43 U.S.C. § 2211 — Assistance during drought; water pur-

Page 621 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 2211 (d) NDRP Co-Chairs. The NDRP shall have two Co- Chairs. The Secretary of Agriculture, or the Sec- retary’s designated representative, shall continuously serve as the first Co-Chair of the NDRP. The Secretary of Commerce, or the Secretary’s designated official, shall serve as the second Co-Chair for a period of 2 years. The NDRP members shall rotate the second Co- Chair responsibility every 2 years based on majority vote among the Departments of Defense, the Interior, Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, and the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency. Members serving as the second Co-Chair shall not serve in that role over con- secutive periods. The NDRP shall meet at minimum on a quarterly basis, with additional meetings as needed. (e) Charter. Within 90 days of the date of this memo- randum, the Co-Chairs of the NDRP shall, with con- sensus of the members, complete a charter, which shall include any administrative policies and processes nec- essary to ensure the NDRP can satisfy the functions and responsibilities described in this memorandum. (f) Reporting Requirements and Action Plan. Within 150 days of the date of this memorandum, the Co-Chairs of the NDRP shall submit a report to the Co-Chairs of the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience estab- lished by Executive Order 13653 of November 1, 2013. The report shall describe the activities undertaken and progress made concerning the implementation of this memorandum and shall include, to the extent nec- essary and applicable, information from all NDRP par- ticipants. Thereafter, the Co-Chairs of the NDRP shall provide updates on the implementation of the goals de- scribed in section 3 of this memorandum to the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience following the NDRP’s quarterly meetings, and annually in the Na- tional Preparedness Report, established in Presidential Policy Directive–8 or other appropriate annual reports submitted to the President. (g) Long-Term Drought Resilience Action Plan. The NDRP Co-Chairs, with consensus of the NDRP agencies, shall maintain the Long-Term Drought Resilience Fed- eral Action Plan (the ‘‘Action Plan’’) and update the Action Plan as necessary. The heads of agencies par- ticipating in the NDRP shall implement the Action Plan, or any successor plan or strategy promulgated by the NDRP to guide how agencies achieve the six drought resilience goals set forth in section 3 of this memorandum. SEC. 6. Regional Coordination and Implementation. (a) Regional Capabilities. The heads of agencies par- ticipating in the NDRP shall establish, and utilize through their regional and field offices, cross-agency methods to coordinate Federal assistance provided to States, regions, tribes, and localities facing drought challenges. These capabilities shall be integrated with existing regional planning and coordination initiatives, including with appropriate resiliency efforts conducted by State, regional, tribal, and local drought stake- holders. (b) Regional Engagement Coordination. In regions where complementary drought resilience activities are implemented by multiple Federal agencies, those agen- cies shall coordinate regional outreach strategies. Fur- ther, these agencies shall collectively coordinate re- gional outreach and engagement efforts with the goal of reducing duplication of effort for State, regional, tribal, and local stakeholders. SEC. 7. Definitions. (a) ‘‘Agencies’’ means any author- ity of the United States that is an ‘‘agency’’ under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than those considered to be inde- pendent regulatory agencies. (b) ‘‘Critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning pro- vided in section 1016(e) of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)), namely, systems and assets, wheth- er physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters. (c) ‘‘Drought’’ has the meaning provided in section 2(1) of the National Integrated Drought Information System Act of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d note), namely, a defi- ciency in precipitation that leads to a deficiency in surface or subsurface water supplies (including rivers, streams, wetlands, groundwater, soil moisture, res- ervoir supplies, lake levels, and snow pack); and that causes or may cause substantial economic or social im- pacts or substantial physical damage or injury to indi- viduals, property, or the environment. (d) ‘‘Drought resilience’’ means the ability to antici- pate, prepare for, and adapt to the anticipated con- sequences of drought conditions, particularly long- term or extreme drought. (e) ‘‘Resilience’’ means the ability to anticipate, pre- pare for, and adapt to changing conditions and with- stand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions. SEC. 8. General Provisions. (a) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable laws, in- cluding international treaties, agreements, and obliga- tions, and subject to the availability of appropriations. (b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Man- agement and Budget relating to budgetary, administra- tive, or legislative proposals. (c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or proce- dural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (d) The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Fed- eral Register. BARACK OBAMA. SUBCHAPTER I—DROUGHT PROGRAM § 2211. Assistance during drought; water pur- chases (a) Construction, management, and conservation Consistent with existing contractual arrange- ments and applicable State and applicable Fed- eral law, and without further authorization, the Secretary is authorized to undertake construc- tion, management, and conservation activities that will minimize, or can be expected to have an effect in minimizing, losses and damages re- sulting from drought conditions. Any construc- tion activities undertaken pursuant to the au- thority of this subsection shall be limited to temporary facilities designed to minimize losses and damages from drought conditions, except that wells drilled to minimize losses and dam- ages from drought conditions may be permanent facilities. (b) Assistance to willing buyers and sellers In order to minimize losses and damages re- sulting from drought conditions, the Secretary may provide nonfinancial assistance to willing buyers in their purchase of available water sup- plies from willing sellers. (c) Water purchases by Bureau In order to minimize losses and damages re- sulting from drought conditions, the Secretary may purchase water from willing sellers, includ- ing, but not limited to, water made available by Federal Reclamation project contractors through conservation or other means with re- spect to which the seller has reduced the con- sumption of water. Except with respect to water stored, conveyed or delivered to Federal and Page 622 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 2212 State wildlife habitat, the Secretary shall de- liver such water pursuant to temporary con- tracts under section 2212 of this title: Provided, That any such contract shall require recovery of any costs, including interest if applicable, in- curred by the Secretary in acquiring such water. (d) Water banks In order to respond to a drought, the Sec- retary is authorized to participate in water banks established by a State. (Pub. L. 102–250, title I, § 101, Mar. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 53.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Bureau, referred to in heading for subsec. (c), probably means the Bureau of Reclamation. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TERMINATION OF AUTHORITIES For provisions directing that authorities established under this subchapter shall terminate ten years after Mar. 5, 1992, see section 2214(c) of this title. DESERT TERMINAL LAKES Pub. L. 107–206, title I, § 103, Aug. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 823, which provided that not later than 14 days after Aug. 2, 2002, the Secretary of Agriculture was to carry out a transfer of funds under section 2507(a) of Pub. L. 107–171, formerly set out below, was transferred and is set out as a note under section 3839bb–6 of Title 16, Con- servation. Pub. L. 107–171, title II, § 2507, May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 275, as amended by Pub. L. 110–234, title II, § 2807, May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1090; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title II, § 2807, June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 1818; Pub. L. 111–85, title II, § 207, Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2858; Pub. L. 112–74, div. B, title II, § 208(a), Dec. 23, 2011, 125 Stat. 866; Pub. L. 113–79, title II, § 2507, Feb. 7, 2014, 128 Stat. 753, which related to terminal lakes assistance, was transferred to section 3839bb–6 of Title 16, Conservation. § 2212. Availability of water on temporary basis (a) General authority In order to mitigate losses and damages re- sulting from drought conditions, the Secretary may make available, by temporary contract, project and nonproject water, and may permit the use of facilities at Federal Reclamation projects for the storage or conveyance of project or nonproject water, for use both within and outside an authorized project service area. (b) Special provisions applicable to temporary water supplies provided under this section (1) Temporary supplies Each temporary contract for the supply of water entered into pursuant to this section shall terminate no later than two years from the date of execution or upon a determination by the Secretary that water supply conditions no longer warrant that such contracts remain in effect, whichever occurs first. The costs as- sociated with any such contract shall be re- paid within the term of the contract. (2) Ownership and acreage limitations Lands not subject to Reclamation law that receive temporary irrigation water supplies under temporary contracts under this section shall not become subject to the ownership and acreage limitations or pricing provisions of Federal Reclamation law because of the deliv- ery of such temporary water supplies. Lands that are subject to the ownership and acreage limitations of Federal Reclamation law shall not be exempted from those limitations be- cause of the delivery of such temporary water supplies. (3) Treatment under Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 No temporary contract entered into by the Secretary under this section shall be treated as a ‘‘contract’’ as that term is used in sec- tions 203(a) and 220 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (Public Law 97–293) [43 U.S.C. 390cc(a), 390tt]. (4) Amendments of existing contracts Any amendment to an existing contract to allow a contractor to carry out the provisions of this subchapter shall not be considered a new and supplemental benefit for purposes of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (Public Law 97–293) [43 U.S.C. 390aa et seq.]. (c) Contract price The price for project water, other than water purchased pursuant to section 2211(c) of this title, delivered under a temporary contract en- tered into by the Secretary under this section shall be at least sufficient to recover all Federal operation and maintenance costs and adminis- trative costs, and an appropriate share of cap- ital costs, including interest on such capital costs allocated to municipal and industrial water, except that, for project water delivered to nonproject landholdings, the price shall in- clude full cost (as defined in section 202(3) of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (Public Law 97–293; 96 Stat. 1263; 43 U.S.C. 390bb) [43 U.S.C. 390bb(3)]). For all contracts entered into by the Secretary under the authority of this sub- chapter— (1) the interest rate used for computing in- terest during construction and interest on the unpaid balance of the capital costs expended pursuant to this chapter shall be at a rate to be determined by the Secretary of the Treas- ury based on average market yields on out- standing marketable obligations of the United States with remaining periods to maturity of one year occurring during the last month of the fiscal year preceding the date of execution of the temporary contract; or (2) in the case of existing facilities the rate as authorized for that Federal Reclamation project; or (3) in the absence of such authorized rate, the interest rate as determined by the Sec- retary of the Treasury as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which construction was ini- tiated on the basis of the computed average interest rate payable by the Treasury upon its outstanding marketable public obligations which were neither due nor callable for re- demption for fifteen years from date of issue: Provided, That for all deliveries of water for municipal and industrial purposes from exist- ing facilities to nonproject contractors, the rate shall be as set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection.