Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act

This Act may be cited as the “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act”.

Public Law 87–590 (76 Stat. 389; 123 Stat. 1320) is amended—

(1) in the first section—

(A) in subsection (c), in the second sentence, by striking “or in the case of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, payment in an amount equal to 35 percent of the cost of the conduit that is comprised of revenue generated by payments pursuant to a repayment contract and revenue that may be derived from contracts for the use of Fryingpan-Arkansas project excess capacity or exchange contracts using Fryingpan-Arkansas project facilities,”; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

“(d) Arkansas valley conduit.—

(1) Repayment contract.— To provide domestic water supplies to communities and households that do not have reliable access to domestic water supplies, the contract for the Arkansas Valley Conduit shall provide for payment in an amount equal to 35 percent of the cost of the conduit, notwithstanding the reclamation laws or any other provision of this Act. The contract payments shall consist of—

(A) funding provided during construction from any entity other than the Secretary; and

(B) based on a demonstration of financial hardship, as determined by the Secretary, repayment of the balance not covered under subparagraph (A) for a period of not more than 75 years with simple interest at a rate that is equal to 50 percent of the interest rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 2(c), including revenue derived from contracts for the use of excess capacity or exchange contracts using Fryingpan-Arkansas project facilities.

(2) Operations and maintenance.— The contract for the Arkansas Valley Conduit shall provide for the assumption by the contracting parties of the care, operation, maintenance, and replacement of the conduit.”; and

(2) in section 2(b)(3)(A), by striking “this section” and inserting “subsection (d) of the first section”.