H.R. 9960 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9960 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 11, 2024Ms. De La Cruz (for herself, Mr. Arrington, and Ms. Granger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To require the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission to obtain input from stakeholders when drafting certain minutes relating to the Rio Grande, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Water Delivery Transparency Act. 2. Stakeholder input for drafting of certain IBWC minutes (a) In general In drafting any minute relating to the covered treaty, the Commission shall obtain input from stakeholders, including agricultural producers, government entities, and irrigation districts in Texas, relating to such minute. (b) Stakeholder input (1) Public forums (A) In general The Commission shall— (i) hold at least 5 public forums with the stakeholders described in subsection (a) during the input period; and (ii) ensure that at least 3 of such forums are held in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. (B) Schedule At the onset of drafting a minute described in subsection (a), the Commission shall set a schedule for the public forums required under subparagraph (A). (C) Publication Not later than 30 days before holding the first forum with stakeholders required under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall make the schedule set pursuant to subparagraph (B) publicly available. (2) Online submission portal The Commission shall establish, and make publicly available, an online submission portal through which stakeholders may submit input relating to a minute described in subsection (a) during the input period. (c) Report Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Commission holds the first forum pursuant to subsection (b)(1), the Commission shall make publicly available a report that includes— (1) a summary of all input received from stakeholders during the input period; and (2) an executive summary describing how the Commission interprets and plans to use such input when drafting a minute described in subsection (a). (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Commission The term Commission means the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico. (2) Covered treaty The term covered treaty means the portion of the Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, signed at Washington February 3, 1944, that relates to the shared waters of the Rio Grande. (3) Input period The term input period means the period of time beginning on the date on which the Commission holds the first forum pursuant to subsection (b)(1) and ending 60 days after such date.