Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand have produced (16 February 2022) this CRS report: 'Bureau of Reclamation Provisions in the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58)'.
Download R47032 USBR Provisions_Infrastructure_Investment &_Jobs_Act
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Summary
In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; P.L. 117-58), Congress provided a major influx of funding for the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), a water resources management agency within the Department of the Interior. Congress provided $8.3 billion to Reclamation in the IIJA. The resources directed to Reclamation under the act were almost five times Reclamation’s FY2021 enacted appropriation and more than eight times Reclamation’s previously largest supplemental funding appropriation. Congress provided funding for the following areas:
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$1.05 billion for water storage projects, including projects authorized under Section 4007 of P.L. 114-322
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$100 million for small water storage project grants
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$3.2 billion for aging infrastructure projects
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$1.0 billion for rural water projects
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$1.0 billion for water recycling and reuse projects
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$500 million for dam safety projects
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$400 million for water and energy efficiency and other grant projects
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$300 million for Colorado River drought contingency plan projects
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$250 million for water desalination projects
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$250 million for a new program for ecosystem restoration projects
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$100 million for the Cooperative Watershed Management Program
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$100 million for a new program for watershed health projects
$50 million for Upper Colorado River endangered fish species projects
In addition to the $8.3 billion Congress provided directly to Reclamation in the IIJA, the act provided $2.5 billion to the Secretary of the Interior for a newly created Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund. Observers expect some of this funding to go to Reclamation for the implementation of previously authorized Indian water rights settlements. Other funding is to be distributed directly to tribes for settlement implementation.
Congress included limited guidance for Reclamation funding in the IIJA. The act provided several individual Reclamation programs with more funding than the programs had received—in cumulative terms—since their initial authorizations, and directed significant funding toward entirely new Reclamation authorities. Congress also enacted new authorities for Reclamation that did not receive funding within the act or that clarified existing law.
Reclamation released its Initial Spend Plan for IIJA projects on January 14, 2022. This plan laid out funding allocations for the portion of Reclamation’s IIJA funding available in FY2022 (i.e., $1.66 billion). Additional program and project-specific allocations are expected in the future.
Not a long report but lots of information.
Enjoy!
"Our knowledge can only be finite while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite." - Karl Popper
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