49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 109–288 

YAKIMA-TIETON IRRIGATION DISTRICT CONVEYANCE ACT 

OF 2005 

NOVEMBER 10, 2005.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 

following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1564] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 1564) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain buildings and lands of the Yakima Project, Washington, to the 

Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 

the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1564 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain buildings and lands of the Yakima Project, 

Washington, to the Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Yakima Project, owned and constructed by the Bureau of 

Reclamation of the Department of the Interior, was completed in 

the 1930s and provides irrigation water for approximately 450,000 

acres of land on both sides of the Yakima River in south-central 

Washington. The Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District is one of the 

main divisions of the Project. The delivery of Project water to the 

District began in 1910 and the District assumed operation and 

maintenance of their water conveyance facilities in 1947. The District has repaid its Project capital repayment obligations to the 

United States. 

H.R. 1564 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey all federal right, title and interests of certain buildings and nine acres asVerDate Aug 31 2005 09:02 Nov 14, 2005 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR288.XXX HR288
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sociated with the Yakima Project to the District. The terms of the 

transfer are included in a formal agreement between the Bureau 

of Reclamation and the District. Since Congressional approval is 

necessary for these transfers to take place, this legislation authorizes this specific transfer. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1564 was introduced on April 12, 2005, by Congressional 

Doc Hastings (R–WA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Water and Power. On September 27, 2005, the Subcommittee held 

a hearing on the bill. On October 19, 2005, the Full Resources 

Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water 

and Power was discharged from further consideration of the bill by 

unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill was 

ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 cites the bill as the ‘‘Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District 

Conveyance Act of 2005.’’ 

Section 2. Conveyance of certain buildings and lands of the Yakima 

project, Washington 

Section 2 directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer all 

right, title and interest in and to the buildings and lands of the 

Yakima Project in accordance with Contract No. 5–07–20–L1658 

(an agreement between the United States and the District). The 

section releases the United States from any liability once the transfer takes place except for damages caused by acts of negligence before the transfer. After the conveyance, the transferred buildings 

and lands shall not be considered to be a part of the Yakima 

Project, and the District will not be eligible to receive any federal 

benefits with respect to the conveyed items. The section further requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue a report to Congress 

if the transfer does not take place within one year after the date 

of enactment of the bill. The report shall explain the reasons why 

the transfer has not been completed and state the date for the 

transfer. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of Rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a compariVerDate Aug 31 2005 09:02 Nov 14, 2005 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR288.XXX HR288
3 

son by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that Rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, credit authority, or an increase 

or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill would result in a 

‘‘negligible’’ increase in mandatory spending. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 1564—Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District Conveyance Act of 

2005 

H.R. 1564 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey 

certain lands and buildings comprising a portion of the Yakima 

Project in Yakima County, Washington, to the Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District. Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1564 would have no significant effect on the federal budget. 

This bill would transfer title for approximately nine acres of land 

and several buildings to the irrigation district. Other parts of the 

project, including the Tieton diversion dam and associated canals, 

would not be affected. The district has fully complied with all repayment agreements associated with the project, and currently 

makes only small payments to reimburse the Bureau of Reclamation for operations and maintenance of Yakima-Tieton facilities. 

Such payments are mandatory receipts to the Reclamation Fund, 

and would no longer be made if this bill were enacted, decreasing 

receipts and resulting in a negligible increase in mandatory spending. Under the bill, the bureau would no longer be responsible for 

the minor discretionary costs associated with operations and maintenance of the conveyed facilities. 

H.R. 1564 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. The land 

conveyance authorized by this bill would be voluntary on the part 

of the Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District. Any costs they might 

incur to comply with the conditions of the conveyance would be incurred voluntarily. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mike Waters. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

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COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

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