Sponsors (2)
The bill directs significant federal funding and assistance to reduce local costs and speed hazard mitigation for qualifying urban canals, at the trade-off of increased federal spending and repayment obligations and leaving smaller vulnerable canal communities potentially ineligible for the new nonreimbursable support.
Urban residents and local governments will pay less for extraordinary operation and maintenance of qualifying urban canals because the Secretary will fund 35% of those costs, reducing local fiscal burdens.
Transferred-works operators and local governments can receive emergency and non-emergency federal assistance to carry out extraordinary O&M, enabling faster hazard mitigation that protects people and property near canals of concern.
Localities and transferred-works operating entities can use reimbursable advances as non‑Federal funds for federal grant cost-sharing, improving their competitiveness for additional federal grants and leveraging more funding.
Taxpayers nationwide may face higher federal spending obligations because the federal government will cover 35% of extraordinary O&M costs for qualifying canals.
Local transferred-works operators or utilities that accept reimbursable advances will incur repayment obligations, creating new debt or cash-flow burdens for local governments and contractors.
Communities near smaller canal reaches may be left without the new nonreimbursable support because the bill limits eligibility to reaches with more than 100 at-risk people, excluding some vulnerable rural or small urban areas.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Defines "urban canals of concern" and sets a cost‑sharing rule: 35% nonreimbursable federal share and 65% advanced as reimbursable for non‑emergency extraordinary O&M, with advances counting as non‑Federal match.
Official title: Amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to authorize certain extraordinary operation and maintenance work for urban canals of concern.
Introduced September 10, 2025 by James Risch · Last progress September 10, 2025
Creates a new category called "urban canals of concern" and sets a special federal cost-sharing rule for extraordinary operations and maintenance (O&M) on those canals. For non-emergency extraordinary O&M, the Secretary must provide 35% of costs as a nonreimbursable federal contribution, advance the remaining costs as reimbursable under existing transferred-works repayment rules, and allow those reimbursable advances to count as non‑Federal funds for other federal grant cost‑sharing purposes.