 333 | | more measurable, clearly defined outcomes that result in 10 |
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| 334 | 334 | | a quantifiable and verifiable— 11 |
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| 335 | 335 | | (1) increase in surface water or groundwater; 12 |
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| 336 | 336 | | (2) increase in aquatic habitat quality, quantity, 13 |
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| 337 | 337 | | connectivity, or access in a watershed; 14 |
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| 338 | 338 | | (3) surface water or groundwater quality im-15 |
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| 339 | 339 | | provement, including water temperature reductions, 16 |
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| 340 | 340 | | or a reduction in salinity or nutrient or sediment 17 |
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| 341 | 341 | | runoff associated with irrigated agriculture; or 18 |
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| 342 | 342 | | (4) other quantifiable benefits, as determined 19 |
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| 343 | 343 | | by the Secretary, likely to improve watershed health 20 |
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| 344 | 344 | | in the watershed outcomes project. 21 |
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| 345 | 345 | | (g) F |
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| 346 | 346 | | INANCIALASSISTANCE FOR QUALIFYINGAC-22 |
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| 347 | 347 | | TIVITIES INWATERSHEDOUTCOMESPROJECTS.— 23 |
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| 348 | 348 | | (1) L |
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| 349 | 349 | | EVERAGING FEDERAL FUNDING .—To 24 |
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| 350 | 350 | | achieve meaningful watershed-scale outcomes, 25 |
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| 353 | 353 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 354 | 354 | | amounts made available under section 5 may be 1 |
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| 355 | 355 | | used to satisfy any cost-sharing requirement with re-2 |
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| 356 | 356 | | spect to carrying out a watershed outcomes project. 3 |
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| 357 | 357 | | (2) F |
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| 358 | 358 | | EDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 4 |
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| 359 | 359 | | grants or other financial assistance for a watershed 5 |
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| 360 | 360 | | outcomes project under this Act shall be not more 6 |
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| 361 | 361 | | than 75 percent of the total cost of the watershed 7 |
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| 362 | 362 | | outcomes project. 8 |
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| 363 | 363 | | (3) W |
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| 364 | 364 | | ATERSHED PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS .— 9 |
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| 365 | 365 | | The Secretary may— 10 |
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| 366 | 366 | | (A) accept non-Federal contributions for a 11 |
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| 367 | 367 | | watershed outcomes project, including funding 12 |
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| 368 | 368 | | or financing secured by the watershed partner 13 |
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| 369 | 369 | | in accordance with the strategy developed under 14 |
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| 370 | 370 | | subsection (d)(1); and 15 |
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| 371 | 371 | | (B) use amounts accepted under subpara-16 |
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| 372 | 372 | | graph (A) to carry out activities authorized 17 |
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| 373 | 373 | | under this Act in the watershed outcomes 18 |
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| 374 | 374 | | project. 19 |
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| 375 | 375 | | (4) P |
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| 376 | 376 | | ERFORMANCE PAYMENTS .—Not later than 20 |
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| 377 | 377 | | 90 days after the date on which a watershed partner 21 |
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| 378 | 378 | | verifies the outcomes generated from qualifying ac-22 |
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| 379 | 379 | | tivities and confirms that the qualifying activity has 23 |
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| 380 | 380 | | been implemented consistent with the performance 24 |
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| 381 | 381 | | standards of the applicable watershed outcomes 25 |
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| 384 | 384 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 385 | 385 | | project, the Secretary shall provide financial assist-1 |
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| 386 | 386 | | ance to the watershed partner to support perform-2 |
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| 387 | 387 | | ance payments. 3 |
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| 388 | 388 | | (h) M |
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| 389 | 389 | | AXIMUMNUMBER OFWATERSHEDOUTCOMES 4 |
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| 390 | 390 | | P |
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| 391 | 391 | | ROJECTS.—Not more than a total of 5 watershed out-5 |
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| 392 | 392 | | comes projects may be carried out under this section. 6 |
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| 393 | 393 | | (i) R |
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| 394 | 394 | | ESTRICTIONS ONUSE OFADVANCEWATERSHED 7 |
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| 395 | 395 | | A |
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| 396 | 396 | | NALYTICSDATA.— 8 |
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| 397 | 397 | | (1) I |
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| 398 | 398 | | N GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act affects 9 |
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| 399 | 399 | | or modifies existing law with respect to the treat-10 |
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| 400 | 400 | | ment of personal data in the conduct by an employee 11 |
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| 401 | 401 | | of the Federal Government or a designee of an em-12 |
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| 402 | 402 | | ployee of the Federal Government in carrying out of-13 |
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| 403 | 403 | | ficial duties of the Federal employee or designee 14 |
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| 404 | 404 | | under this Act. 15 |
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| 405 | 405 | | (2) D |
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| 406 | 406 | | ATA COLLECTION.—All information or 16 |
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| 407 | 407 | | data collected or assembled by a Federal employee 17 |
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| 408 | 408 | | or a designee of a Federal employee to complete ad-18 |
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| 409 | 409 | | vance watershed analytics activities, directly or indi-19 |
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| 410 | 410 | | rectly, under this Act— 20 |
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| 411 | 411 | | (A) shall be used for the sole purpose of 21 |
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| 412 | 412 | | identifying, prioritizing, and funding qualifying 22 |
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| 413 | 413 | | activities in a watershed outcomes project; and 23 |
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| 414 | 414 | | (B) shall be considered to be confidential 24 |
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| 415 | 415 | | commercial information that is exempt from 25 |
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| 418 | 418 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 419 | 419 | | disclosure under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, 1 |
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| 420 | 420 | | United States Code (commonly known as the 2 |
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| 421 | 421 | | ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’). 3 |
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| 422 | 422 | | (3) A |
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| 423 | 423 | | PPLICABILITY TO WATERSHED PART -4 |
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| 424 | 424 | | NERS.—Any restrictions on a Federal employee 5 |
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| 425 | 425 | | under this section shall apply to an employee of a 6 |
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| 426 | 426 | | watershed partner. 7 |
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| 427 | 427 | | (j) E |
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| 428 | 428 | | FFECT.—Nothing in this Act creates, impairs, 8 |
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| 429 | 429 | | alters, or supersedes a Federal or State water right. 9 |
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| 430 | 430 | | SEC. 4. BRIEFING; REPORTS. 10 |
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| 431 | 431 | | (a) A |
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| 432 | 432 | | NNUALBRIEFING ORREPORT.—For each fiscal 11 |
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| 433 | 433 | | year for which a watershed outcomes project is carried out 12 |
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| 434 | 434 | | under section 3, not later than the date on which the 13 |
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| 435 | 435 | | budget of the United States Government is submitted by 14 |
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| 436 | 436 | | the President under section 1105 of title 31, United States 15 |
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| 437 | 437 | | Code, for that fiscal year, the Secretary shall provide to 16 |
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| 438 | 438 | | the appropriate committees of Congress a briefing or re-17 |
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| 439 | 439 | | port describing the status of each watershed outcomes 18 |
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| 440 | 440 | | project, including progress towards the applicable strategy 19 |
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| 441 | 441 | | prepared under section 3(d)(1), including any payments 20 |
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| 442 | 442 | | made for outcomes. 21 |
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| 443 | 443 | | (b) 5-Y |
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| 444 | 444 | | EARREPORT.—Not later than October 1 of 22 |
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| 445 | 445 | | the fifth fiscal year in which a watershed outcomes project 23 |
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| 446 | 446 | | is carried out under section 3, the Secretary shall submit 24 |
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| 447 | 447 | | to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that— 25 |
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| 450 | 450 | | •S 1242 IS |
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| 451 | 451 | | (1) summarizes— 1 |
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| 452 | 452 | | (A) the projected results of the qualifying 2 |
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| 453 | 453 | | activities in the watershed outcomes project in 3 |
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| 454 | 454 | | meeting the strategy prepared under section 4 |
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| 455 | 455 | | 3(d)(1); 5 |
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| 456 | 456 | | (B) the projected outcomes of the water-6 |
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| 457 | 457 | | shed outcomes project; 7 |
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| 458 | 458 | | (C) the total amount of funds secured for 8 |
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| 459 | 459 | | the watershed outcomes project; 9 |
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| 460 | 460 | | (D) the type of funding expended under 10 |
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| 461 | 461 | | the watershed outcomes project; and 11 |
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| 462 | 462 | | (E) such other information as the Sec-12 |
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| 463 | 463 | | retary determines to be appropriate; and 13 |
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| 464 | 464 | | (2) includes recommendations for continuing, 14 |
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| 465 | 465 | | terminating, or making permanent the authoriza-15 |
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| 466 | 466 | | tions under this Act. 16 |
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| 467 | 467 | | SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 17 |
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| 468 | 468 | | There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-18 |
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| 469 | 469 | | retary to carry out this Act $17,000,000 for each of fiscal 19 |
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| 470 | 470 | | years 2026 through 2031. 20 |
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| 471 | 471 | | Æ |
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