Urban Canal Modernization Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Urban Canal Modernization Act adds a definition of urban canal of concern to existing Reclamation law and authorizes extraordinary operation and maintenance work on those canals. An urban canal of concern is a transferred works canal reach whose failure would put more than 100 people at risk and that Interior classifies as an urban canal reach.
Who Benefits and How
Residents living near high-risk urban canal reaches benefit because the bill makes extraordinary maintenance easier to finance before a canal failure harms more than 100 people. Transferred works operating entities benefit from a 35 percent nonreimbursable federal share and federal advance funding for the remaining costs. Irrigation districts operating transferred works can also count reimbursable federal funds as a non-federal source for grant cost-sharing purposes. The Bureau of Reclamation benefits from clearer authority to support extraordinary maintenance on urban canals of concern.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Transferred works operating entities still must repay the reimbursable portion of the federal advance, except for emergency work covered elsewhere in law. The Secretary of the Interior and Reclamation canal-safety staff must determine which canal reaches qualify, decide what extraordinary work is necessary under existing guidelines, and administer nonreimbursable and reimbursable cost shares. Federal taxpayers bear the 35 percent nonreimbursable share for eligible work.
Key Provisions
- Defines an urban canal of concern as a transferred works canal reach whose failure would put more than 100 people at risk and that Interior classifies as an urban canal reach.
- Authorizes Interior or the transferred works operating entity to carry out extraordinary operation and maintenance work on an urban canal of concern.
- Provides a 35 percent nonreimbursable federal share for nonemergency extraordinary work on urban canals of concern.
- Allows Interior to advance the remaining amounts, to be repaid by the transferred works operating entity.
- Treats reimbursable funds under the section as a non-federal funding source for federal grant cost-share requirements.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a federal cost-sharing and advance-funding framework for extraordinary operation and maintenance work on high-risk urban canals of concern.
Key Policy Areas
Water Infrastructure, Public Safety, Federal Finance
Primary Purpose
Creates a federal cost-sharing and advance-funding framework for extraordinary operation and maintenance work on high-risk urban canals of concern.
Policy Domains
Urban canal extraordinary operation and maintenance
Identified Gains
- Residents near high-risk urban canals
- Transferred works operating entities
- Irrigation districts operating urban canals
Identified Costs
- Bureau of Reclamation canal-safety staff
- Transferred works operating entities repaying advances
- Federal taxpayers funding canal repairs
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported …
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and …
Mr. Risch (for himself and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
- "transferred_works_operating_entity"
- → Entity operating transferred Reclamation works
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A transferred works canal reach whose failure would put more than 100 people at risk and that Interior determines is an urban canal reach.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology