43 U.S.C. § 1477 — Snow water supply forecasting

Page 396 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 1477 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EXEMPTION OF DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FROM RESTRICTIONS ON NOTARY PUBLIC Act June 3, 1948, ch. 392, § 3, 62 Stat. 301, provided: ‘‘That part of section 558 of the Act of March 3, 1901, en- titled ‘An Act to establish a code of law for the District of Columbia’ (31 Stat. 1279), as amended December 15, 1944 (58 Stat. 810, D.C. Code, 1951 edition, sec. 1–501 [now sec. 1–1201(a)]), which reads as follows: ‘And provided further, That no notary public shall be authorized to take acknowledgments, administer oaths, certify pa- pers, or perform any official acts in connection with matters in which he is employed as counsel, attorney or agent or in which he may be in any way interested before any of the Departments aforesaid’ shall not apply to matters before the Department of the Inte- rior.’’ § 1477. Snow water supply forecasting (a) Short title This section may be cited as the ‘‘Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act’’. (b) Definition of program In this section, the term ‘‘program’’ means the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program estab- lished by subsection (c). (c) Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program (1) Program establishment The Snow Water Supply Forecasting Pro- gram is hereby established within the Depart- ment of the Interior. (2) Program implementation To implement the program, the Secretary shall— (A) develop the program framework in co- ordination with other Federal agencies pur- suant to subsection (d), culminating in the report required under subsection (d)(3); and (B) after submitting the report required by subsection (d)(3), implement activities to improve snowpack measurement in par- ticular watersheds pursuant to subsection (e). (d) Development of program framework in co- ordination with other Federal agencies (1) Snowpack measurement data When determining water supply forecasts or allocations to Federal water contractors, the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, shall incor- porate, to the greatest extent practicable, in- formation from emerging technologies for snowpack measurement, such as— (A) synthetic aperture radar; (B) laser altimetry; and (C) other emerging technologies that the Secretary determines are likely to provide more accurate or timely snowpack measure- ment data. (2) Coordination In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall coordinate data use and collection ef- forts with other Federal agencies that use or may benefit from the use of emerging tech- nologies for snowpack measurement. (3) Emerging technologies report Not later than October 1, 2021, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that— (A) summarizes the use of emerging tech- nologies pursuant to this section; (B) describes benefits derived from the use of technologies summarized under subpara- graph (A) related to the environment and in- creased water supply reliability; and (C) describes how Federal agencies will co- ordinate to implement emerging tech- nologies. (e) Program implementation (1) Activities implementing framework After submitting the report required under subsection (d)(3), the Secretary shall partici- pate with program partners in implementing activities to improve snowpack measurement in particular watersheds. (2) Focus The program shall focus on activities that will maintain, establish, expand, or advance snowpack measurement consistent with the report required by subsection (d)(3), with an emphasis on— (A) enhancing activities in river basins to achieve improved snow and water supply forecasting results; (B) activities in river basins where snow water supply forecasting related activities described in this section are not occurring on December 27, 2020; and (C) demonstrating or testing new, or im- proving existing, snow and water supply forecasting technology. (3) Information sharing The Secretary may provide information col- lected and analyzed under this section to pro- gram partners through appropriate mecha- nisms, including interagency agreements with Federal agencies, States, State agencies, or a combination thereof, leases, contracts, cooper- ative agreements, grants, loans, and memo- randa of understanding. (4) Program partners Program partners with whom the Secretary enters into cooperative agreements pursuant to paragraph (5) may include water districts, irrigation districts, water associations, uni- versities, State agencies, other Federal agen- cies, private sector entities, non-governmental organizations, and other entities, as deter- mined by the Secretary. (5) Cooperative agreements The Secretary may— (A) enter into cooperative agreements with program partners to allow the program to be administered efficiently and cost effec- tively through cost-sharing or by providing additional in-kind resources necessary for program implementation; and (B) provide nonreimbursable matching funding for programmatic and operational activities under this section in consultation with program partners. (6) Environmental laws Nothing in this section shall modify any ob- ligation of the Secretary to comply with appli- cable Federal and State environmental laws in carrying out this section. Page 397 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 1478 (f) Program implementation report Not later than 4 years after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa- tives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, that includes— (1) a list of basins and sub-basins for which snowpack measurement technologies are being used under the program, including a descrip- tion of each technology used; and (2) a list of Federal agencies and program partners participating in each basin or sub- basin listed in paragraph (1). (g) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $15,000,000, in the aggregate, for fiscal years 2022 through 2026. (Pub. L. 116–260, div. FF, title XI, § 1111, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 3249.) REFERENCES IN TEXT This section, referred to in subsecs. (b), (d)(3)(A), (e)(2)(B), (3), (5)(B), (6), and (g), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, which was translated as meaning section 1111 of Pub. L. 116–260, div. FF, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 3249, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. DEFINITIONS For definition of ‘‘Secretary’’ as used in this section, see section 1115 of div. FF of Pub. L. 116–260, set out as a note under section 2330c of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters. § 1478. Appraisal and valuation services for real property (a) License, certification requirement A covered appraiser needs to be licensed or certified in only 1 State to perform appraisal or valuation services for real property in any State for a transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction. (b) Use of non-Federal covered appraisers If the Secretary uses a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal or valuation serv- ices for real property for a transaction described in subsection (a), the Secretary— (1) shall, to the maximum extent prac- ticable, use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a certified general real property ap- praiser licensed in a State in which the real property that is the subject of the transaction is located; and (2) may only use a non-Federal covered ap- praiser who is a certified general real property appraiser licensed in a State other than one in which the real property that is the subject of the transaction is located if a non-Federal covered appraiser described in paragraph (1) is, as determined by the Secretary— (A) unavailable to complete an assignment within a reasonable period of time; (B) not assignment qualified; or (C) not cost competitive. (c) Report Not later than 1 year after January 4, 2025, and annually thereafter for at least the following 4 years, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following: (1) A comparison using quantitative data of— (A) the number of requests for appraisal and valuation services received by the De- partment during the reporting period and the number of requests for such services re- ceived by the Department in each of the 5 years before the reporting period; and (B) the amount of time required for the Department to complete a request for ap- praisal or valuation services before January 4, 2025, and after January 4, 2025. (2) A qualitative assessment of the impact of subsection (a) in providing flexibility to the Secretary when contracting with non-Federal covered appraisers. (3) Recommendations, if any, for congres- sional action that could help the Department operate more efficiently or overcome chal- lenges with respect to timely completion of re- quests for appraisal or valuation services while ensuring the independence, impartiality, and objectivity of such services. (4) An overview of the workforce of the De- partment with regard to appraisal and valu- ation services provided by the Department, in- cluding hiring and staffing during the report- ing period with respect to employees and con- tractors of the Department. (5) A complete list of cases in which the au- thority granted under this section was used during the reporting period, describing for each case the specific criteria used to satisfy the conditions of this section. (d) Statutory clarifications (1) Applicability of relevant laws and regula- tions Except as provided in paragraph (3), nothing in this section shall be interpreted to affect the application of any Federal or State law or regulation to a non-Federal covered appraiser with regard to the performance by such non- Federal covered appraiser of appraisal and valuation services for real property. (2) Jurisdiction requirement Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to authorize a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal and valuation services for real property in a State in which such non- Federal covered appraiser is not licensed or certified to perform such services except to the extent that such services are performed for a transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction. (3) Nonapplicability of certain relevant laws and regulations Any provision of a Federal or State law or regulation enacted before January 4, 2025, that requires a covered appraiser to be licensed or certified in a specific State to perform ap- praisal or valuation services for real property in that State shall not apply to any trans- action over which the Secretary has jurisdic- tion. (e) Public availability Not later than 90 days after January 4, 2025, the text of all policies (including any successor policies), including reference manuals, guidance