II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1178

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain parcels of land

acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal features of the Oahe

Irrigation Project, South Dakota, to the Commission of Schools and

Public Lands of the State of South Dakota for the purpose of mitigating

lost wildlife habitat, on the condition that the current preferential leaseholders shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the Commission, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. DASCHLE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain

parcels of land acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and

Pierre Canal features of the Oahe Irrigation Project,

South Dakota, to the Commission of Schools and Public

Lands of the State of South Dakota for the purpose

of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on the condition that

the current preferential leaseholders shall have an option

to purchase the parcels from the Commission, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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•S 1178 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Blunt Reservoir and

3 Pierre Canal Land Conveyance Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) under the Act of December 22, 1944 (com7 monly known as the ‘‘Flood Control Act of

8 1944’’)(58 Stat. 887, chapter 665; 33 U.S.C. 701–

9 1 et seq.), Congress approved the Pick-Sloan Mis10 souri River Basin program—

11 (A) to promote the general economic devel12 opment of the United States;

13 (B) to provide for irrigation above Sioux

14 City, Iowa;

15 (C) to protect urban and rural areas from

16 devastating floods of the Missouri River; and

17 (D) for other purposes;

18 (2) the purpose of the Oahe Irrigation Project

19 was to meet the requirements of that Act by pro20 viding irrigation above Sioux City, Iowa;

21 (3) the principle features of the Oahe Irrigation

22 Project included—

23 (A) a system of main canals, including the

24 Pierre Canal, running east from the Oahe Res25 ervoir; and
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1 (B) the establishment of regulating res2 ervoirs, including the Blunt Dam and Res3 ervoir, located approximately 35 miles east of

4 Pierre, South Dakota;

5 (4) land to establish the Pierre Canal and

6 Blunt Reservoir was purchased from willing sellers

7 between 1972 and 1977, when construction on the

8 Oahe Irrigation Project was halted;

9 (5) since 1978, the Commissioner of Reclama10 tion has administered the land—

11 (A) on a preferential lease basis to original

12 landowners or their descendants; and

13 (B) on a nonpreferential lease basis to

14 other persons;

15 (6) the 2 largest reservoirs created by the Pick16 Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, Lake Oahe

17 and Lake Sharpe, caused the loss of approximately

18 221,000 acres of fertile, wooded bottomland in

19 South Dakota that constituted some of the most

20 productive, unique, and irreplaceable wildlife habitat

21 in the State;

22 (7) the State of South Dakota has developed a

23 plan to meet the Federal obligation under the Fish

24 and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et

25 seq.) to mitigate the loss of wildlife habitat, the im-
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1 plementation of which is authorized by section 602

2 of title VI of Public Law 105–277 (112 Stat. 2681–

3 660); and

4 (8) it is in the interests of the United States

5 and the State of South Dakota to—

6 (A) provide original landowners or their

7 descendants with an opportunity to purchase

8 back their land; and

9 (B) transfer the remaining land to the

10 State of South Dakota to allow implementation

11 of its habitat mitigation plan.

12 SEC. 3. BLUNT RESERVOIR AND PIERRE CANAL.

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

14 (1) BLUNT RESERVOIR FEATURE.—The term

15 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir feature’’ means the Blunt Res16 ervoir feature of the Oahe Irrigation Project author17 ized by section 9 of the Act of December 22, 1944

18 (58 Stat. 891, chapter 665), as part of the Pick19 Sloan Missouri River Basin Program.

20 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

21 means the Commission of Schools and Public Lands

22 of the State of South Dakota.

23 (3) NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The

24 term ‘‘nonpreferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel

25 of land that—
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1 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

2 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

3 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

4 (B) is under lease to a person other than

5 a preferential leaseholder as of the date of en6 actment of this Act.

7 (4) PIERRE CANAL FEATURE.—The term

8 ‘‘Pierre Canal feature’’ means the Pierre Canal fea9 ture of the Oahe Irrigation Project authorized by

10 section 9 of the Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat.

11 891, chapter 665), as part of the Pick-Sloan Mis12 souri River Basin Program.

13 (5) PREFERENTIAL LEASEHOLDER.—The term

14 ‘‘preferential leaseholder’’ means a leaseholder of a

15 parcel of land who is—

16 (A) the person from whom the Secretary

17 purchased the parcel for use in connection with

18 the Blunt Reservoir feature or the Pierre Canal

19 feature;

20 (B) the original operator of the parcel at

21 the time of acquisition; or

22 (C) a descendant of a person described in

23 subparagraph (A) or (B).
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1 (6) PREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The term

2 ‘‘preferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel of land

3 that—

4 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

5 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

6 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

7 (B) is under lease to a preferential lease8 holder as of the date of enactment of this Act.

9 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

10 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

11 Commissioner of Reclamation.

12 (8) UNLEASED PARCEL.—The term ‘‘unleased

13 parcel’’ means a parcel of land that—

14 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

15 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

16 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

17 (B) is not under lease as of the date of en18 actment of this Act.

19 (b) DEAUTHORIZATION.—The Blunt Reservoir fea20 ture is deauthorized.

21 (c) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary shall convey all of

22 the preferential lease parcels to the Commission, without

23 consideration, on the condition that the Commission honor

24 the purchase option provided to preferential leaseholders

25 under subsection (d).
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1 (d) PURCHASE OPTION.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—A preferential leaseholder

3 shall have an option to purchase from the Commis4 sion the preferential lease parcel that is the subject

5 of the lease.

6 (2) TERMS.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

8 subparagraph (B), a preferential leaseholder

9 may elect to purchase a parcel on 1 of the fol10 lowing terms:

11 (i) Cash purchase for the amount that

12 is equal to—

13 (I) the value of the parcel deter14 mined under paragraph (4); minus

15 (II) 10 percent of that value.

16 (ii) Installment purchase, with 20 per17 cent of the value of the parcel determined

18 under paragraph (4) to be paid on the date

19 of purchase and the remainder to be paid

20 over not more than 30 years at 3 percent

21 annual interest.

22 (B) VALUE UNDER $10,000.—If the value

23 of the parcel is under $10,000, the purchase

24 shall be made on a cash basis in accordance

25 with subparagraph (A)(i).
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1 (3) OPTION EXERCISE PERIOD.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A preferential lease3 holder shall have until the date that is 10 years

4 after the date of the conveyance under sub5 section (c) to exercise the option under para6 graph (1).

7 (B) CONTINUATION OF LEASES.—Until the

8 date specified in subparagraph (A), a pref9 erential leaseholder shall be entitled to continue

10 to lease from the Commission the parcel leased

11 by the preferential leaseholder under the same

12 terms and conditions as under the lease, as in

13 effect as of the date of conveyance.

14 (4) VALUATION.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The value of a pref16 erential lease parcel shall be determined to be,

17 at the election of the preferential leaseholder—

18 (i) the amount that is equal to—

19 (I) the number of acres of the

20 preferential lease parcel; multiplied by

21 (II) the amount of the per-acre

22 assessment of adjacent parcels made

23 by the Director of Equalization of the

24 county in which the preferential lease

25 parcel is situated; or
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1 (ii) the amount of a valuation of the

2 preferential lease parcel for agricultural

3 use made by an independent appraiser.

4 (B) COST OF APPRAISAL.—If a preferential

5 leaseholder elects to use the method of valu6 ation described in subparagraph (A)(ii), the

7 cost of the valuation shall be paid by the pref8 erential leaseholder.

9 (5) CONVEYANCE TO THE STATE OF SOUTH DA10 KOTA.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a preferential lease12 holder fails to purchase a parcel within the pe13 riod specified in paragraph (3)(A), the Commis14 sion shall convey the parcel to the State of

15 South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and

16 Parks.

17 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.—

18 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be

19 used by the South Dakota Department of

20 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti21 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re22 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan

23 project.

24 (6) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Of the proceeds of

25 sales of land under this subsection—
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1 (A) not more than $500,000 shall be used

2 to reimburse the Secretary for expenses in3 curred in implementing this Act;

4 (B) an amount not exceeding 10 percent of

5 the cost of each transaction conducted under

6 this Act shall be used to reimburse the Commis7 sion for expenses incurred implementing this

8 Act;

9 (C) $3,095,000 shall be deposited in the

10 South Dakota Wildlife Habitat Mitigation

11 Trust Fund established by section 603 of divi12 sion C of Public Law 105–277 (112 Stat.

13 2681–663) for the purpose of paying property

14 taxes on land transferred to the State of South

15 Dakota;

16 (D) $100,000 shall be provided to Hughes

17 County, South Dakota, for the purpose of sup18 porting public education;

19 (E) $100,000 shall be provided to Sully

20 County, South Dakota, for the purpose of sup21 porting public education; and

22 (F) the remainder shall be used by the

23 Commission to support public schools in the

24 State of South Dakota.
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1 (e) CONVEYANCE OF NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE

2 PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convey

4 to the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish,

5 and Parks the nonpreferential lease parcels and un6 leased parcels of the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre

7 Canal.

8 (2) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.—Land

9 conveyed under paragraph (1) shall be used by the

10 South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and

11 Parks for the purpose of mitigating the wildlife habi12 tat that was lost as a result of the development of

13 the Pick-Sloan project.

14 (f) LAND EXCHANGES FOR NONPREFERENTIAL

15 LEASE PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—With the concurrence of the

17 South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and

18 Parks, the South Dakota Commission of Schools and

19 Public Lands may allow a person to exchange land

20 that the person owns elsewhere in the State of South

21 Dakota for a nonpreferential lease parcel or un22 leased parcel at Blunt Reservoir or Pierre Canal, as

23 the case may be.
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1 (2) PRIORITY.—The right to exchange nonpref2 erential lease parcels or unleased parcels shall be

3 granted in the following order of priority:

4 (A) Exchanges with current lessees for

5 nonpreferential lease parcels.

6 (B) Exchanges with adjoining and adjacent

7 landowners for unleased parcels and nonpref8 erential lease parcels not exchanged by current

9 lessees.

10 (g) EASEMENT FOR IRRIGATION PIPE.—A pref11 erential leaseholder that purchases land at Pierre Canal

12 or exchanges land for land at Pierre Canal shall to allow

13 the State of South Dakota to retain an easement on the

14 land for an irrigation pipe.

15 (h) FUNDING OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA TERRESTRIAL

16 WILDLIFE HABITAT RESTORATION TRUST FUND.—Sec17 tion 603(b) of title VI of Public Law 105–277 (112 Stat.

18 2681–663) is amended by striking ‘‘$108,000,000’’ and

19 inserting ‘‘$111,095,000’’.

Æ