I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5359

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain properties in the

vicinity of the Elephant Butte Reservoir and the Caballo Reservoir,

New Mexico.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 2, 2000

Mr. SKEEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain

properties in the vicinity of the Elephant Butte Reservoir

and the Caballo Reservoir, New Mexico.

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 ‘‘Lease Lot Conveyance

5 Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that the convey8 ance of the Properties to the Lessees for fair market value

9 would have the beneficial results of—
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1 (1) eliminating Federal payments in lieu of

2 taxes and associated management expenditures in

3 connection with the Government’s ownership of the

4 Properties, while increasing local tax revenues from

5 the new owners;

6 (2) sustaining existing economic conditions in

7 the vicinity of the Properties, while providing the

8 new owners of the Properties the security to invest

9 in permanent structures and improvements;

10 (3) adding needed jobs to the county in which

11 the Properties are located and increasing revenue to

12 the county and surrounding communities through

13 property and gross receipt taxes, thereby increasing

14 economic stability and a sustainable economy in one

15 of the poorest counties in New Mexico; and

16 (4) eliminating expensive and contentious dis17 putes between the Secretary, the Lessees and the

18 two irrigation districts in the Rio Grande Project

19 while ensuring that the Federal Government and

20 those districts receive full and fair value for the sale

21 of the Properties.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act:

24 (1) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—The term ‘‘fair

25 market value’’ means, with respect to a parcel of
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1 property, the value determined by an independent

2 appraiser approved by the Secretary, the purchaser,

3 and each of the Irrigation Districts, based on—

4 (A) treatment of the property as unim5 proved land; and

6 (B) a market comparison of similar prop7 erties in the immediate geographic area of the

8 appraised parcel.

9 (2) IRRIGATION DISTRICTS.—The term ‘‘Irriga10 tion Districts’’ means the Elephant Butte Irrigation

11 District and the El Paso County Water Improve12 ment District No. 1.

13 (3) LESSEE.—The term ‘‘Lessee’’ means the

14 leaseholder of a Property on the date of enactment

15 of this Act, and any heir, executor, or assign of the

16 leaseholder with respect to that leasehold interest.

17 (4) PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘Property’’ means

18 any of the cabin sites comprising the Properties.

19 (5) PROPERTIES.—The term ‘‘Properties’’

20 means all the real property comprising 403 cabin

21 sites under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bu22 reau of Reclamation that are located along the west23 ern portion of the reservoirs in Elephant Butte State

24 Park and Caballo State Park, New Mexico, including

25 easements, roads, and other appurtenances. The
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1 exact acreage and legal description of such real

2 property shall be determined by the Secretary after

3 consulting with the Purchaser.

4 (6) PURCHASER.—The term ‘‘Purchaser’’

5 means the Elephant Butte/Caballo Leaseholders As6 sociation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation established

7 under the laws of New Mexico.

8 (7) RESERVOIRS.—The term ‘‘reservoirs’’

9 means the Elephant Butte Reservoir and the Caballo

10 Reservoir in the State of New Mexico.

11 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

12 the Secretary of the Interior.

13 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF PROPERTIES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convey to the

15 Purchaser in accordance with this Act, subject to valid ex16 isting rights, all right, title, and interest of the United

17 States in and to the Properties and all appurtenances

18 thereto, including specifically easements for—

19 (1) vehicular access to each Property;

20 (2) drainage; and

21 (3) access to and the use of all ramps, retaining

22 walls, and other improvements for which access is

23 provided under the leases that apply to the Prop24 erties as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 (b) CONSIDERATION.—As consideration for any con2 veyance under this section, the Secretary shall require the

3 Purchaser to pay to the United States fair market value

4 of the Properties.

5 SEC. 5. TERMS OF CONVEYANCE.

6 (a) SPECIFIC CONDITIONS.—As conditions of any

7 conveyance to the Purchaser under this Act, the Secretary

8 shall require the following:

9 (1) LEASEHOLDERS’ OPTION.—The Purchaser

10 shall grant to each Lessee of a Property an option—

11 (A) to purchase the Property at fair mar12 ket value; or

13 (B) to continue leasing the Property on

14 terms to be negotiated with the Purchaser.

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Any reasonable

16 administrative cost incurred by the Secretary inci17 dent to the conveyance under section 6 shall be re18 imbursed by the Purchaser.

19 (b) RESTRICTIVE USE COVENANT.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To maintain the unique

21 character of the area in the vicinity of the Res22 ervoirs, the Secretary shall establish, by the terms of

23 conveyance, use restrictions to carry out paragraph

24 (2) that—
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1 (A) are appurtenant to, and run with, each

2 Property; and

3 (B) are binding upon each subsequent

4 owner of each Property.

5 (2) ACCESS TO RESERVOIRS.—The use restric6 tions required by paragraph (1) shall ensure that—

7 (A) public access to and along the shore8 line of the Reservoirs in existence on the date

9 of enactment of this Act is not obstructed;

10 (B) adequate public access to and along

11 the shoreline of the Reservoirs is maintained;

12 and

13 (C) the operation of the Reservoirs by the

14 Secretary or the Irrigation Districts shall not

15 result in liability of the United States or the Ir16 rigation Districts for damages incurred, as a di17 rect or indirect result of such operation, by the

18 owner of any Property conveyed under this Act,

19 including—

20 (i) damages for any loss of use or en21 joyment of a Property; and

22 (ii) damages resulting from any modi23 fications or construction of any reservoir

24 dam.
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1 (d) TIMING.—The Secretary shall make every effort

2 to complete all actions necessary for the conveyance of the

3 Properties by the Secretary under this Act not later

4 than—

5 (1) 1 year after the date of enactment of this

6 Act; and

7 (2) 90 days after the receipt and approval by

8 the Purchaser of a survey of the Properties.

9 (e) PAYMENT OF CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary

10 shall provide the Purchaser 36 months, beginning on the

11 date of conveyance of the Properties to the Purchaser, to

12 pay the consideration required for the conveyance of the

13 Properties to the Purchaser.

14 (f) REIMBURSEMENT OF PURCHASER’S COSTS.—The

15 terms of conveyance shall authorize the Purchaser to re16 quire each Lessee to reimburse the Purchaser for a pro17 portionate share of the costs incurred by the Purchaser

18 in completing the transactions pursuant to this Act, in19 cluding any interest charges.

20 SEC. 6. RESOLUTION OF CLAIMS AND DISPUTES.

21 After conveyance of the Properties to the Purchaser,

22 if any Lessee has a dispute with or claim against the Pur23 chaser or any of its officers, directors, or members arising

24 from the Properties, the Lessee shall promptly give writ25 ten notice of the dispute or claim to the Purchaser. If such
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1 notice is not provided to the Purchaser within 20 days

2 after the date the Lessee knew or should have known of

3 such dispute or claim, then any right of the Lessee for

4 relief based on such dispute or claim shall be waived. If

5 the Lessee and the Purchaser are unable to resolve the

6 dispute or claim by mediation, the dispute or claim shall

7 be resolved by binding arbitration.

8 SEC. 7. USE OF PROCEEDS.

9 Amounts received as proceeds under this Act shall be

10 deposited in the reclamation fund on behalf of the Rio

11 Grande Project and shall be made immediately available

12 to the Irrigation Districts under the distribution scheme

13 set forth in subsection I of section 4 of the Act of Decem14 ber 5, 1924 (43 U.S.C. 501).

15 SEC. 8. FEDERAL RECLAMATION LAW.

16 No conveyance under this Act shall restrict or limit

17 the authority or ability of the Secretary to fulfill the duties

18 of the Secretary under the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat.

19 388, chapter 1093), and Acts supplemental to and amend20 atory of that Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.).

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