I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3366

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Collbran Reclamation

project to the Ute Water Conservancy District and the Collbran Conservancy District.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 30, 1996

Mr. MCINNIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Collbran

Reclamation project to the Ute Water Conservancy District and the Collbran Conservancy District.

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

3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This subchapter may be cited as

4 the ‘‘Collbran Project Unit Conveyance Act’’.

5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subchapter:

6 (1) DISTRICTS.—The term ‘‘Districts’’ means

7 the Ute Water Conservancy District and the

8 Collbran Conservancy District (including their suc-
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1 cessors and assigns), which are political subdivisions

2 of the State of Colorado.

3 (2) FEDERAL RECLAMATION LAWS.—The term

4 ‘‘Federal reclamation laws’’ means the Act of June

5 17, 1902 and Acts amendatory thereof or supple6 mentary thereto (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093; 43

7 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) (including regulations adopted

8 pursuant to those Acts).

9 (3) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means the

10 Collbran Reclamation project, as constructed and

11 operated under the Act of July 3, 1952 (66 Stat.

12 325, chapter 565), including all property, equip13 ment, and assets of or relating to the project that

14 are owned by the United States, including—

15 (A) Vega Dam and Reservoir (but not in16 cluding the Vega Recreation Facilities);

17 (B) Leon-Park dams and feeder canal;

18 (C) Southside Canal;

19 (D) East Fork diversion dam and feeder

20 canal;

21 (E) Bonham-Cottonwood pipeline;

22 (F) Snowcat shed and diesel storage;

23 (G) Upper Molina penstock and power

24 plant;
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1 (H) Lower Molina penstock and power

2 plant;

3 (I) the diversion structure in the tailrace of

4 the Lower Molina power plant;

5 (J) all substations and switchyards;

6 (K) a non-exclusive easement for the use of

7 existing easements or rights-of-way owned by

8 the United States on or across nonfederal lands

9 which are necessary for access to project facili10 ties;

11 (L) title to lands reasonably necessary for

12 all project facilities except for land described in

13 subparagraph (K) or subsection (c)(1) (B) or

14 (C);

15 (M) all permits and contract rights held by

16 the Bureau of Reclamation, including, without

17 limitation, contract or other rights relating to

18 the operation, use, maintenance, repair or re19 placement of the water storage reservoirs lo20 cated on the Grand Mesa which are operated as

21 a part of the project;

22 (N) all equipment, parts inventories, and

23 tools;
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1 (O) all additions, replacements, better2 ments, and appurtenances to any of the above;

3 and

4 (P) a copy of all data, plans, designs, re5 ports, records or other materials, whether in

6 writing or in any form of electronic storage re7 lating specifically to the project.

8 (4) VEGA RECREATION FACILITIES.—The term

9 ‘‘Vega Recreation Facilities’’ includes, but is not

10 limited to, buildings, campgrounds, picnic areas,

11 parking lots, fences, boat docks and ramps, electrical

12 lines, water and sewer systems, trash and toilet fa13 cilities, roads and trails, and other structures and

14 equipment used for State park purposes at and near

15 Vega Reservoir such as recreation, maintenance and

16 daily and overnight visitor use, and lands above the

17 high water level of Vega Reservoir within the area

18 previously defined by the Department of the Interior

19 as the ‘‘Reservoir Area Boundary’’ which have not

20 historically been utilized for Collbran project water

21 storage and delivery facilities, together with an ease22 ment for public access for recreational purposes to

23 Vega Reservoir and the water surface thereof, and

24 construction, operation, maintenance and replace25 ment of such recreation facilities below the high
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1 water line. Such facilities shall also include improve2 ments constructed or added as a result of the agree3 ments referred to in section (c)(6).

4 (c) CONVEYANCE OF THE COLLBRAN PROJECT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—

6 (A) CONVEYANCE TO DISTRICTS.—The

7 Secretary of the Interior shall convey to the

8 Districts all right, title, and interest of the

9 United States in and to the project, as de10 scribed in subsection (b)(3), by quitclaim deed

11 and bill of sale, without warranties, in the last

12 quarter of fiscal year 2000, subject only to the

13 requirements of this section. Until such convey14 ance occurs, the Bureau of Reclamation shall

15 continue to provide for the operation, mainte16 nance, repair and replacement of project facili17 ties and the storage reservoirs on the Grand

18 Mesa to the extent such responsibilities are the

19 responsibility of the Bureau of Reclamation and

20 have not been delegated to the districts prior to

21 the date of enactment of this Act or are dele22 gated or transferred to the districts by agree23 ment thereafter, so that at the time of convey24 ance such facilities are in the same condition
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1 as, or better condition than, the condition of the

2 facilities on the date of enactment of this Act.

3 (B) EASEMENTS ON NATIONAL FOREST

4 SYSTEM LANDS.—The Secretary of Agriculture

5 shall grant, in the last quarter of fiscal year

6 2000, subject only to the requirements of this

7 section—

8 (i) a nonexclusive easement on and

9 across National Forest System lands to the

10 districts for ingress and egress on existing

11 access routes to each existing component

12 of the project and to the existing storage

13 reservoirs on the Grand Mesa which are

14 operated as a part of the project;

15 (ii) a nonexclusive easement on Na16 tional Forest System lands for the oper17 ation, use, maintenance, repair, and re18 placement, but not enlargement, of the ex19 isting storage reservoirs on the Grand

20 Mesa to the owners and operators of such

21 reservoirs which are operated as a part of

22 the project; which easement may be exer23 cised in the event that the existing land

24 use authorizations for such storage res25 ervoirs are restricted, terminated, relin-
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1 quished, or abandoned, and which ease2 ment shall not be subject to conditions or

3 requirements that interfere with or limit

4 the use of such reservoirs for water supply

5 or power purposes; and

6 (iii) a nonexclusive easement to the

7 districts for the operation, use, mainte8 nance, repair, and replacement, but not en9 largement, of those components of project

10 facilities which are located on National

11 Forest System lands, subject to the re12 quirement that the districts shall provide

13 reasonable notice to and the opportunity

14 for consultation with the designated rep15 resentative of the Secretary of Agriculture

16 for nonroutine, nonemergency activities

17 that occur on such easements.

18 (C) EASEMENTS TO DISTRICTS FOR

19 SOUTHSIDE CANAL.—The Secretary of the Inte20 rior shall grant to the districts, in the last quar21 ter of fiscal year 2000, subject only to the re22 quirements of this section—

23 (i) a nonexclusive easement on and

24 across lands administered by agencies

25 within the Department of the Interior for
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1 ingress and egress on existing access

2 routes to and along the Southside Canal,

3 and

4 (ii) a nonexclusive easement for the

5 operation, use, maintenance, repair, and

6 replacement of the Southside Canal, sub7 ject to the requirement that the districts

8 shall provide reasonable notice to and the

9 opportunity for consultation with the des10 ignated representative of the Secretary of

11 the Interior for nonroutine, nonemergency

12 activities that occur on such easements.

13 (2) RESERVATION.—The transfer of rights and

14 interests pursuant to paragraphs (1) (A), (B), and

15 (C) shall reserve to the United States all minerals,

16 including hydrocarbons, and a perpetual right of

17 public access over, across, under, and to the portions

18 of the project which on the date of enactment of this

19 Act were open to public use for fishing, boating,

20 hunting, and other outdoor recreation purposes and

21 other public uses such as grazing, mineral develop22 ment, and logging: Provided, That the United States

23 may allow for continued public use and enjoyment of

24 such portions of the project for recreational activities
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1 and other public uses conducted as of the date of en2 actment of this Act.

3 (3) CONVEYANCE TO STATE OF COLORADO.—

4 All right, title, and interest in the Vega Recreation

5 Facilities shall remain in the United States until the

6 terms of the agreements referred to in paragraph

7 (6) have been fulfilled by the United States. At such

8 time, all right, title, and interest in the Vega Recre9 ation Facilities shall be conveyed by the Secretary of

10 the Interior to the State of Colorado, Division of

11 Parks and Outdoor Recreation.

12 (4) PAYMENT.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—At the time of transfer,

14 the districts shall pay to the United States

15 $12,900,000 ($12,300,000 of which represents

16 the net present value of the outstanding repay17 ment obligations for the project), of which—

18 (i) $12,300,000 shall be deposited in

19 the general fund of the United States

20 Treasury; and

21 (ii) $600,000 shall be deposited in a

22 special account in the United States Treas23 ury and shall be available to the United

24 States Fish and Wildlife Service, region 6,

25 without further appropriation, for use in
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1 funding Colorado operations and capital

2 expenditures associated with the Grand

3 Valley Water Management Project for the

4 purpose of recovering endangered fish in

5 the Upper Colorado River Basin, as identi6 fied in the Recovery Implementation Pro7 gram for Endangered Fish Species in the

8 Upper Colorado River Basin, or such other

9 component of the Recovery Implementation

10 Program within Colorado that is selected

11 with the concurrence of the Governor of

12 the State of Colorado.

13 (B) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Funds for the

14 payment to the extent of the amount specified

15 in subparagraph (A) shall not be derived from

16 the issuance or sale, prior to the conveyance, of

17 State or local bonds the interest on which is ex18 empt from taxation under section 103 of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986.

20 (5) OPERATION OF PROJECT.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The project was au22 thorized and constructed to place water to bene23 ficial use for authorized purposes within the

24 State of Colorado. The project shall be operated

25 and used by the districts for a period of 40
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1 years after the date of enactment of this Act

2 for the purposes for which the project was au3 thorized under the Act of July 3, 1952 (66

4 Stat. 325, chapter 565). The districts shall at5 tempt to the extent practicable, taking into con6 sideration historic project operations, to notify

7 the State of Colorado of changes in historic

8 project operations which may adversely affect

9 State park operations.

10 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—During the 40-year

11 period described in subparagraph (A)—

12 (i) the districts shall annually submit

13 to the Secretary of Agriculture and the

14 Colorado Department of Natural Re15 sources a plan for operation of the project,

16 which plan shall—

17 (I) report on project operations

18 for the previous year;

19 (II) provide a description of the

20 manner of project operations antici21 pated for the forthcoming year, which

22 shall be prepared after consultation

23 with the designated representatives of

24 the Secretary of Agriculture, the

25 Board of County Commissioners of
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1 Mesa County, Colorado, and the Colo2 rado Department of Natural Re3 sources; and

4 (III) certify that the districts

5 have operated and will operate and

6 maintain the project facilities in ac7 cordance with sound engineering prac8 tices; and

9 (ii) subject to subsection (d), all elec10 tric power generated by operation of the

11 project shall be made available to and be

12 marketed by the Western Area Power Ad13 ministration (including its successors or

14 assigns).

15 (6) AGREEMENTS.—Conveyance of the project

16 shall be subject to the agreements between the

17 United States and the State of Colorado dated Au18 gust 22, 1994, and September 23, 1994, relating to

19 the construction and operation of recreational facili20 ties at Vega Reservoir, which agreements shall con21 tinue to be performed by the parties thereto accord22 ing to the terms of the agreements.

23 (d) OPERATION OF THE POWER COMPONENT.—

24 (1) CONFORMITY TO HISTORIC OPERATIONS.—

25 The power component and facilities of the project
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1 shall be operated in substantial conformity with the

2 historic operations of the power component and fa3 cilities (including recent operations in a peaking

4 mode).

5 (2) POWER MARKETING.—

6 (A) EXISTING MARKETING ARRANGE7 MENT.—The post-1989 marketing criteria,

8 which provide for the marketing of power gen9 erated by the power component of the project

10 as part of the output of the Salt Lake City area

11 integrated projects, shall no longer be binding

12 on the project upon conveyance of the project

13 under subsection (c)(1).

14 (B) AFTER TERMINATION OF EXISTING

15 MARKETING ARRANGEMENT.—

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—After the convey17 ance, the districts shall offer all power pro18 duced by the power component of the

19 project to the Western Area Power Admin20 istration or its successors or assigns (re21 ferred to in this section as ‘‘Western’’),

22 which, in consultation with its affected

23 preference customers, shall have the first

24 right to purchase such power at the rates

25 established in accordance with clause (ii).
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1 If Western declines to purchase the power

2 after consultation with its affected pref3 erence customers, such power shall then be

4 offered at the same rates first to Western’s

5 preference customers located in the Salt

6 Lake City area integrated projects market7 ing area (referred to in this section as the

8 ‘‘SLCAIP preference customers’’). There9 after, such power may be sold to any other

10 party: Provided, however, That no such sale

11 may occur at rates less than rates estab12 lished in accordance with clause (ii) unless

13 such power is first offered at such lesser

14 rate first to Western and then to its

15 SLCAIP preference customers.

16 (ii) The rate for power initially offered

17 to Western and its SLCAIP preference

18 customers under this paragraph shall not

19 exceed that required to produce revenues

20 sufficient to provide for—

21 (I) annual debt service and/or

22 recoupment of the cost of capital for

23 the amount specified in subsection

24 (c)(4)(A)(i) of this section, less the

25 sum of $310,000 (which is the net
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1 present value of the outstanding re2 payment obligation of the Collbran

3 Conservancy District), and

4 (II) the cost of operation, main5 tenance, and replacement of the power

6 component of the project.

7 Such costs and rate shall be determined in a

8 manner consistent with the current principles

9 followed by the Secretary of the Interior and by

10 Western in its annual power and repayment

11 study.

12 (e) LICENSE.—

13 (1) Prior to the conveyance of the project to the

14 districts, the Commission shall issue to the districts

15 a license or licenses as appropriate under part I of

16 the Federal Power Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 791

17 et seq.), authorizing for a term of 40 years the con18 tinued operation and maintenance of the power com19 ponent of the project.

20 (2) The license issued pursuant to subsection

21 (l)—

22 (A) shall be for the purpose of operating,

23 using, maintaining, repairing, and replacing the

24 power component of the project as authorized
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1 by the Act of July 3, 1952 (66 Stat. 325, chap2 ter 565);

3 (B) shall be conditioned upon the require4 ment that the power component of the project

5 continue to be operated and maintained in ac6 cordance with the authorized purposes of the

7 project; and

8 (C) shall be subject only to the provisions

9 of part I of the Federal Power Act, except the

10 word ‘‘constructed’’ in section 3(10); the four

11 provisos of section 4(e); section 6 to the extent

12 it requires the licensee’s acceptance of those

13 terms and conditions of the Act that this sub14 section waives; section 10(e) as concerns annual

15 charges for the use and occupancy of Federal

16 lands and facilities; section 10(f); section 10(j);

17 section 18; section 19; section 20; and section

18 22 of the Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C.

19 796(10), 797(e), 799, 803(e), 803(f), 803(j),

20 811, 812, 813, and 815; and shall not be sub21 ject to the standard ‘‘L–Form’’ license condi22 tions, published at 54 FPC 1792–1928 (1975),

23 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

24 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), as amended, section

25 2402 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (16
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1 U.S.C. 797c), the National Environmental Pol2 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the

3 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.

4 1531 et seq.), the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

5 (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.), the Federal Water

6 Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the

7 ‘‘Clean Water Act’’) (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.),

8 the National Historic Preservation Act (16

9 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), the Coastal Zone Manage10 ment Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), the

11 Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C.

12 661 et seq.), or any other Act otherwise appli13 cable to the licensing of the project.

14 (3) The license issued under paragraph (1) is

15 deemed to meet the licensing standards of the Fed16 eral Power Act, including section 10(a) and the last

17 sentence of section 4(e), 16 U.S.C. 797(e).

18 (4) Any power site reservation established by

19 the President, the Secretary of the Interior, or pur20 suant to section 24 of the Federal Power Act (16

21 U.S.C. 818) or any other law, which exists on any

22 lands, whether federally or privately owned, that are

23 included within the boundaries of the project shall

24 be vacated by operation of law upon issuance of the

25 license for the project.
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1 (5) All requirements of part I of the Federal

2 Power Act and of any other Act applicable to the li3 censing of a hydroelectric project shall apply to the

4 project upon expiration of the license issued under

5 this section.

6 (6) For purposes of this section, ‘‘Commission’’

7 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

8 (7) The operation of the project shall be subject

9 to all applicable State and Federal laws subsequent

10 to the issuance of the license pursuant to paragraph

11 (1).

12 (f) INAPPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—Neither the con13 veyance of the project nor the issuance of easements pur14 suant to this section constitutes a major Federal action

15 within the meaning of the National Environmental Policy

16 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), including any regu17 lations issued under such Act.

18 (g) INAPPLICABILITY OF PRIOR AGREEMENTS AND

19 OF FEDERAL RECLAMATION LAWS.—On conveyance of

20 the project to the districts—

21 (1) the repayment contract dated May 27,

22 1957, as amended April 12, 1962, between the

23 Collbran Conservancy District and the United

24 States, and the contract for use of project facilities

25 for diversion of water dated January 11, 1962, as
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1 amended November 10, 1977, between the Ute

2 Water Conservancy District and the United States,

3 shall be terminated and of no further force or effect;

4 and

5 (2) the project shall no longer be subject to or

6 governed by the Federal reclamation laws.

7 (h) DISTRICTS’ LIABILITY.—The districts shall be

8 liable, to the extent allowed under State law, for all acts

9 or omissions relating to the operation and use of the

10 project by the districts that occur subsequent to the con11 veyance under subsection (c), including damages to Fed12 eral lands or facilities which result from the failure of

13 project facilities.

14 (i) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—Nothing in this section

15 shall be construed to impair the effectiveness of any State

16 or local law (including regulations) relating to land use.

17 (j) TREATMENT OF SALES FOR PURPOSES OF CER18 TAIN LAWS.—The sales of assets under this subchapter

19 shall not be considered a disposal of Federal surplus prop20 erty under the following provisions of law:

21 (1) Section 203 of the Federal Property and

22 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.

23 484).
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1 (2) Section 13 of the Surplus Property Act of

2 1944 (50 U.S.C. App. 1622).

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