I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 461 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal features 

of the electric distribution system to the South Utah Valley Electric 

Service District, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2011 

Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself and Mr. BISHOP of Utah) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 

Federal features of the electric distribution system to 

the South Utah Valley Electric Service District, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘South Utah Valley 

5 Electric Conveyance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the 

2 South Utah Valley Electric Service District, orga3 nized under the laws of the State of Utah. 

4 (2) ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.—The 

5 term ‘‘Electric Distribution System’’ means fixtures, 

6 irrigation, or power facilities lands, distribution fix7 ture lands, and shared power poles. 

8 (3) FIXTURES.—The term ‘‘fixtures’’ means all 

9 power poles, cross-members, wires, insulators and 

10 associated fixtures, including substations, that— 

11 (A) comprise those portions of the Straw12 berry Valley Project power distribution system 

13 that are rated at a voltage of 12.5 kilovolts and 

14 were constructed with Strawberry Valley 

15 Project revenues; and 

16 (B) any such fixtures that are located on 

17 Federal lands and interests in lands. 

18 (4) IRRIGATION OR POWER FACILITIES

19 LANDS.—The term ‘‘irrigation or power facilities 

20 lands’’ means all Federal lands and interests in 

21 lands where the fixtures are located on the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act and which are encumbered 

23 by other Strawberry Valley Project irrigation or 

24 power features, including lands underlying the 

25 Strawberry Substation. 


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1 (5) DISTRIBUTION FIXTURE LANDS.—The term 

2 ‘‘distribution fixture lands’’ means all Federal lands 

3 and interests in lands where the fixtures are located 

4 on the date of the enactment of this Act and which 

5 are unencumbered by other Strawberry Valley 

6 Project features, to a maximum corridor width of 30 

7 feet on each side of the centerline of the fixtures’ 

8 power lines as those lines exist on the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act. 

10 (6) SHARED POWER POLES.—The term ‘‘shared 

11 power poles’’ means poles that comprise those por12 tions of the Strawberry Valley Project Power Trans13 mission System, that are rated at a voltage of 46.0 

14 kilovolts, are owned by the United States, and sup15 port fixtures of the Electric Distribution System. 

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior. 

18 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYS19 TEM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Inasmuch as the Strawberry 

21 Water Users Association conveyed its interest, if any, in 

22 the Electric Distribution System to the District by a con23 tract dated April 7, 1986, and in consideration of the Dis24 trict assuming from the United States all liability for ad25 ministration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of 


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1 the Electric Distribution System, the Secretary shall, pur2 suant to the provisions of this Act convey and assign to 

3 the District without charge or further consideration— 

4 (1) all of the United States right, title, and in5 terest in and to— 

6 (A) all fixtures owned by the United States 

7 as part of the Electric Distribution System; and 

8 (B) the distribution fixture land; 

9 (2) license for use in perpetuity of the shared 

10 power poles to continue to own, operate, maintain, 

11 and replace Electric Distribution Fixtures attached 

12 to the shared power poles; and 

13 (3) licenses for use and for access in perpetuity 

14 for purposes of operation, maintenance, and replace15 ment across, over, and along— 

16 (A) all project lands and interests in irri17 gation and power facilities lands where the 

18 Electric Distribution System is located on the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act that are nec20 essary for other Strawberry Valley Project fa21 cilities (the ownership of such underlying lands 

22 or interests in lands shall remain with the 

23 United States), including lands underlying the 

24 Strawberry Substation; and 


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1 (B) such corridors where Federal lands 

2 and interests in lands— 

3 (i) are abutting public streets and 

4 roads; and 

5 (ii) can provide access that will facili6 tate operation, maintenance, and replace7 ment of facilities. 

8 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before conveying lands, in10 terest in lands, and fixtures under subsection (a), 

11 the Secretary shall comply with all applicable re12 quirements under— 

13 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

14 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

15 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

16 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

17 (C) any other law applicable to the land 

18 and facilities. 

19 (2) EFFECT.—Nothing in this Act modifies or 

20 alters any obligations under— 

21 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

22 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or 

23 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

24 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 


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1 (c) POWER GENERATION AND 46KV TRANSMISSION

2 FACILITIES EXCLUDED.—Except for the uses as granted 

3 by license in Shared Power Poles under section 3(a)(2), 

4 nothing in this Act shall be construed to grant or convey 

5 to the District or any other party, any interest in any fa6 cilities shared or otherwise that comprise a portion of the 

7 Strawberry Valley Project power generation system or the 

8 federally owned portions of the 46 kilovolt transmission 

9 system which ownership shall remain in the United States. 

10 SEC. 4. EFFECT OF CONVEYANCE. 

11 On conveyance of any land or facility under section 

12 3(a)(1)— 

13 (1) the conveyed and assigned land and facili14 ties shall no longer be part of a Federal reclamation 

15 project; 

16 (2) the District shall not be entitled to receive 

17 any future Bureau or Reclamation benefits with re18 spect to the conveyed and assigned land and facili19 ties, except for benefits that would be available to 

20 other non-Bureau of Reclamation facilities; and 

21 (3) the United States shall not be liable for 

22 damages arising out of any act, omission, or occur23 rence relating to the land and facilities, but shall 

24 continue to be liable for damages caused by acts of 

25 negligence committed by the United States or by any 


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1 employee or agent of the United States before the 

2 date of conveyance, consistent with chapter 171 of 

3 title 28, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

5 If a conveyance required under section 3 is not com6 pleted by the date that is 24 months after the date of 

7 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

8 Congress a report that— 

9 (1) describes the status of the conveyance; 

10 (2) describes any obstacles to completing the 

11 conveyance; and 

12 (3) specifies an anticipated date for completion 

13 of the conveyance. 

Æ 


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