II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 291

To convey certain real property within the Carlsbad Project in New Mexico

to the Carlsbad Irrigation District.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21, 1999

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

To convey certain real property within the Carlsbad Project

in New Mexico to the Carlsbad Irrigation District.

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 ‘‘Carlsbad Irrigation

5 Project Acquired Land Transfer Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE.

7 (a) LANDS AND FACILITIES.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), and subject to subsection (c), the Sec10 retary of the Interior (in this Act referred to as the
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1 ‘‘Secretary’’) may convey to the Carlsbad Irrigation

2 District (a quasi-municipal corporation formed

3 under the laws of the State of New Mexico and in

4 this Act referred to as the ‘‘District’’), all right,

5 title, and interest of the United States in and to the

6 lands described in subsection (b) (in this Act re7 ferred to as the ‘‘acquired lands’’) and all interests

8 the United States holds in the irrigation and drain9 age system of the Carlsbad Project and all related

10 lands including ditch rider houses, maintenance shop

11 and buildings, and Pecos River Flume.

12 (2) LIMITATION.—

13 (A) RETAINED SURFACE RIGHTS.—The

14 Secretary shall retain title to the surface estate

15 (but not the mineral estate) of such acquired

16 lands which are located under the footprint of

17 Brantley and Avalon dams or any other project

18 dam or reservoir division structure.

19 (B) STORAGE AND FLOW EASEMENT.—The

20 Secretary shall retain storage and flow ease21 ments for any tracts located under the maxi22 mum spillway elevations of Avalon and Brantley

23 Reservoirs.

24 (b) ACQUIRED LANDS DESCRIBED.—The lands re25 ferred to in subsection (a) are those lands (including the
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1 surface and mineral estate) in Eddy County, New Mexico,

2 described as the acquired lands and in section (7) of the

3 ‘‘Status of Lands and Title Report: Carlsbad Project’’ as

4 reported by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1978.

5 (c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE.—Any

6 conveyance of the acquired lands under this Act shall be

7 subject to the following terms and conditions:

8 (1) MANAGEMENT AND USE, GENERALLY.—The

9 conveyed lands shall continue to be managed and

10 used by the District for the purposes for which the

11 Carlsbad Project was authorized, based on historic

12 operations and consistent with the management of

13 other adjacent project lands.

14 (2) ASSUMED RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS.—Ex15 cept as provided in paragraph (3), the District shall

16 assume all rights and obligations of the United

17 States under—

18 (A) the agreement dated July 28, 1994,

19 between the United States and the Director,

20 New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

21 (Document No. 2–LM–40–00640), relating to

22 management of certain lands near Brantley

23 Reservoir for fish and wildlife purposes; and

24 (B) the agreement dated March 9, 1977,

25 between the United States and the New Mexico
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1 Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural

2 Resources (Contract No. 7–07–57–X0888) for

3 the management and operation of Brantley

4 Lake State Park.

5 (3) EXCEPTIONS.—In relation to agreements

6 referred to in paragraph (2)—

7 (A) the District shall not be obligated for

8 any financial support agreed to by the Sec9 retary, or the Secretary’s designee, in either

10 agreement; and

11 (B) the District shall not be entitled to any

12 receipts for revenues generated as a result of ei13 ther agreement.

14 (d) COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.—If the Secretary

15 does not complete the conveyance within 180 days from

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub17 mit a report to the Congress within 30 days after that

18 period that includes a detailed explanation of problems

19 that have been encountered in completing the conveyance,

20 and specific steps that the Secretary has taken or will take

21 to complete the conveyance.
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1 SEC. 3. LEASE MANAGEMENT AND PAST REVENUES COL2 LECTED FROM THE ACQUIRED LANDS.

3 (a) IDENTIFICATION AND NOTIFICATION OF LEASE4 HOLDERS.—Within 120 days after the date of enactment

5 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall—

6 (1) provide to the District a written identifica7 tion of all mineral and grazing leases in effect on the

8 acquired lands on the date of enactment of this Act;

9 and

10 (2) notify all leaseholders of the conveyance au11 thorized by this Act.

12 (b) MANAGEMENT OF MINERAL AND GRAZING

13 LEASES, LICENSES, AND PERMITS.—The District shall

14 assume all rights and obligations of the United States for

15 all mineral and grazing leases, licenses, and permits exist16 ing on the acquired lands conveyed under section 2, and

17 shall be entitled to any receipts from such leases, licenses,

18 and permits accruing after the date of conveyance. All

19 such receipts shall be used for purposes for which the

20 Project was authorized and for financing the portion of

21 operations, maintenance, and replacement of the Summer

22 Dam which, prior to conveyance, was the responsibility of

23 the Bureau of Reclamation, with the exception of major

24 maintenance programs in progress prior to conveyance

25 which shall be funded through the cost share formulas in

26 place at the time of conveyance. The District shall con-
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1 tinue to adhere to the current Bureau of Reclamation min2 eral leasing stipulations for the Carlsbad Project.

3 (c) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS PAID INTO REC4 LAMATION FUND.—

5 (1) EXISTING RECEIPTS.—Receipts in the rec6 lamation fund on the date of enactment of this Act

7 which exist as construction credits to the Carlsbad

8 Project under the terms of the Mineral Leasing Act

9 for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351–359) shall be

10 deposited in the General Treasury and credited to

11 deficit reduction or retirement of the Federal debt.

12 (2) RECEIPTS AFTER ENACTMENT.—Of the re13 ceipts from mineral and grazing leases, licenses, and

14 permits on acquired lands to be conveyed under sec15 tion 2, that are received by the United States after

16 the date of enactment and before the date of

17 conveyance—

18 (A) not to exceed $200,000 shall be avail19 able to the Secretary for the actual costs of im20 plementing this Act with any additional costs

21 shared equally between the Secretary and the

22 District; and

23 (B) the remainder shall be deposited into

24 the General Treasury of the United States and
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1 credited to deficit reduction or retirement of the

2 Federal debt.

3 SEC. 4. VOLUNTARY WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES.

4 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the

5 ability of the District to voluntarily implement water con6 servation practices.

7 SEC. 5. LIABILITY.

8 Effective on the date of conveyance of any lands and

9 facilities authorized by this Act, the United States shall

10 not be held liable by any court for damages of any kind

11 arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence relating to

12 the conveyed property, except for damages caused by acts

13 of negligence committed by the United States or by its

14 employees, agents, or contractors, prior to conveyance.

15 Nothing in this section shall be considered to increase the

16 liability of the United States beyond that provided under

17 chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, popularly

18 known as the Federal Tort Claims Act.

19 SEC. 6. FUTURE BENEFITS.

20 Effective upon transfer, the lands and facilities trans21 ferred pursuant to this Act shall not be entitled to receive

22 any further Reclamation benefits pursuant to the Rec23 lamation Act of June 17, 1902, and Acts supplementary
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1 thereof or amendatory thereto attributable to their status

2 as part of a Reclamation Project.

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