I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2609

To provide for the Secretary of the Interior to sell the indebtedness representing the remaining repayment balance of Bureau of Reclamation projects

in Texas and to execute agreements with State and local interests.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 9, 1995

Mr. ORTIZ (for himself, Mr. LAUGHLIN, Mr. THORNBERRY, and Mr. COMBEST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To provide for the Secretary of the Interior to sell the

indebtedness representing the remaining repayment balance of Bureau of Reclamation projects in Texas and

to execute agreements with State and local interests.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Texas Reclamation

5 Projects Indebtedness Purchase Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 As used in this Act—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘public agency’’ means a State

2 agency or political subdivision of the State of Texas

3 created under the laws of the State of Texas or

4 home rule city created under the laws of the State

5 of Texas;

6 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

7 of the Interior;

8 (3) the term ‘‘present value’’ means the calcula9 tion of the present value of the unpaid indebtedness

10 of the project, as defined by the project repayment

11 schedule, discounted at the United States Treasury

12 rates on the date of purchase contract execution;

13 (4) the term ‘‘project’’ or ‘‘projects’’ means the

14 projects identified in section 4 of this Act and in15 cludes all features, functions, and property, real and

16 personal, as authorized by Congress for any project

17 in Texas constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation

18 pursuant to Federal Reclamation laws (the Act of

19 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory

20 thereof or supplementary thereto);

21 (5) the term ‘‘non-Federal mitigation costs’’

22 means costs or expenses incurred by the State of

23 Texas or public agency, whether paid directly or in24 curred as a reduction of anticipated project benefits,

25 not otherwise included as costs to be repaid to the
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1 Federal Government, to mitigate environmental im2 pacts of the project pursuant to law; and

3 (6) the term ‘‘current contracting party’’ means

4 the public agency which has contracted with the

5 United States for repayment of the indebtedness of

6 the project.

7 SEC. 3. AGREEMENT FOR THE SALE OF INDEBTEDNESS OF

8 BUREAU OF RECLAMATION PROJECTS IN

9 TEXAS.

10 The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the

11 current contracting party, or in the alternative, a public

12 agency of the State of Texas, within six months after the

13 enactment of this Act, for the purchase of the projects,

14 whether individual or more than one, according to the fol15 lowing conditions:

16 (1) The purchase price shall be the payment to

17 the United States of monies equal to the present

18 value of the individual projects which the State of

19 Texas desires to purchase.

20 (2) For projects with identified liabilities, and

21 projects where actual benefits are less than those

22 projected at the time of project authorization, the

23 purchase price shall be discounted to the extent of

24 the identified liability or unrealized benefits, as de25 termined by the State of Texas.
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1 (3) For projects that the Bureau of Reclama2 tion is obligated to pay a portion of maintenance

3 and operating expenses or payments in lieu of taxes,

4 the purchase price shall be discounted at an amount

5 equal to the Bureau of Reclamations’ anticipated

6 payment for the next 50 years.

7 (4) For projects in which the State of Texas or

8 the public agency of the State of Texas assume the

9 responsibility for implementation of Federal

10 nonreimbursable aspects of the project or projects

11 with non-Federal mitigation costs, the purchase

12 price shall be reduced to reflect the additional obli13 gations undertaken or costs incurred.

14 (5) When the purchase price is paid, the Sec15 retary shall convey to the State of Texas, or the

16 public agency of the State of Texas, all right, title,

17 and interest of the United States to all land and all

18 improvements to the project or projects. Interests

19 may be retained by the United States to the limited

20 extent those interests must be maintained to imple21 ment remaining Federal programs described in para22 graph (9).

23 (6) The State of Texas, or the public agency of

24 the State of Texas, shall assume all liability for op-
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1 eration and maintenance of the purchased project or

2 projects.

3 (7) The United States shall provide for the per4 formance of work reasonably necessary to provide

5 for the delivery of such project or projects, including

6 all facilities and property, in a reasonably safe and

7 functional condition and in accordance with good

8 maintenance standards.

9 (8) Upon completion of full payment of the pur10 chase price described in this section and the transfer

11 of a project, the State of Texas, or the public agency

12 of the State of Texas, shall be relieved from compli13 ance with the acreage limitations and other require14 ments of Reclamation law, and the project bene15 ficiaries shall not thereafter be eligible to receive rec16 lamation benefits available pursuant to the Act of

17 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory

18 thereof or supplementary thereto, unless otherwise

19 authorized by Congress.

20 (9) Upon completion of purchase, the State of

21 Texas, or the public agency of the State of Texas,

22 will assume sole responsibility and liability for the

23 project or projects purchased (or portion thereof) as

24 of the date of conveyance of title and the State of

25 Texas, or the public agency of the State of Texas,
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1 will hold the United States harmless and indemnify

2 the United States against any and all claims of dam3 age, except to the extent any title or aspect of

4 project operations has been retained by the United

5 States, and the State of Texas, or the public agency

6 of the State of Texas, will be relieved from any obli7 gation to comply with reclamation rules or regula8 tion applicable to reclamation projects.

9 (10) The State of Texas, or the public agency

10 of the State of Texas, must assume responsibility for

11 continued implementation of all nonreimbursable as12 pects of the project originally authorized by Con13 gress. Existing programs of the National Park Serv14 ice and Corps of Engineers associated with specific

15 projects shall not be affected by the transfer.

16 SEC. 4. PROJECTS AND PURCHASE PRICE.

17 The projects for which the Secretary shall execute

18 agreements, and the price which public agencies or the

19 State of Texas shall pay for such projects, based upon the

20 provisions of section 3, are:

21 (1) Canadian River Project authorized by the

22 Act of Congress approved December 29, 1950 (Pub23 lic Law 81–898), in the amount of $21,187,881.

24 Title to portions of the project owned by the Na25 tional Park Service, and portions required for flood
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1 control operation by the United States Army Corp of

2 Engineers, shall not be transferred.

3 (2) Palmetto Bend Project, Texas, authorized

4 by Act of Congress approved October 12, 1968

5 (Public Law 90–562), in the amount of

6 $33,923,245.

7 (3) Nueces River Reclamation Project, author8 ized by the Act of Congress approved October 27,

9 1974 (Public Law 93–493), in the amount of

10 $30,715,367.

11 SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE WITH CURRENT LAW.

12 (a) The assumption of Federal nonreimbursable re13 sponsibility by the current contracting authority or the

14 State of Texas, or public agency of the State of Texas,

15 is in compliance with the National Environmental Policy

16 Act of 1969 and project purchase review shall not be re17 quired pursuant thereto.

18 (b) Section 213(c) of the Reclamation Reform Act of

19 1982 (43 U.S.C. 3(c)) shall not apply to the projects cov20 ered by this Act.

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