Calendar No. 591

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1719

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to offer to

and for other purposes.certain Bureau of Reclamation projects in Texas,representing the remaining repayment balance ofsell to certain public agencies the indebtedness

SEPTEMBER 13, 1996

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the

title
II

Calendar No. 591

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1719

To require the Secretary of the Interior to offer to sell to certain public

agencies the indebtedness representing the remaining repayment balance

of certain Bureau of Reclamation projects in Texas, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 1, 1996

Mrs. HUTCHISON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

SEPTEMBER 13, 1996

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment and an amendment to the

title

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

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to offer to sell

to certain public agencies the indebtedness representing

the remaining repayment balance of certain Bureau of

Reclamation projects in Texas, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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S 1719 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Texas Reclamation

3 Projects Indebtedness Purchase Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 In this Act:

6 (1) FEDERAL RECLAMATION LAWS.—The term

7 ‘‘Federal reclamation laws’’ means the Act of June

8 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), and Acts

9 amendatory or supplementary to that Act, (43

10 U.S.C. 371 et seq.).

11 (2) NON-FEDERAL MITIGATION COSTS.—The

12 term ‘‘non-Federal mitigation costs’’ means costs or

13 expenses incurred by a purchaser, whether paid di14 rectly or incurred as a reduction of anticipated

15 project benefits, not otherwise included as costs to

16 be repaid by the Federal Government, to mitigate

17 environmental impacts of a project pursuant to law.

18 (3) PRESENT VALUE.—The term ‘‘present

19 value’’ means the present value of the unpaid indebt20 edness of a project, as defined by the project repay21 ment schedule, discounted at the United States

22 Treasury rates on the date of execution of the pur23 chase contract.

24 (4) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means all

25 or part of a project specified in section 4, including
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1 all features, functions, and real and personal prop2 erty authorized by Congress for any such project.

3 (5) PUBLIC AGENCY.—The term ‘‘public agen4 cy’’ means—

5 (A) a State agency or political subdivision

6 of the State of Texas created under the laws of

7 the State of Texas; or

8 (B) a home rule city created under the

9 laws of the State of Texas.

10 (6) PURCHASER.—The term ‘‘purchaser’’

11 means—

12 (A) the party that (as of the date of enact13 ment of this Act) has contracted with the Unit14 ed States for repayment of the indebtedness of

15 a project; or

16 (B) if the party referred to in subpara17 graph (A) declines to complete the contract in

18 accordance with this Act, the State of Texas, or

19 a public agency, that has contracted with the

20 United States for repayment of the indebted21 ness of a project in accordance with this Act.

22 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

23 the Secretary of the Interior.
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1 SEC. 3. AGREEMENT FOR SALE OF INDEBTEDNESS OF BU2 REAU OF RECLAMATION PROJECTS IN TEXAS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall offer

5 to enter into an agreement with a purchaser for the pur6 chase of projects in accordance with this section.

7 (b) PURCHASE PRICE.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other provi9 sions of this subsection, the purchase price of a

10 project shall be equal to the present value of the

11 project.

12 (2) DISCOUNT FOR IDENTIFIED LIABILITIES

13 AND UNREALIZED BENEFITS.—In the case of a

14 project with an identified liability, or a project from

15 which actual benefits are less than the benefits that

16 are projected at the time of project authorization,

17 the purchase price of the project shall be discounted

18 to the extent of the identified liability or unrealized

19 benefits, as determined by the State of Texas.

20 (3) DISCOUNT FOR BUREAU PAYMENTS.—In

21 the case of a project with respect to which the Bu22 reau of Reclamation is obligated to pay a portion of

23 maintenance and operating expenses or payments in

24 lieu of taxes, the purchase price of the project shall

25 be discounted by an amount equal to the anticipated
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1 payment by the Bureau of Reclamation for the next

2 50 years.

3 (4) DISCOUNT FOR NON-FEDERAL COSTS.—If a

4 purchaser assumes the responsibility for non-Federal

5 mitigation costs of a project, the purchase price of

6 the project shall be discounted to reflect the addi7 tional obligations undertaken or costs incurred.

8 (c) CONVEYANCE OF LAND AND IMPROVEMENTS.—

9 When the purchase price is paid for a project, the Sec10 retary shall convey to the purchaser all right, title, and

11 interest of the United States to all land and all improve12 ments to the project. An interest may be retained by the

13 United States to the extent that the interest is retained

14 under subsection (g).

15 (d) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—The purchaser

16 shall assume all responsibility and liability for operation

17 and maintenance of a purchased project.

18 (e) DELIVERY OF PROJECTS.—The United States

19 shall provide for the performance of work reasonably nec20 essary to provide for the delivery of a project, including

21 all facilities and property, in a reasonably safe and func22 tional condition and in accordance with good maintenance

23 standards.
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1 (f) FEDERAL RECLAMATION LAW REQUIREMENTS

2 AND BENEFITS.—On full payment of the purchase price

3 required under this section and the transfer of a project—

4 (1) the purchaser shall be relieved from compli5 ance with the acreage limitation and other require6 ments of Federal reclamation laws with respect to

7 the project; and

8 (2) a project beneficiary shall not be eligible to

9 receive benefits available under Federal reclamation

10 laws, unless otherwise authorized by law, with re11 spect to a project.

12 (g) RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR

13 PROJECT.—On completion of the purchase of a project,

14 the purchaser shall—

15 (1) assume sole responsibility and liability for

16 the project purchased as of the date of conveyance

17 of title; and

18 (2) hold the United States harmless and indem19 nify the United States against all claims of damage;

20 except to the extent any title or aspect of project oper21 ations has been retained by the United States.

22 (h) NONREIMBURSABLE COSTS.—On completion of

23 the purchase of a project, the purchaser shall assume re24 sponsibility for continued implementation of all non-
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1 reimbursable costs of the project originally authorized by

2 law.

3 (i) EFFECT ON CERTAIN FEDERAL PROGRAMS.—A

4 program of the National Park Service or the Army Corps

5 of Engineers associated with a project shall not be affected

6 by the transfer of a project.

7 SEC. 4. PROJECTS AND PURCHASE PRICE.

8 The Secretary shall offer to enter into an agreement

9 with a purchaser under section 3 for the purchase of—

10 (1) the Canadian River reclamation project,

11 Texas, authorized by the Act of December 29, 1950

12 (64 Stat. 1124, chapter 1183; 43 U.S.C. 600b et

13 seq.), for $21,187,881, except that title to portions

14 of the project owned by the National Park Service,

15 and portions required for flood control operation by

16 the Army Corp of Engineers, shall not be trans17 ferred;

18 (2) the Palmetto Bend Federal reclamation

19 project, Texas, authorized by Public Law 90–562

20 (43 U.S.C. 616gggg note), for $33,923,245; and

21 (3) the Nueces River project, Texas, authorized

22 by title X of Public Law 93–493 (43 U.S.C. 600g

23 note), for $30,715,367.
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1 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.

2 (a) NEPA.—The assumption of Federal non3 reimbursable responsibility for a project by a purchaser

4 shall be considered to comply with the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). Re6 view of the project purchase shall not be required pursuant

7 to the Act.

8 (b) REPAYMENT OF CONSTRUCTION CHARGES.—Sec9 tion 213(c) of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43

10 U.S.C. 390mm(c)) shall not apply to a project.

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Drought Re13 lief Act of 1996’’.

14 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF.

15 (a) CORPUS CHRISTI.—

16 (1) EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF.—On the con17 dition stated in paragraph (2), for the purpose of pro18 viding emergency drought relief, the Secretary of the

19 Interior shall defer all principal and interest pay20 ments without penalty or accrued interest for a pe21 riod of 5 years for the city of Corpus Christi, Texas,

22 and the Nueces River Authority under contract no. 6–

23 07–01–X0675 involving the Nueces River Reclamation

24 Project, Texas.

25 (2) CONDITION.—The condition stated in this

26 paragraph is that the city of Corpus Christi, Texas,
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1 commit to use the funds made available as a result

2 of the deferral under paragraph (1) exclusively for the

3 acquisition of or construction of facilities related to

4 alternative sources of water supply.

5 (3) ISSUANCE OF PERMITS.—If construction of

6 facilities related to alternative water supplies under

7 paragraph (2) requires a Federal permit for use of

8 Bureau of Reclamation lands or facilities, the Sec9 retary of the Interior shall issue the permit not later

10 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

11 recognizing the environmental impact statement

12 FES74–54 and the environmental assessment dated

13 March 1991 (relating to the Lavaca-Navidad River

14 Authority Pipeline permit).

15 (b) CANADIAN RIVER MUNICIPAL WATER AUTHOR16 ITY.—

17 (1) RECOGNITION OF TRANSFER OF LANDS TO

18 THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—All obligations and asso20 ciated debt under contract no 14–06–500–485 for

21 land and related relocations transferred to the

22 National Park Service to form the Lake Meredith

23 National Recreation Area under sections 502

24 through 504 of Public Law 101–628 (16 U.S.C.
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1 460eee through 460eee–2), in the amount of

2 $4,000,000, shall be nonreimbursable.

3 (B) RECALCULATION OF REPAYMENT

4 SCHEDULE.—Not later than 1 year after the date

5 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the In6 terior shall recalculate the repayment schedule of

7 the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority

8 to reflect the nonreimbursability of obligations

9 and associated debt under subparagraph (A).

10 (2) EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF.—The Sec11 retary shall defer all principal and interest payments

12 without penalty or accrued interest for a period of 3

13 years for the Canadian River Municipal Water Au14 thority under contract no. 14–06–500–485 as emer15 gency drought relief to enable construction of addi16 tional water supply and conveyance facilities.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A Bill to provide

emergency drought relief to the city of Corpus Christi,

Texas, and the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, Texas, and for other purposes.’’.