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Union Calendar No. 155

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1019

[Report No. 106–260]

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey lands and interests comprising the Carlsbad Irrigation Project to the Carlsbad Irrigation District, New Mexico.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1999

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

on Resources

JULY 26, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey lands and

interests comprising the Carlsbad Irrigation Project to

the Carlsbad Irrigation District, 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 ‘‘Carlsbad Irrigation

5 Project Acquired Land Conveyance Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act:

3 (1) The term ‘‘District’’ means the Carlsbad Ir4 rigation District, a quasimunicipal corporation

5 formed under the laws of the State of New Mexico

6 that has its principal place of business in the city of

7 Carlsbad, Eddy County, New Mexico.

8 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

9 of the Interior.

10 (3) The term ‘‘Project’’ means all right, title,

11 and interest in and to the lands (including the sub12 surface and mineral estate) in Eddy County, New

13 Mexico, described as the acquired lands in section

14 (7) of the Status of Lands and Title Report: Carls15 bad Project as reported by the Bureau of Reclama16 tion in 1978 and all interests the United States

17 holds in the irrigation and drainage system of the

18 Carlsbad Project and all related ditch rider houses,

19 maintenance shop and buildings, and Pecos River

20 Flume.

21 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PROJECT.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

23 (b), in consideration of the District accepting the obliga24 tions of the Federal Government for the Project, and sub25 ject to the completion of payments by the District required
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1 under subsection (c)(3), the Secretary shall convey the

2 Project to the District.

3 (b) RETAINED TITLE.—The Secretary shall retain

4 title to the surface estate (but not the mineral estate) of

5 such Project lands which are located under the footprint

6 of Brantley and Avalon dams or any other Project dam

7 or reservoir diversion structure. The Secretary shall retain

8 storage and flow easements for any tracts located under

9 the maximum spillway elevations of Avalon and Brantley

10 Reservoirs.

11 (c) DEADLINE.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—If no changes in Project op13 erations are expected following the conveyance under

14 subsection (a), the Secretary shall complete the con15 veyance expeditiously, but not later than 180 days

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

17 (2) DEADLINE IF CHANGES IN OPERATIONS IN18 TENDED.—If the District intends to change Project

19 operations as a result of the conveyance under sub20 section (a), the Secretary—

21 (A) shall take into account those potential

22 changes for the purpose of completing any re23 quired environmental evaluation associated with

24 the conveyance; and
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1 (B) shall complete the conveyance by not

2 later than 2 years after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act.

4 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS OF CONVEY5 ANCE.—If the Secretary fails to complete the con6 veyance under this Act before the applicable deadline

7 under paragraph (1) or (2), the full cost of adminis8 trative action and environmental compliance for the

9 conveyance shall be borne by the Secretary. If the

10 Secretary completes the conveyance before that

deadline, 1 11 ⁄2 of such cost shall be paid by the Dis12 trict.

13 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING OPERATIONS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con15 strued as significantly expanding or otherwise changing

16 the use and operation of the Project from its current use.

17 The Project shall continue to be managed and used by

18 the District for the purposes for which the Project was

19 authorized, based on historic operations, and consistent

20 with the management of other adjacent project lands.

21 (b) FUTURE ALTERATIONS.—If the District alters

22 the operations or uses of the Project, it shall comply with

23 all applicable laws or regulations governing such changes

24 at that time (subject to section 5).
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1 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO CERTAIN CONTRACT OBLIGA2 TIONS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

4 (b), upon conveyance of the Project under this Act the

5 District shall assume all rights and obligations of the

6 United States under the agreement dated July 28, 1994,

7 between the United States and the Director, New Mexico

8 Department of Game and Fish (Document No. 2–LM–40–

9 00640), relating to management of certain lands near

10 Brantley Reservoir for fish and wildlife purposes and the

11 agreement dated March 9, 1977, between the United

12 States and the New Mexico Department of Energy, Min13 erals, and Natural Resources (Contract No. 7–07–57–

14 X0888) for the management and operation of Brantley

15 Lake State Park.

16 (b) LIMITATION.—The District shall not be obligated

17 for any financial support agreed to by the Secretary, or

18 the Secretary’s designee, in either agreement and the Dis19 trict shall not be entitled to any receipts or revenues gen20 erated as a result of either agreement.

21 SEC. 6. LEASE MANAGEMENT AND PAST REVENUES COL22 LECTED FROM THE ACQUIRED LANDS.

23 (a) NOTIFICATION OF LEASEHOLDERS.—Within 120

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary

25 shall provide to the District a written identification of all

26 mineral and grazing leases in effect on Project lands on
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1 the date of enactment of this Act and notify all lease2 holders of the conveyance authorized by this Act.

3 (b) MANAGEMENT OF LEASES, LICENSES, AND PER4 MITS.—The District shall assume all rights and obliga5 tions of the United States for all mineral and grazing

6 leases, licenses, and permits existing on the Project lands

7 conveyed under section 3, and shall be entitled to any re8 ceipts from such leases, licenses, and permits accruing

9 after the date of conveyance. All such receipts shall be

10 used for purposes for which the Project was authorized

11 and for financing the portion of operations, maintenance,

12 and replacement at the Sumner Dam that, prior to convey13 ance, was the responsibility of the Bureau of Reclamation,

14 with the exception of major maintenance programs in

15 progress prior to conveyance. The District shall continue

16 to adhere to the current Bureau of Reclamation mineral

17 leasing stipulations for the Project.

18 (c) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS PAID INTO THE REC19 LAMATION FUND.—

20 (1) AMOUNTS IN FUND ON DATE OF ENACT21 MENT.—Amounts in the reclamation fund on the

22 date of enactment of this Act which exist as con23 struction credits to the Carlsbad Project under the

24 terms of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired

25 Lands (30 U.S.C. 351–359) shall be deposited into
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1 the general fund of the Treasury and credited to

2 deficit reduction or retirement of the Federal debt.

3 (2) RECEIPTS AFTER DATE OF ENACTMENT.—

4 Of the receipts from mineral and grazing leases, li5 censes, and permits on Project lands to be conveyed

6 under section 3 that are received by the United

7 States after the date of enactment of this Act and

8 before the date of conveyance, up to $200,000 shall

9 be applied to pay the cost referred to in section

10 3(c)(3) and the remainder shall be deposited into the

11 general fund of the Treasury of the United States

12 and credited to deficit reduction or retirement of the

13 Federal debt.

14 SEC. 7. WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES.

15 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the

16 ability of the District to voluntarily implement water con17 servation practices.

18 SEC. 8. LIABILITY.

19 Except as otherwise provided by law, effective on the

20 date of conveyance of the Project under this Act, the

21 United States shall not be liable for damages of any kind

22 arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence based on

23 its prior ownership or operation of the conveyed property.
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1 SEC. 9. FUTURE RECLAMATION BENEFITS.

2 After completion of the conveyance under this Act,

3 the District shall not be eligible for any emergency loan

4 from the Bureau of Reclamation for maintenance or re5 placement of any facility conveyed under this Act.

Union Calendar No. 155

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1019

[Report No. 106–260]

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey

trict, New Mexico.gation Project to the Carlsbad Irrigation Dislands and interests comprising the Carlsbad IrriJULY 26, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed