I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2644

To provide for the transfer of the Missouri River Basin, Pick-Sloan Project

facilities in the States of Kansas and Nebraska, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 15, 1995

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself and Mr. BROWNBACK) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To provide for the transfer of the Missouri River Basin,

Pick-Sloan Project facilities in the States of Kansas and

Nebraska, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Missouri River Basin,

5 Kansas and Nebraska, Pick-Sloan Project Facilities

6 Transfer Act’’.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 As used in this Act:

9 (1) PROJECT BENEFICIARY.—(A) The term

10 ‘‘project beneficiary’’ means one or more of the fol-
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1 lowing irrigation districts or reclamation districts or2 ganized and operating under the laws of the State

3 of Kansas or the State of Nebraska:

4 (i) In Kansas, Kansas-Bostwick Irrigation

5 District No. 2, Kirwin Irrigation District No. 1,

6 Webster Irrigation District No. 4, and Almena

7 Irrigation District No. 5; and

8 (ii) In Nebraska, Ainsworth Irrigation Dis9 trict, Farwell Irrigation District, Sargent Irri10 gation District, Loup Basin Reclamation Dis11 trict, Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District

12 and Nebraska Bostwick Irrigation District.

13 (B) Such term may also include an organization

14 established by one or more of the irrigation districts

15 referred to in subparagraph (A) under laws of the

16 States of Kansas and Nebraska authorizing the cre17 ation of interlocal cooperation entities or such term

18 may include another political subdivision of the

19 States of Kansas or Nebraska established by act of

20 their respective State legislatures for the purpose of

21 acquiring title to reclamation project property in ac22 cordance with this Act.

23 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

24 the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of the
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1 Army, as appropriate, with jurisdiction over project

2 facilities subject to this Act.

3 (3) RECLAMATION PROJECT PROPERTY.—The

4 term ‘‘reclamation project property’’ means the fol5 lowing:

6 (A) All contracts which are currently in ef7 fect between the United States and the project

8 beneficiaries or other parties and which relate

9 to the projects, project facilities and related

10 programs, including any such contracts, written

11 or not written to provide project use power

12 from Federal power facilities.

13 (B) All reclamation project distribution

14 and drainage facilities, all reservoir and related

15 diversion facilities and all related lands cur16 rently held by the United States which are sub17 ject to this Act.

18 (C) All acquired lands, both surface and

19 subsurface estate, within the respective rec20 lamation projects.

21 (D) All water rights held by the United

22 States relating to the respective project facili23 ties.
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1 (E) All outstanding leases or contracts on

2 the lands associated with the respective

3 projects.

4 (F) All fund accounts held by the United

5 States for any purposes related to the project.

6 (G) All contracts, other than those listed

7 under subparagraph (E), or other legal obliga8 tions in existence which have any impact upon

9 the project facilities or the project operations

10 and which may be required to be assumed or

11 accepted by the project beneficiary.

12 (H) All personal property, including oper13 ating equipment, tools and other tangible per14 sonal property, held by the United States for

15 the purposes of operating the project or serving

16 the project facilities.

17 (I) All funds held in reserve or otherwise

18 dedicated accounts in which funds have been

19 paid by project beneficiaries or from other

20 nonproject related revenues and which are, as

21 of the date of enactment of this Act, held for

22 project purposes.
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1 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF MISSOURI RIVER BASIN, PICK-SLOAN

2 PROJECTS FACILITIES.

3 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Within 180 days after

4 the date of enactment of this Act and upon tender of the

5 specified consideration by the project beneficiary, the Sec6 retary shall transfer, in fee title and free of all liens and

7 encumbrances, the project described in section 6, including

8 all right, title, and interest of the United States in and

9 to the reclamation project property, to the project bene10 ficiary of each such described project.

11 (b) CONSIDERATION AND SATISFACTION OF OUT12 STANDING OBLIGATIONS.—The transfer of a project

13 under subsection (a) shall be for the consideration speci14 fied for the project. The payment of the specified consider15 ation for a project shall be in full and complete satisfaction

16 of all obligations against the project facilities and the

17 project beneficiaries existing before the date of transfer

18 of the project under every contract entered into by and

19 between the United States and the project beneficiaries.

20 The completion of the transfer of all facilities as provided

21 for in this Act and the payment of the consideration speci22 fied for each transferred project shall be deemed to con23 stitute full and complete satisfaction of any and all obliga24 tions for further payments or repayments by the respective

25 project sponsors for irrigation benefits of the project facili-
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1 ties and for any other benefits specifically transferred to

2 the respective project sponsors.

3 (c) TRANSFER COSTS.—All costs of transfers carried

4 out under this section shall be the obligation of the United

5 States.

6 (d) TRANSFER DOCUMENTS.—The Secretary with

7 the assistance of the project beneficiaries shall execute all

8 necessary transfer documents and make all such filings

9 or take all such actions as may be needed to consummate

10 the transfers of reclamation project property. Such docu11 ments shall include (but not be limited to) land deeds,

12 court proceedings, decrees, bills of sale, certificates of title,

13 lease contract transfers, water rights certificates and

14 amendment documents, and notice filings.

15 (e) PRESENT VESTING OF LEASE BENEFITS AND

16 OBLIGATIONS.—The project beneficiaries to whom any

17 project lands are to be transferred under this section shall

18 be entitled to immediately assume the management of all

19 existing and future leases and shall be entitled to any reve20 nues accruing on or after the date of enactment of this

21 Act.

22 (f) LIMITATION.—The further transfer of any facili23 ties or parts thereof of any project which are not specifi24 cally transferred by this Act shall only be carried out by

25 the United States with the specific advice and consent of
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1 the project beneficiaries to which project facilities are to

2 be transferred by this Act.

3 SEC. 4. LIABILITY.

4 Upon completion of the transfer of reclamation

5 project property to the project beneficiaries as provided

6 by this Act, the project beneficiaries shall assume sole re7 sponsibility and liability for the project and the project

8 beneficiaries shall hold the United States harmless and in9 demnify the United States against any and all claims of

10 damage, except that all project facilities transferred under

11 this Act shall, as to the project beneficiaries, be free from

12 liability for latent defects in such facilities unless all such

13 defects were fully disclosed and the defects corrected or

14 accepted in writing as to further future liability by the

15 project beneficiaries.

16 SEC. 5. PROJECT PURPOSES, OPERATIONS, AND COST AL17 LOCATIONS.

18 (a) CONTINUATION.—All facilities transferred in ac19 cordance with this Act shall be deemed to be committed

20 to the purposes for which those facilities were authorized

21 and constructed. Operations of all such transferred facili22 ties shall be subject to the laws of the States of Kansas

23 and Nebraska as set forth in the establishment and oper24 ation of irrigation or reclamation districts under those re25 spective State laws. All cost allocations identified as reim-
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1 bursable by other beneficiaries provided for as a part of

2 the original authorizing laws for each transferred project

3 shall remain due from those beneficiaries under the same

4 provisions and in the same manner as originally approved

5 from and after the date of enactment of this Act until

6 paid.

7 (b) DEEMED CONSENT OF PROJECT BENE8 FICIARY.—The project beneficiary of each transferred

9 project, upon accepting the transfer provided under this

10 Act, shall be deemed to agree to operate, maintain, repair,

11 replace and rehabilitate the project in a manner designed

12 to carry out the intended purposes for which the project

13 was developed and constructed, except that a transferred

14 project or part thereof may be redirected to another al15 ready identified use or to another use if the project bene16 ficiary determines that the public purpose for which the

17 facilities were constructed is better served.

18 (c) TERMINATION OF MANDATES.—All mandates im19 posed by the Reclamation Act of 1902 (and all Acts sup20 plementary thereto or amendatory thereof, including the

21 Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, or by Department of

22 the Interior or Army regulations, upon the project facili23 ties, the project beneficiaries, or the individual water users

24 for whom the respective projects are operated shall be ter25 minated upon the completion of the transfers as provided
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1 by this Act. Any other Federal laws and regulations shall

2 be administered upon the projects as they might be over

3 any other non-Federal project.

4 (d) CERTAIN ACTS NOT APPLICABLE.—The trans5 fers directed by this Act are subject to the requirement

6 that all transferred reclamation project property be used

7 in accordance with this section. A transfer under this Act

8 shall not—

9 (1) be deemed to constitute a major Federal ac10 tion within the meaning of the National Environ11 mental Policy Act of 1969 and shall therefore be

12 deemed to satisfy all requirements of the National

13 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 without further

14 action;

15 (2) constitute or be deemed a basis for invoking

16 any provisions of the Endangered Species Act of

17 1973;

18 (3) require certification under the provisions of

19 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act;

20 (4) be subject to the provisions of chapter 5 of

21 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the

22 ‘‘Administrative Procedures Act’’); or

23 (5) be considered a disposal of Federal surplus

24 property under the provisions of the Federal Prop25 erty and Administrative Services Act of 1949.
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1 SEC. 6. FACILITIES AFFECTED.

2 (a) AINSWORTH UNIT.—The Ainsworth Unit, Mis3 souri River Basin Project, shall consist of the project con4 structed and operated pursuant to the Act of December

5 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887, Public Law 78–534), and the Act

6 of August 21, 1954 (68 Stat. 757), and the Act of May

7 18, 1956 (Public Law 84–531), and which is situated in

8 Cherry, Brown, and Rock Counties in Nebraska. The

9 Ainsworth Unit shall be transferred to the Ainsworth Irri10 gation District as the project beneficiary upon the pay11 ment of $1,747,097 as consideration therefore.

12 (b) FARWELL UNIT.—The Farwell Unit, Missouri

13 River Basin Project, shall consist of the project con14 structed and operated pursuant to the Act of December

15 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887, Public Law 78–534), and the Act

16 of August 3, 1956 (70 Stat. 975), and which is situated

17 in Howard, Sherman, Custer and Valley Counties in Ne18 braska. The Farwell Unit shall be transferred to the

19 Farwell Irrigation District and to the Loup Basin Rec20 lamation District as the project beneficiaries in such man21 ner as elected by the beneficiaries upon the payment of

22 $2,399,874 as consideration therefore.

23 (c) SARGENT UNIT.—The Sargent Unit, Missouri

24 River Basin Project, shall consist of the project con25 structed and operated pursuant to the Act of December

26 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887, Public Law 78–534), and the Act
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1 of August 3, 1956 (70 Stat. 975), and which is situated

2 in Blaine, Custer, and Valley Counties in Nebraska. The

3 Sargent Unit shall be transferred to the Sargent Irrigation

4 District and to the Loup Basin Reclamation District as

5 the project beneficiaries in such manner as elected by the

6 beneficiaries upon the payment of $565,862 as consider7 ation therefore.

8 (d) FRENCHMAN-CAMBRIDGE UNIT.—The French9 man-Cambridge Unit, Missouri River Basin Project, shall

10 consist of the project constructed and operated pursuant

11 to the Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), by Act

12 of Congress (Public Law 78–534), as a component of the

13 Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and which is situated

14 in Red Willow, Frontier, Hitchcock, Furnas and Harlan

15 Counties in Nebraska. The Frenchman-Cambridge Unit

16 shall be transferred to the Frenchman-Cambridge Irriga17 tion District or to another project beneficiary designated

18 by the Irrigation District as the project beneficiaries upon

19 the payment of $1,478,291 as consideration therefore.

20 (e) BOSTWICK UNIT.—The Bostwick Unit, Missouri

21 River Basin Project, shall consist of the projects con22 structed and operated pursuant to the Act of December

23 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), by Act of Congress (Public Law

24 78–534) as a component of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin

25 Program, and which are situated in Harlan, Franklin,
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1 Webster and Nuckolls Counties in Nebraska, and Repub2 lic, Jewell and Cloud Counties in Kansas. The reclamation

3 project property of the Bostwick Unit shall include all con4 structed facilities deemed to be a part of the irrigation

5 operations for the Unit and shall include only that part

6 of the Harlan County Dam and Reservoir required for irri7 gation storage and irrigation use. For purposes of this

8 transfer such irrigation storage shall include water storage

9 capacity between elevation 1925.0 and 1946.0 M.S.L. In

10 accordance with the conditions set forth herein the irriga11 tion storage and operations agreements now in effect be12 tween the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and

13 the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Rec14 lamation, shall be the basis for future operations between

15 the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the

16 project sponsors. The parts of the Bostwick Unit nec17 essary to the operations of the Nebraska portion of the

18 project shall be transferred to the Nebraska Bostwick Irri19 gation District or to another project beneficiary des20 ignated by the Irrigation District as the project bene21 ficiaries. The parts of the Bostwick Unit necessary to the

22 operations of the Kansas portion of the project shall be

23 transferred to the Kansas-Bostwick Irrigation District No.

24 2 or to another project beneficiary designated by the Irri25 gation District as the project beneficiaries. The payment
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1 of $4,333,804 shall constitute consideration for the

2 Bostwick Unit.

3 (f) ALMENA UNIT.—The Almena Unit, Missouri

4 River Basin Project, shall consist of the project con5 structed and operated pursuant to the Act of December

6 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887, Public Law 78–534), and the

7 Flood Control Act of 1946 (Public Law 78–526), and

8 which is situated in Norton and Phillips Counties in Kan9 sas. The Almena Unit shall be transferred to the Almena

10 Irrigation District No. 5 or to another project beneficiary

11 designated by the Irrigation District as the project bene12 ficiaries upon the payment of $112,631 as consideration

13 therefore.

14 (g) KIRWIN UNIT.—The Kirwin Unit, Missouri River

15 Basin Project, shall consist of the project constructed and

16 operated pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1944 (58

17 Stat. 887, Public Law 78–534), and the Flood Control

18 Act of 1946 (Public Law 78–526), and which is situated

19 in Phillips, Smith, and Osborn Counties in Kansas. The

20 Kirwin Unit shall be transferred to the Kirwin Irrigation

21 District No. 1 or to another project beneficiary designated

22 by the Irrigation District as the project beneficiaries upon

23 the payment of $253,967 as consideration therefore.

24 (h) WEBSTER UNIT.—The Webster Unit, Missouri

25 River Basin Project, shall consist of the project con-
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1 structed and operated pursuant to the Act of December

2 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887, Public Law 78–534), and the

3 Flood Control Act of 1946 (Public Law 78–526), and

4 which is situated in Rooks and Osborn Counties in Kan5 sas. The Webster Unit shall be transferred to the Webster

6 Irrigation District No. 4 or to another project beneficiary

7 designated by the Irrigation District as the project bene8 ficiaries upon the payment of $232,012 as consideration

9 therefore.

Æ