I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 986

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Griffith

Project to the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

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 ‘‘Griffith Project Pre5 payment and Conveyance Act’’.
2

S 986 RFH

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) The term ‘‘Authority’’ means the Southern

4 Nevada Water Authority, organized under the laws

5 of the State of Nevada.

6 (2) The term ‘‘Griffith Project’’ means the

7 Robert B. Griffith Water Project, authorized by and

8 constructed pursuant to the Southern Nevada Water

9 Project Act, Public Law 89–292, as amended, (com10 monly known as the ‘‘Southern Nevada Water

11 Project Act’’) (79 Stat. 1068), including pipelines,

12 conduits, pumping plants, intake facilities, aque13 ducts, laterals, water storage and regulatory facili14 ties, electric substations, and related works and im15 provements listed pursuant to ‘‘Robert B. Griffith

16 Water Project (Formerly Southern Nevada Water

17 Project), Nevada: Southern Clark County, Lower

18 Colorado Region Bureau of Reclamation’’, on file at

19 the Bureau of Reclamation and all interests in land

20 acquired under Public Law 89–292, as amended.

21 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

22 of the Interior.

23 (4) The term ‘‘Acquired Land(s)’’ means all in24 terests in land, including fee title, right(s)-of-way,

25 and easement(s), acquired by the United States from

26 non-Federal sources by purchase, donation, ex-
3

S 986 RFH

1 change, or condemnation pursuant to Public Law

2 89–292, as amended for the Griffith Project.

3 (5) The term ‘‘Public Land’’ means lands which

4 have never left Federal ownership and are under the

5 jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

6 (6) The term ‘‘Withdrawn Land’’ means Fed7 eral lands which are withdrawn from settlement,

8 sale, location of minerals, or entry under some or all

9 of the general land laws and are reserved for a par10 ticular public purpose pursuant to Public Law 89–

11 292, as amended, under the jurisdiction of the Bu12 reau of Reclamation, or are reserved pursuant to

13 Public Law 88–639 under the jurisdiction of the Na14 tional Park Service.

15 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF GRIFFITH PROJECT.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In consideration of the Authority

17 assuming from the United States all liability for adminis18 tration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of the

19 Griffith Project and subject to the prepayment by the Au20 thority of the Federal repayment amount of $121,204,348

21 (which amount shall be increased to reflect any accrued

22 unpaid interest and shall be decreased by the amount of

23 any additional principal payments made by the Authority

24 after September 15, 1999, prior to the date on which pre-
4

S 986 RFH

1 payment occurs), the Secretary shall, pursuant to the pro2 visions of this Act—

3 (1) convey and assign to the Authority all of

4 the right, title, and interest of the United States in

5 and to improvements and facilities of the Griffith

6 Project in existence as of the date of this Act;

7 (2) convey and assign to the Authority all of

8 the right, title, and interest of the United States to

9 Acquired Lands that were acquired for the Griffith

10 Project; and

11 (3) convey and assign to the Authority all inter12 ests reserved and developed as of the date of this

13 Act for the Griffith Project in lands patented by the

14 United States.

15 (b) Pursuant to the authority of this section, from

16 the effective date of conveyance of the Griffith Project,

17 the Authority shall have a right of way at no cost across

18 all Public Land and Withdrawn Land—

19 (1) on which the Griffith Project is situated;

20 and

21 (2) across any Federal lands as reasonably nec22 essary for the operation, maintenance, replacement,

23 and repair of the Griffith Project, including existing

24 access routes.
5

S 986 RFH

1 Rights of way established by this section shall be valid

2 for as long as they are needed for municipal water supply

3 purposes and shall not require payment of rental or other

4 fee.

5 (c) Within twelve months after the effective date of

6 this Act—

7 (1) the Secretary and the Authority shall agree

8 upon a description of the land subject to the rights

9 of way established by subsection (b) of this section;

10 and

11 (2) the Secretary shall deliver to the Authority

12 a document memorializing such rights of way.

13 (d) REPORT.—If the conveyance under subsection (a)

14 has not occurred within twelve months after the effective

15 date of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress

16 a report on the status of the conveyance.

17 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING CONTRACTS.

18 The Secretary and the Authority may modify Con19 tract No. 7–07–30–W0004 and other contracts and land

20 permits as necessary to conform to the provisions of this

21 Act.

22 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS AND FUTURE BEN23 EFITS.

24 (a) If the Authority changes the use or operation of

25 the Griffith Project, the Authority shall comply with all
6

S 986 RFH

1 applicable laws and regulations governing the changes at

2 that time.

3 (b) On conveyance of the Griffith Project under sec4 tion 3 of this Act, the Act of June 17, 1902 (43 U.S.C.

5 391 et seq.), and all Acts amendatory thereof or supple6 mental thereto shall not apply to the Griffith Project. Ef7 fective upon transfer, the lands and facilities transferred

8 pursuant to this Act shall not be entitled to receive any

9 further Reclamation benefits pursuant to the Act of June

10 17, 1902, and all Acts amendatory thereof or supple11 mental thereto attributable to their status as a Federal

12 Reclamation Project, and the Griffith Project shall no

13 longer be a Federal Reclamation Project.

14 (c) Nothing in this Act shall transfer or affect Fed15 eral ownership, rights, or interests in Lake Mead National

16 Recreation Area associated lands, nor affect the authori17 ties of the National Park Service to manage Lake Mead

18 National Recreation Area including lands on which the

19 Griffith Project is located consistent with the Act of Au20 gust 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), Public Law 88–639, Octo21 ber 8, 1964 (78 Stat. 1039), or any other applicable legis22 lation, regulation, or policy.

23 (d) Nothing in this Act shall affect the application

24 of Federal reclamation law to water delivered to the Au-
7

S 986 RFH

1 thority pursuant to any contract with the Secretary under

2 section 5 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act.

3 (e) Effective upon conveyance of the Griffith Project

4 and acquired interests in land under section 3 of this Act,

5 the United States shall not be liable for damages of any

6 kind arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence based

7 on its prior ownership of the conveyed property.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.