II 

Calendar No. 291 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 461 

[Report No. 112–130] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 31, 2011 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

JANUARY 13, 2012 

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of December 17, 2011, 

by Mr. BINGAMAN, without amendment 

AN ACT 

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’’. 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 461 RS

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 South Utah Valley Electric Service District, orga5 nized under the laws of the State of Utah. 

6 (2) ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.—The 

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

8 irrigation, or power facilities lands, distribution fix9 ture lands, and shared power poles. 

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

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

12 associated fixtures, including substations, that— 

13 (A) comprise those portions of the Straw14 berry Valley Project power distribution system 

15 that are rated at a voltage of 12.5 kilovolts and 

16 were constructed with Strawberry Valley 

17 Project revenues; and 

18 (B) any such fixtures that are located on 

19 Federal lands and interests in lands. 

20 (4) IRRIGATION OR POWER FACILITIES

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

22 lands’’ means all Federal lands and interests in 

23 lands where the fixtures are located on the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act and which are encumbered 

25 by other Strawberry Valley Project irrigation or 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 461 RS

1 power features, including lands underlying the 

2 Strawberry Substation. 

3 (5) DISTRIBUTION FIXTURE LANDS.—The term 

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

5 and interests in lands where the fixtures are located 

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

7 are unencumbered by other Strawberry Valley 

8 Project features, to a maximum corridor width of 30 

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

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

11 enactment of this Act. 

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

13 power poles’’ means poles that comprise those por14 tions of the Strawberry Valley Project Power Trans15 mission System, that are rated at a voltage of 46.0 

16 kilovolts, are owned by the United States, and sup17 port fixtures of the Electric Distribution System. 

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

19 the Secretary of the Interior. 

20 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYS21 TEM. 

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

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

24 the Electric Distribution System to the District by a con25 tract dated April 7, 1986, and in consideration of the DisVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:36 Jan 14, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H461.RS H461

pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 461 RS

1 trict assuming from the United States all liability for ad2 ministration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of 

3 the Electric Distribution System, the Secretary shall, as 

4 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act and in accordance with all applicable law convey and 

6 assign to the District without charge or further consider7 ation— 

8 (1) all of the United States right, title, and in9 terest in and to— 

10 (A) all fixtures owned by the United States 

11 as part of the Electric Distribution System; and 

12 (B) the distribution fixture land; 

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

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

15 and replace Electric Distribution Fixtures attached 

16 to the shared power poles; and 

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

18 for purposes of operation, maintenance, and replace19 ment across, over, and along— 

20 (A) all project lands and interests in irri21 gation and power facilities lands where the 

22 Electric Distribution System is located on the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act that are nec24 essary for other Strawberry Valley Project fa25 cilities (the ownership of such underlying lands 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 461 RS

1 or interests in lands shall remain with the 

2 United States), including lands underlying the 

3 Strawberry Substation; and 

4 (B) such corridors where Federal lands 

5 and interests in lands— 

6 (i) are abutting public streets and 

7 roads; and 

8 (ii) can provide access that will facili9 tate operation, maintenance, and replace10 ment of facilities. 

11 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before conveying lands, in13 terest in lands, and fixtures under subsection (a), 

14 the Secretary shall comply with all applicable re15 quirements under— 

16 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

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

18 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

19 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

20 (C) any other law applicable to the land 

21 and facilities. 

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

23 alters any obligations under— 

24 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

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


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 461 RS

1 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

2 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

3 (c) POWER GENERATION AND 46KV TRANSMISSION

4 FACILITIES EXCLUDED.—Except for the uses as granted 

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

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

7 to the District or any other party, any interest in any fa8 cilities shared or otherwise that comprise a portion of the 

9 Strawberry Valley Project power generation system or the 

10 federally owned portions of the 46 kilovolt transmission 

11 system which ownership shall remain in the United States. 

12 SEC. 4. EFFECT OF CONVEYANCE. 

13 On conveyance of any land or facility under section 

14 3(a)(1)— 

15 (1) the conveyed and assigned land and facili16 ties shall no longer be part of a Federal reclamation 

17 project; 

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

19 any future Bureau or Reclamation benefits with re20 spect to the conveyed and assigned land and facili21 ties, except for benefits that would be available to 

22 other non-Bureau of Reclamation facilities; and 

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

24 damages arising out of any act, omission, or occur25 rence relating to the land and facilities, including 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 461 RS

1 the transaction of April 7, 1986, between the Straw2 berry Water Users Association and Strawberry Elec3 tric Service District. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

5 If a conveyance required under section 3 is not com6 pleted by the date that is 1 year after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, not later than 30 days after that 

8 date, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

9 that— 

10 (1) describes the status of the conveyance; 

11 (2) describes any obstacles to completing the 

12 conveyance; and 

13 (3) specifies an anticipated date for completion 

14 of the conveyance. 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 291 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 461 

[Report No. 112–130] 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey 

Service District, and for other purposes. tion system to the South Utah Valley Electric certain Federal features of the electric distribuJANUARY 13, 2012 

Reported without amendment 


pwalker on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS