16 U.S.C. § 662 : US Code - Section 662: Impounding, diverting, or controlling of waters

Search 16 U.S.C. § 662 : US Code - Section 662: Impounding, diverting, or controlling of waters

(a) Consultations between agencies
Except as hereafter stated in subsection (h) of this section,
whenever the waters of any stream or other body of water are
proposed or authorized to be impounded, diverted, the channel
deepened, or the stream or other body of water otherwise controlled
or modified for any purpose whatever, including navigation and
drainage, by any department or agency of the United States, or by
any public or private agency under Federal permit or license, such
department or agency first shall consult with the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, and with the
head of the agency exercising administration over the wildlife
resources of the particular State wherein the impoundment,
diversion, or other control facility is to be constructed, with a
view to the conservation of wildlife resources by preventing loss
of and damage to such resources as well as providing for the
development and improvement thereof in connection with such water-
resource development.
(b) Reports and recommendations; consideration
In furtherance of such purposes, the reports and recommendations
of the Secretary of the Interior on the wildlife aspects of such
projects, and any report of the head of the State agency exercising
administration over the wildlife resources of the State, based on
surveys and investigations conducted by the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service and such State agency for the purpose of
determining the possible damage to wildlife resources and for the
purpose of determining means and measures that should be adopted to
prevent the loss of or damage to such wildlife resources, as well
as to provide concurrently for the development and improvement of
such resources, shall be made an integral part of any report
prepared or submitted by any agency of the Federal Government
responsible for engineering surveys and construction of such
projects when such reports are presented to the Congress or to any
agency or person having the authority or the power, by
administrative action or otherwise, (1) to authorize the
construction of water-resource development projects or (2) to
approve a report on the modification or supplementation of plans
for previously authorized projects, to which sections 661 to 666c
of this title apply. Recommendations of the Secretary of the
Interior shall be as specific as is practicable with respect to
features recommended for wildlife conservation and development,
lands to be utilized or acquired for such purposes, the results
expected, and shall describe the damage to wildlife attributable to
the project and the measures proposed for mitigating or
compensating for these damages. The reporting officers in project
reports of the Federal agencies shall give full consideration to
the report and recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior and
to any report of the State agency on the wildlife aspects of such
projects, and the project plan shall include such justifiable means
and measures for wildlife purposes as the reporting agency finds
should be adopted to obtain maximum overall project benefits.
(c) Modification of projects; acquisition of lands
Federal agencies authorized to construct or operate water-control
projects are authorized to modify or add to the structures and
operations of such projects, the construction of which has not been
substantially completed on the date of enactment of the Fish and
Wildlife Coordination Act, and to acquire lands in accordance with
section 663 of this title, in order to accommodate the means and
measures for such conservation of wildlife resources as an integral
part of such projects: Provided, That for projects authorized by a
specific Act of Congress before the date of enactment of the Fish
and Wildlife Coordination Act (1) such modification or land
acquisition shall be compatible with the purposes for which the
project was authorized; (2) the cost of such modifications or land
acquisition, as means and measures to prevent loss of and damage to
wildlife resources to the extent justifiable, shall be an integral
part of the cost of such projects; and (3) the cost of such
modifications or land acquisition for the development or
improvement of wildlife resources may be included to the extent
justifiable, and an appropriate share of the cost of any project
may be allocated for this purpose with a finding as to the part of
such allocated cost, if any, to be reimbursed by non-Federal
interests.
(d) Project costs
The cost of planning for and the construction or installation and
maintenance of such means and measures adopted to carry out the
conservation purposes of this section shall constitute an integral
part of the cost of such projects: Provided, That such cost
attributable to the development and improvement of wildlife shall
not extend beyond that necessary for (1) land acquisition, (2)
facilities as specifically recommended in water resource project
reports, (3) modification of the project, and (4) modification of
project operations, but shall not include the operation of wildlife
facilities.
(e) Transfer of funds
In the case of construction by a Federal agency, that agency is
authorized to transfer to the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, out of appropriations or other funds made available for
investigations, engineering, or construction, such funds as may be
necessary to conduct all or part of the investigations required to
carry out the purposes of this section.
(f) Estimation of wildlife benefits or losses
In addition to other requirements, there shall be included in any
report submitted to Congress supporting a recommendation for
authorization of any new project for the control or use of water as
described herein (including any new division of such project or new
supplemental works on such project) an estimation of the wildlife
benefits or losses to be derived therefrom including benefits to be
derived from measures recommended specifically for the development
and improvement of wildlife resources, the cost of providing
wildlife benefits (including the cost of additional facilities to
be installed or lands to be acquired specifically for that
particular phase of wildlife conservation relating to the
development and improvement of wildlife), the part of the cost of
joint-use facilities allocated to wildlife, and the part of such
costs, if any, to be reimbursed by non-Federal interests.
(g) Applicability to projects
The provisions of this section shall be applicable with respect
to any project for the control or use of water as prescribed
herein, or any unit of such project authorized before or after the
date of enactment of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act for
planning or construction, but shall not be applicable to any
project or unit thereof authorized before the date of enactment of
the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act if the construction of the
particular project or unit thereof has been substantially
completed. A project or unit thereof shall be considered to be
substantially completed when sixty percent or more of the estimated
construction cost has been obligated for expenditure.
(h) Exempt projects and activities
The provisions of section 661 to 666c of this title shall not be
applicable to those projects for the impoundment of water where the
maximum surface area of such impoundments is less than ten acres,
nor to activities for or in connection with programs primarily for
land management and use carried out by Federal agencies with
respect to Federal lands under their jurisdiction.