California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014 - Title I: California Emergency Drought Relief - (Sec. 102) Grants the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior (Secretaries) emergency authority, subject to existing priorities of individuals and entities, to direct the operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and allow the State Water Project (SWP) operated by the California Department of Water Resources to provide the maximum quantity of water supplies possible to CVP agricultural, municipal and industrial, and refuge service repayment contractors and SWP contractors, by allowing, consistent with applicable laws, any projects or operations to: (1) provide additional water supplies; and (2) address the emergency drought conditions as quickly as possible.
Directs the applicable Secretary, in carrying out such emergency authority, to:
authorize and implement actions to ensure that the Delta Cross Channel Gates remain open to the maximum extent practicable timed to maximize peak tide flood periods and to provide water supply and water quality benefits;
implement turbidity control strategies that allow for increased water deliveries for the CVP and the SWP, while avoiding a negative impact on the long-term survival delta smelt due to entrainment at the CVP and SWP pumping plants;
operate pumps within the ranges provided for in the smelt and salmonid biological opinions (issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service) to minimize water supply reductions for the CVP and SWP, manage reverse flow in Old and Middle Rivers at negative 5000 cubic feet per second, and show in writing that any determination to manage reverse flow at lower rates is necessary to avoid a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of the Delta smelt;
adopt a 1:1 inflow-to-export ratio for the increment of increased flow of the San Joaquin River;
issue all necessary permit decisions within 30 days of receiving a completed application by the state of California to place and use temporary barriers or operable gates in Delta channels to improve water quantity and quality for CVP and SWP contractors and other water users;
The summary continues for 16 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 December 9, 2014. 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 December 10, 2014: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
- 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 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 December 2, 2014, and 7 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 1 Democrat, 6 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 December 2, 2014, 4300 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4292 days ago, on December 10, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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