49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 109–430 

AMERICAN RIVER PUMP STATION PROJECT TRANSFER 

ACT OF 2005 

APRIL 25, 2006.—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. 4204] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4204) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to transfer ownership of the American River Pump Station Project, and for other 

purposes, 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. 4204 is to direct the Secretary of the Interior 

to transfer ownership of the American River Pump Station Project, 

and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

To utilize its water right from the American River, the Placer 

County Water Agency constructed a permanent pump station on 

the river during the 1960s. At the same time, Congress debated 

and eventually authorized construction of the Auburn Dam near 

the pump station. The multi-purpose dam was envisioned to provide flood control, hydroelectric power, and irrigation water and 

would have been located northeast of Sacramento. During initial 

construction on the dam, a land purchase contract [#14–06–859– 

308] was signed between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Agency. The contract transferred the Agency’s land and pumping plant 

to the United States to facilitate construction of the dam. In return, 

Reclamation agreed to provide the Agency a temporary water supVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:06 Apr 26, 2006 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR430.XXX HR430

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ply until the dam was completed. Once completed, the dam would 

provide water via gravity-fed diversions. 

Construction on Auburn Dam was halted 30 years ago and has 

not resumed. With the federal government’s failure to complete the 

dam, coupled with the removal of the original, locally-owned pump 

station, the Agency is unable to meet its water needs and does not 

have long-term water-use certainty. Since 1990, Reclamation has 

installed seasonal pumps to help the Agency meet its growing 

water demand during the dry summer months. Due to the location 

of the installation, the pumps have to be removed before each winter to prevent damage from high winter water flows. The pumps 

are re-installed each spring, but they do not fully meet the Agency’s water supply requirements, are not reliable, and are expensive 

to re-install. For this reason, on September 11, 2003, Reclamation 

and the Agency entered into a new contract [#02–LC–20–7790] that 

requires Reclamation to construct a new permanent pump station 

for the Agency. 

The new contract requires Reclamation to construct the American River Pump Station Project, consisting of a diversion/intake 

structure, a pump station, and associated facilities including pipelines, access roads, power lines, and safety features in the American River Canyon. The purpose of the Project is to allow the Agency to have year-round access to divert up to 35,500 acre-feet (an 

acre-foot equals approximately 326,000 gallons) annually of its 

water entitlement on the American River. Most of the Project costs 

would be paid by Reclamation, with some additional financing paid 

by the Agency and the State of California. The contract also stipulates that the Project would be transferred from the federal government to the Agency after completion; however, Congressional authorization would be needed for the transfer. This legislation authorizes the transfer after the Project and all necessary environmental analyses are completed. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 4204 was introduced on November 2, 2005, by Congressman 

John Doolittle (R–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Water and Power. On February 8, 2006, the Subcommittee held a 

hearing on the bill. On March 29, 2006, 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. The bill was then ordered favorably reported 

to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This section cites the short title of this bill as the ‘‘American 

River Pump Station Project Transfer Act of 2005.’’

Section 2. Authority to transfer 

This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer ownership of the American River Pump Station Project in Auburn, 

California, to the Placer County Water Agency in accordance with 


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the terms of Contract No. 02–LC–20–7790 between the United 

States and the Placer County Water Agency. 

Section 3. Federal costs nonreimbursable 

This section clarifies that all federal costs associated with the 

American River Pump Station Project are nonreimbursable. 

Section 4. Grant of real property interest 

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to grant title 

to the Placer County Water Agency to meet the contractual obligations of Land Purchase Contract No. 14–06–859–308. 

Section 5. Compliance with environmental laws 

This section states that the Secretary of the Interior shall comply 

with all applicable requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and 

any other laws applicable to the land and facilities. It also states 

that nothing in this Act modifies or alters any obligations under 

NEPA or ESA. 

Section 6. Release from liability 

This section releases the United States from liability from damages arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence relating to the 

land and facilities once the title is transferred. 

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 comparison 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, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

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 


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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. 4204—American River Pump Station Project Transfer Act of 

2005 

H.R. 4204 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey 

certain lands and a water pumping facility that is under construction on the American River to the Placer County Water Agency in 

California. Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation, 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4204 would have no significant 

impact on the federal budget. 

The bureau is constructing a water pumping station to replace 

the station that it acquired and dismantled in the early 1970s to 

build the planned Auburn Dam. To date, however, the Auburn 

Dam has not been built and there are no current plans to build it. 

The bureau estimates that construction of the water pumping facility will be completed in fiscal year 2008. Under this bill, once the 

pumping station is constructed, the Secretary would convey it and 

some adjacent lands and facilities to the Placer County Water 

Agency. The bureau installs a temporary water pump each spring 

so that the agency can access its water rights. The pump must be 

removed every fall due to high flood waters during the winter 

months. The bureau spends between $220,000 to $450,000 annually 

to operate and maintain this temporary pumping station. CBO estimates that the federal government could save those operation and 

maintenance costs once the new station is finished. 

H.R. 4204 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 facilities 

and land conveyance authorized by this bill would be accepted voluntarily by the Placer County Water Agency. Thus, any costs they 

might incur to comply with the conditions of conveyance would be 

incurred voluntarily. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. The 

estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

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. 

Æ 


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