S-2753-119
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 640.
Sponsored by James Risch (R-ID)
What it does
This bill would amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to create a new category called "urban canal of concern" for transferred canal works whose failure could threaten more than 100 people. It would authorize the Secretary of the Interior or the local operating entity to perform extraordinary operation and maintenance work on these canals, with the federal government covering 35 percent of costs on a non-repayable basis and advancing the rest to be repaid by the local operating entity, except in emergencies.
Who benefits
Local water districts and canal operating entities responsible for aging, federally transferred canal infrastructure in urban areas, who would gain access to federal cost-sharing and financing for expensive repairs. Residents living near these canals who would face reduced risk of flooding or infrastructure failure. Municipal governments that would avoid bearing the full repair cost themselves.
Who is hurt
Federal taxpayers, who would fund the 35 percent nonreimbursable share and any losses on advanced repayable funds. Rural or non-urban canal operators who do not meet the 100-person threshold and would not qualify for this cost-sharing arrangement, potentially creating a funding disparity. Other infrastructure programs competing for the same discretionary appropriations.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that many urban canals built decades ago by the Bureau of Reclamation now run through densely populated areas where a breach could endanger over 100 people, yet local operating entities often lack the capital for extraordinary repairs. They contend that federal cost-sharing at 35 percent, paired with repayable advances for the remainder, is a fiscally responsible way to address a public safety risk without placing the full burden on local ratepayers.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the bill sets an arbitrary 100-person threshold that could be manipulated or inconsistently applied, and that federal nonreimbursable funding for canal repairs sets a precedent for the federal government subsidizing local infrastructure that operating entities agreed to maintain when they took over these works. They contend that the definition leaves significant discretion to the Secretary of the Interior in classifying which canals qualify, without clear congressional guardrails on the criteria.
Constitutional context
This bill involves Congress's spending power under Article I, Section 8 to condition federal funds on cost-sharing arrangements, and delegates classification authority to the Secretary of the Interior to designate "urban canals of concern," which raises ordinary nondelegation considerations but does not approach the scale addressed by major questions doctrine cases.
Checks and balances
The Secretary of the Interior gains discretionary authority to classify canals and approve extraordinary maintenance spending, while Congress retains oversight through appropriations and the statutory criteria it sets for classification.
Historical precedent
The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 already established a framework for extraordinary operation and maintenance cost-sharing on transferred works, which this bill extends specifically to urban canals.