Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015
Latest action. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-381.
Highlights:
The Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015 establishes procedures for the Department of the Interior, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Agriculture to address drought conditions in California by revising regulatory standards for managing conveyances of water to individual, agricultural, municipal, and industrial users from the California-based Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project in coordination with requirements for protecting threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, including fish species of salmonid and smelt in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Suisun Marsh.
The bill requires the use of updated data to adjust incidental take levels, water export restrictions, and other conservation measures set forth in a smelt biological opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on December 15, 2008, and in a salmonid biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on June 4, 2009, in order to increase water exports and maximize water supplies without causing a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of certain species listed as threatened or endangered.
The bill also provides for: (1) a nonnative predator fish removal program in the Stanislaus River, (2) the repeal of the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act and the related settlement, (3) expansion of the CVP's authorized service area to include the Kettleman City Community Services District, and (4) the use of expedited procedures to consider project requests from the California governor relating to emergency drought conditions.
For areas within and beyond California, the bill revises or establishes requirements for water supply permits, prepayments on water service contracts, water efficiency considerations in dam safety projects, and water rights in land use decisions. Full Summary:
Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015
TITLE I--ADJUSTING DELTA SMELT MANAGEMENT BASED ON INCREASED REAL-TIME MONITORING AND UPDATED SCIENCE
(Sec. 102) Establishes procedures to adjust Delta smelt management measures set forth in the smelt biological opinion for the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) in California issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on December 15, 2008.
The summary continues for 126 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on July 16, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 8, 2015: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-381.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
David Valadao (R-CA) introduced it on June 25, 2015, and 26 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 25 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 25, 2015, 4095 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3990 days ago, on October 8, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers