Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB386 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 386
5	5	To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide exemptions from
6	6	the consultation requirements required under that Act for agency actions
7	7	that fulfill critical human water needs, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	FEBRUARY4, 2025
10	10	Ms. L
11	11	UMMIS(for herself, Mr. BARRASSO, and Mr. SHEEHY) introduced the
12	12	following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on En-
13	13	vironment and Public Works
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide
16	16	exemptions from the consultation requirements required
17	17	under that Act for agency actions that fulfill critical
18	18	human water needs, and for other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Critical Water Re-4
23	23	sources Prioritization Act of 2025’’. 5
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26	26	•S 386 IS
27	27	SEC. 2. CRITICAL WATER RESOURCES EXEMPTIONS UNDER 1
28	28	THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 1973. 2
29	29	(a) I
30	30	NGENERAL.—Section 7 of the Endangered Spe-3
31	31	cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) is amended by adding 4
32	32	at the end the following: 5
33	33	‘‘(q) H
34	34	UMANNEEDSEXEMPTIONS FOR WATERRE-6
35	35	SOURCES.— 7
36	36	‘‘(1) D
37	37	EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8
38	38	‘‘(A) C
39	39	RITICAL HUMAN WATER NEED .— 9
40	40	The term ‘critical human water need’ means 10
41	41	water required— 11
42	42	‘‘(i) for a municipal drinking water 12
43	43	supply; 13
44	44	‘‘(ii) for emergency services, including 14
45	45	firefighting; 15
46	46	‘‘(iii) to maintain public health and 16
47	47	safety, as determined by the Secretary or 17
48	48	a relevant water management agency; or 18
49	49	‘‘(iv) for food security, as determined 19
50	50	by the Secretary. 20
51	51	‘‘(B) W
52	52	ATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY .—The 21
53	53	term ‘water management agency’ means any 22
54	54	Federal, State, or local agency with authority to 23
55	55	manage or allocate water resources. 24
56	56	‘‘(2) E
57	57	XEMPTIONS FOR CRITICAL HUMAN 25
58	58	WATER NEEDS.—Notwithstanding any other provi-26
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61	61	•S 386 IS
62	62	sion of this Act, the Secretary may grant an exemp-1
63	63	tion from the requirements of subsection (a)(2) for 2
64	64	any agency action carried out by a water manage-3
65	65	ment agency to fulfill a critical human water need 4
66	66	if— 5
67	67	‘‘(A) those requirements would directly 6
68	68	conflict with the fulfillment of the critical 7
69	69	human water need; 8
70	70	‘‘(B) the water management agency has— 9
71	71	‘‘(i) implemented all reasonable water 10
72	72	conservation measures; 11
73	73	‘‘(ii) explored all feasible alternative 12
74	74	water sources; and 13
75	75	‘‘(iii) determined no other reasonable 14
76	76	alternatives exist to meet the critical 15
77	77	human water need; and 16
78	78	‘‘(C) the water management agency sub-17
79	79	mits to the Secretary— 18
80	80	‘‘(i) documentation of the conditions 19
81	81	described in subparagraphs (A) and (B); 20
82	82	‘‘(ii) a plan to minimize adverse im-21
83	83	pacts on affected species; and 22
84	84	‘‘(iii) a timeline for reinstating those 23
85	85	requirements. 24
86	86	‘‘(3) D
87	87	URATION AND RENEWAL .— 25
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90	90	•S 386 IS
91	91	‘‘(A) INITIAL PERIOD.—An exemption 1
92	92	granted by the Secretary under paragraph (2) 2
93	93	shall be valid for a period of not more than 180 3
94	94	days. 4
95	95	‘‘(B) R
96	96	ENEWAL.—The Secretary may 5
97	97	renew an exemption under paragraph (2) for 6
98	98	additional 180-day periods if the conditions de-7
99	99	scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para-8
100	100	graph (2) continue to exist and the applicable 9
101	101	water management agency resubmits the infor-10
102	102	mation described in subparagraph (C) of that 11
103	103	paragraph. 12
104	104	‘‘(4) R
105	105	EPORTS.— 13
106	106	‘‘(A) W
107	107	ATER MANAGEMENT AGENCY RE -14
108	108	PORTS.—A water management agency operating 15
109	109	under an exemption granted under paragraph 16
110	110	(2) shall submit to the Secretary monthly re-17
111	111	ports describing— 18
112	112	‘‘(i) the ongoing critical human water 19
113	113	need for which the exemption was made; 20
114	114	‘‘(ii) efforts to develop alternative 21
115	115	water sources; and 22
116	116	‘‘(iii)(I) impacts on affected species; 23
117	117	and 24
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120	120	•S 386 IS
121	121	‘‘(II) measures taken to minimize 1
122	122	those impacts. 2
123	123	‘‘(B) S
124	124	ECRETARY REPORTS .—The Sec-3
125	125	retary shall submit to Congress an annual re-4
126	126	port describing— 5
127	127	‘‘(i) all exemption made under this 6
128	128	subsection; 7
129	129	‘‘(ii) the cumulative impact of those 8
130	130	exemptions on affected species; and 9
131	131	‘‘(iii) recommendations for improving 10
132	132	the balance between critical human water 11
133	133	needs and species protection. 12
134	134	‘‘(5) J
135	135	UDICIAL REVIEW.—Any action taken 13
136	136	under this subsection shall be subject to judicial re-14
137	137	view only for arbitrary and capricious agency action 15
138	138	under section 706 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 16
139	139	(b) R
140	140	EGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 17
141	141	the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary (as de-18
142	142	fined in section 3 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 19
143	143	(16 U.S.C. 1532)) shall promulgate regulations to imple-20
144	144	ment the amendments made by this section. 21
145	145	Æ
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