Lower Yellowstone River Native Fish Conservation Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill permanently assigns the Federal Government responsibility for owning, funding, operating, and maintaining the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel and its related endangered species obligations while shielding the local irrigation district and project from those costs and liabilities.
Who Benefits and How
The Lower Yellowstone Irrigation District, the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, and other non-Federal stakeholders would be protected from being forced to assume bypass-channel costs, legal exposure, or endangered species responsibilities.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of the Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service would retain exclusive operational, financial, reporting, and litigation responsibility for the fish bypass channel and related pallid sturgeon conservation work.
Key Provisions
- Reaffirms perpetual Federal ownership, authority, and financial responsibility for the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel.
- Bars any transfer of bypass-channel responsibilities or endangered species obligations to the irrigation district, irrigation project, or other non-Federal entities.
- Authorizes annual Federal funding, requires biennial reports to Congress, and allows affected stakeholders to seek judicial relief if Federal officials attempt to shift responsibility.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
This bill permanently assigns the Federal Government responsibility for owning, funding, operating, and maintaining the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel and its related endangered species obligations while shielding the local irrigation district and project from those costs and liabilities.
Key Policy Areas
Water, Environmental Protection, Agriculture
Primary Purpose
This bill permanently assigns the Federal Government responsibility for owning, funding, operating, and maintaining the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel and its related endangered species obligations while shielding the local irrigation district and project from those costs and liabilities.
Policy Domains
Main Provisions
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- The Lower Yellowstone Irrigation District, the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, and other non-Federal stakeholders protected from bypass-channel obligations
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Federal agencies responsible for operating, funding, and defending the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel and pallid sturgeon conservation work
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Steve Daines
R-MT | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and …
Mr. Daines introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
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.
Affected stakeholders seeking to challenge Federal cost shifting for the bypass channel, Lower Yellowstone Irrigation District and Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project protected from maintenance and monitoring costs, Lower Yellowstone Irrigation District and Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project relieved from pallid sturgeon compliance duties tied to the bypass channel
Department of the Interior and Bureau of Reclamation officials responsible for the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel, Department of the Interior and United States Fish and Wildlife Service carrying exclusive species-protection responsibility for the bypass channel, Federal agencies funding and administering the Lower Yellowstone Fish Bypass Channel
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
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