II

Calendar No. 303

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 986

[Report No. 106–173]

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Griffith Project to

the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 6, 1999

Mr. REID (for himself and Mr. BRYAN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources

OCTOBER 6, 1999

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

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.’’
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means

4 the Southern Nevada Water Authority, organized

5 under the laws of the State of Nevada.

6 (2) GRIFFITH PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Griffith

7 Project’’ means the Robert B. Griffith Water

8 Project, authorized by Public Law 89–292 (com9 monly known as the ‘‘Southern Nevada Water

10 Project Act’’) (79 Stat. 1068), including all pipe11 lines, conduits, pumping plants, intake facilities,

12 aqueducts, laterals, water storage and regulatory fa13 cilities, electric substations, and related works con14 structed and all interests in land acquired under

15 Public Law 89–292.

16 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

17 the Secretary of the Interior.

18 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF GRIFFITH PROJECT.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In consideration of the assump20 tion by the Authority from the United States of all liability

21 for administration, operation, and maintenance of the

22 Griffith Project and subject to the payment by the Author23 ity of the net present value of the remaining repayment

24 obligation (as determined in accordance with Office of

25 Management and Budget Circular A–129, as in effect on

26 the date of payment and conveyance), the Secretary shall
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1 convey and assign to the Authority all right, title, and in2 terest of the United States in and to the Griffith Project.

3 (b) RIGHT TO USE AND OCCUPY PUBLIC LAND.—

4 On and after the date of the conveyance under subsection

5 (a), the Authority shall have the right to use and occupy

6 without charge all public land, including withdrawn public

7 land—

8 (1) on which the Griffith Project is situated; or

9 (2) that is used for the purposes of the Griffith

10 Project as of that date.

11 (c) REPORT.—If the conveyance under subsection (a)

12 has not occurred by July 1, 2000, the Secretary shall sub13 mit to Congress a report on the status of the conveyance.

14 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary completes

16 the conveyance under subsection (a) before the dead17 line under subsection (c), 50 percent of the cost of

18 administrative action and environmental compliance

19 for the conveyance shall be paid by the Secretary,

20 and 50 percent shall be paid by the Authority.

21 (2) FAILURE TO MEET DEADLINE.—If the Sec22 retary fails to complete the conveyance under this

23 Act before the deadline under subsection (c), 100

24 percent of the cost described in paragraph (1) shall

25 be paid by the Secretary.
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S 986 RS

1 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING OPERATIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act expands or

3 changes the use or operation of the Griffith Project from

4 its use and operation as of the day before the date of en5 actment of this Act.

6 (b) FUTURE ALTERATIONS.—If the Authority

7 changes the use or operation of the Griffith Project, the

8 Authority shall comply with all applicable laws (including

9 regulations) governing the changes at that time.

10 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING CONTRACTS.

11 The Secretary and the Authority may modify Con12 tract No. 7–07–30–W004 as necessary to conform the

13 contract to this Act.

14 SEC. 6. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

15 On conveyance of the Griffith Project under section

16 3, the Act of June 17, 1902 (43 U.S.C. 391 et seq.), and

17 all Acts amendatory of that Act or supplemental to that

18 Act shall not apply to the Griffith Project.

19 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

20 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Griffith Project Prepay21 ment and Conveyance Act’’.

22 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act:

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

25 Nevada Water Authority, organized under the laws of

26 the State of Nevada.
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1 (2) The term ‘‘Griffith Project’’ means the Robert

2 B. Griffith Water Project, authorized by and con3 structed pursuant to the Southern Nevada Water

4 Project Act, Public Law 89–292, as amended, (com5 monly known as the ‘‘Southern Nevada Water Project

6 Act’’) (79 Stat. 1068), including pipelines, conduits,

7 pumping plants, intake facilities, aqueducts, laterals,

8 water storage and regulatory facilities, electric sub9 stations, and related works and improvements listed

10 pursuant to ‘‘Robert B. Griffith Water Project (For11 merly Southern Nevada Water Project), Nevada:

12 Southern Clark County, Lower Colorado Region Bu13 reau of Reclamation’’, on file at the Bureau of Rec14 lamation and all interests in land acquired under

15 Public Law 89–292, as amended.

16 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

17 the Interior.

18 (4) The term ‘‘Acquired Land(s)’’ means all in19 terests in land, including fee title, right(s)-of-way,

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

21 non-Federal sources by purchase, donation, exchange,

22 or condemnation pursuant to Public Law 89–292, as

23 amended for the Griffith Project.
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1 (5) The term ‘‘Public Land’’ means lands which

2 have never left Federal ownership and are under the

3 jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

4 (6) The term ‘‘Withdrawn Land’’ means Federal

5 lands which are withdrawn from settlement, sale, lo6 cation of minerals, or entry under some or all of the

7 general land laws and are reserved for a particular

8 public purpose pursuant to Public Law 89–292, as

9 amended, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Rec10 lamation, or are reserved pursuant to Public Law

11 88–639 under the jurisdiction of the National Park

12 Service.

13 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF GRIFFITH PROJECT.

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

15 assuming from the United States all liability for adminis16 tration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of the

17 Griffith Project and subject to the prepayment by the Au18 thority of the Federal repayment amount of $121,204,348

19 (which amount shall be increased to reflect any accrued un20 paid interest and shall be decreased by the amount of any

21 additional principal payments made by the Authority after

22 September 15, 1999, prior to the date on which prepayment

23 occurs), the Secretary shall, pursuant to the provisions of

24 this Act—
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1 (1) convey and assign to the Authority all of the

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

3 to improvements and facilities of the Griffith Project

4 in existence as of the date of this Act;

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

6 right, title, and interest of the United States to Ac7 quired Lands that were acquired for the Griffith

8 Project; and

9 (3) convey and assign to the Authority all inter10 ests reserved and developed as of the date of this Act

11 for the Griffith Project in lands patented by the

12 United States.

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

14 effective date of conveyance of the Griffith Project, the Au15 thority shall have a right of way at no cost across all Public

16 Land and Withdrawn Land—

17 (1) on which the Griffith Project is situated; and

18 (2) across any Federal lands as reasonably nec19 essary for the operation, maintenance, replacement,

20 and repair of the Griffith Project, including existing

21 access routes.

22 Rights of way established by this section shall be valid for

23 as long as they are needed for municipal water supply pur24 poses and shall not require payment of rental or other fee.
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1 (c) Within twelve months after the effective date of this

2 Act—

3 (1) the Secretary and the Authority shall agree

4 upon a description of the land subject to the rights of

5 way established by subsection (b) of this section; and

6 (2) the Secretary shall deliver to the Authority a

7 document memorializing such rights of way.

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

9 has not occurred within twelve months after the effective

10 date of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a

11 report on the status of the conveyance.

12 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING CONTRACTS.

13 The Secretary and the Authority may modify Contract

14 No. 7–07–30–W0004 and other contracts and land permits

15 as necessary to conform to the provisions of this Act.

16 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS AND FUTURE BEN17 EFITS.

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

19 the Griffith Project, the Authority shall comply with all ap20 plicable laws and regulations governing the changes at that

21 time.

22 (b) On conveyance of the Griffith Project under section

23 3 of this Act, the Act of June 17, 1902 (43 U.S.C. 391 et

24 seq.), and all Acts amendatory thereof or supplemental

25 thereto shall not apply to the Griffith Project. Effective
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1 upon transfer, the lands and facilities transferred pursuant

2 to this Act shall not be entitled to receive any further Rec3 lamation benefits pursuant to the Act of June 17, 1902,

4 and all Acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto at5 tributable to their status as a Federal Reclamation Project,

6 and the Griffith Project shall no longer be a Federal Rec7 lamation Project.

8 (c) Nothing in this Act shall transfer or affect Federal

9 ownership, rights, or interests in Lake Mead National

10 Recreation Area associated lands, nor affect the authorities

11 of the National Park Service to manage Lake Mead Na12 tional Recreation Area including lands on which the Grif13 fith Project is located consistent with the Act of August 25,

14 1916 (39 Stat. 535), Public Law 88–639, October 8, 1964

15 (78 Stat. 1039), or any other applicable legislation, regula16 tion, or policy.

17 (d) Nothing in this Act shall affect the application of

18 Federal reclamation law to water delivered to the Authority

19 pursuant to any contract with the Secretary under section

20 5 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act.

21 (e) Effective upon conveyance of the Griffith Project

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

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

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

25 on its prior ownership of the conveyed property.

Calendar No. 303

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 986

[Report No. 106–173]

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey

the Griffith Project to the Southern NevadaWater Authority.

OCTOBER 6, 1999

Reported with an amendment