S. 1257 — A bill to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to authorize the use of funds for certain additional Carey Act projects, and for other purposes.

This section restructures and expands eligibility criteria under 43 U.S.C. 3204(b) for Bureau of Reclamation funding of Carey Act dam rehabilitation, reconstruction, or replacement using amounts available under section 40901(2)(B) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. (The Carey Act grants federal public lands to western states to promote private irrigation and reclamation projects.) Specifically, it redesignates existing criteria—construction beginning on or after January 1, 1905; development under the Carey Act; governor determinations of useful life expiration, health and safety risks, and a request for federal support; and estimated costs exceeding $50 million—as paragraph (1), and adds paragraph (2) to authorize funding for any other dams developed pursuant to and continuing to operate under the Carey Act once the Secretary determines that all dams meeting paragraph (1) criteria have received necessary funding and funds under section 40901(2)(B) remain available. (Thus, funding for lower-priority Carey Act dams becomes available only after high-cost projects are fully addressed.)