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[House Report 112-160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    112-160

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   TO CLARIFY THE JURISDICTION OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR WITH 
  RESPECT TO THE C.C. CRAGIN DAM AND RESERVOIR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 July 20, 2011.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 489]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 489) to clarify the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary of the Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin Dam 
and Reservoir, and for other purposes, having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend 
that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 489 is to clarify the jurisdiction of 
the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin 
Dam and Reservoir.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Phelps Dodge, a large mining company, built what is now the 
Cragin Project (Project) in the 1960's to supply water to its 
Morenci Mine Complex. Phelps Dodge transferred ownership of the 
Project to the Salt River Project (SRP) after the former 
realized it was not necessary for mining operations. At the 
request of SRP and with the support of Phelps Dodge and the 
Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Arizona Water Rights 
Settlement Act (P.L. 108-451) authorized transfer of title of 
the Project and associated lands from SRP to Reclamation in 
2005. Even though the federal government owns the Project, SRP 
still operates and maintains it pursuant to a 1917 contract 
between SRP and the United States.
    The Project consists of a number of facilities, including a 
147-foot high dam, a 15,000 acre-foot reservoir, diversion 
tunnel and pump shaft, pumping plant, priming reservoir, a 10-
mile long pipeline, electrical transmission line, and small 
generating plant which supplies power to the Project's pumping 
plant. The project helps SRP supply water to the Phoenix 
metropolitan area and to the town of Payson and neighboring 
communities in northern Gila County.
    Implementation of the title transfer under P.L. 108-45 has 
been controversial due to misunderstandings between the U.S. 
Forest Service, Reclamation and SRP. The operation of the 
Project is like that of all other Salt River Project-managed 
Reclamation facilities located on U.S. Forest Service lands. 
For those projects, Reclamation approves SRP's work plans, 
environmental compliance, and other regulatory permitting 
requirements associated with the project. The U.S. Forest 
Service's responsibilities under those projects mainly include 
recreation and fire suppression. However, with this Project, 
the U.S. Forest Service also requires Reclamation to obtain a 
special use permit to operate, maintain and repair the water 
facilities.
    This added permit requirement led to untimely delays and 
cost increases when it came to a recent repair of the pipeline. 
In light of these delays and out of concern for future 
activities, SRP and Reclamation attempted to reach an 
administrative agreement with the U.S. Forest Service to 
resolve the jurisdictional dispute. However, these efforts were 
not successful. This bill resolves this dispute and follows the 
permitting and approval precedents by which other Salt River 
federal Reclamation Project facilities are managed on U.S. 
Forest Service lands consistent with the 1987 Interagency 
Agreement between Reclamation and U.S. Forest Service 
concerning all water resource related Reclamation projects 
within or adjacent to U.S. Forest Service lands.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 489 was introduced on January 26, 2011, by Congressman 
Paul Gosar (R-AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittees on Water and Power and National Parks, Forests 
and Public Lands. On May 12, 2011, the Subcommittee on Water 
and Power held a hearing on the bill. On June 15, 2011, the 
Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittees on Water and Power and National Parks, Forests 
and Public Lands were discharged by unanimous consent. No 
amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 489--A bill to clarify the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the 
        Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir

    H.R. 489 would clarify that the Secretary of the Interior 
has exclusive jurisdiction to manage the C.C. Cragin Dam and 
Reservoir, an area consisting of approximately 512 acres of 
land within the Coconino and Tonto National Forests in northern 
Arizona. Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation 
and the Forest Service, CBO estimates that the legislation 
would have no significant impact on the federal budget. Because 
the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues, 
pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    The Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004 transferred 
administrative authority for the C.C. Cragin Dam, Reservoir, 
and 10 miles of existing pipeline to the Bureau of Reclamation. 
The legislation did not explicitly divest the Forest Service 
from managing the underlying National Forest lands, resulting 
in uncertainty over which agency has the authority to approve 
management activities for the Cragin Project. The Cragin 
Project involves operating and maintaining 10 miles of pipeline 
and constructing 14.5 miles of additional pipeline to deliver 
water to Northern Gila County. Currently, the project is 
subject to the approval requirements of both agencies. The 
legislation would clarify the authority of the Bureau of 
Reclamation to be the sole manager of the project.
    H.R. 489 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required 
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget 
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase 
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. CBO estimates that 
the legislation would have no significant impact on the federal 
budget. Because the legislation would not affect direct 
spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    H.R. 489 would specify that the Bureau of Reclamation is 
authorized to approve necessary operation and maintenance 
activity for the C.C. Cragin Project on National Forest System 
land. Last Congress, the Forest Service expressed concern 
regarding the possibility that this legislation would set a 
harmful precedent for management of other utility corridors on 
Forest Service lands. Through negotiations with the U.S. Bureau 
of Reclamation, the Forest Service, the Salt River Project, and 
Congress, amendments were made to the legislation in the 111th 
Congress that addressed the Forest Service's concerns. Those 
changes are reflected in H.R. 489 as introduced.
                                          Edward J. Markey,
                                                    Ranking Member.

                                  
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