II 

Calendar No. 273 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 500 

[Report No. 112–111] 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2011 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was 

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, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Electric Conveyance Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

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

7 South Utah Valley Electric Service District, orga8 nized under the laws of the State of Utah. 

9 (2) ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.—The 

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

11 irrigation, or power facilities lands, distribution fix12 ture lands, and shared power poles. 

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

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

15 associated fixtures, including substations, that— 

16 (A) comprise those portions of the Straw17 berry Valley Project power distribution system 

18 that are rated at a voltage of 12.5 kilovolts and 

19 were constructed with Strawberry Valley 

20 Project revenues; and 

21 (B) any such fixtures that are located on 

22 Federal lands and interests in lands. 

23 (4) IRRIGATION OR POWER FACILITIES

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

25 lands’’ means all Federal lands and interests in 

26 lands where the fixtures are located on the date of 


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1 the enactment of this Act and which are encumbered 

2 by other Strawberry Valley Project irrigation or 

3 power features, including lands underlying the 

4 Strawberry Substation. 

5 (5) DISTRIBUTION FIXTURE LANDS.—The term 

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

7 and interests in lands where the fixtures are located 

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

9 are unencumbered by other Strawberry Valley 

10 Project features, to a maximum corridor width of 30 

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

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

13 enactment of this Act. 

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

15 power poles’’ means poles that comprise those por16 tions of the Strawberry Valley Project Power Trans17 mission System, that are rated at a voltage of 46.0- 

18 kilovolts, are owned by the United States, and sup19 port fixtures of the Electric Distribution System. 

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

21 the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION SYS23 TEM. 

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

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


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1 the Electric Distribution System to the District by a con2 tract dated April 7, 1986, and in consideration of the Dis3 trict assuming from the United States all liability for ad4 ministration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of 

5 the Electric Distribution System, the Secretary shall, pur6 suant to the provisions of this Act as soon as practicable 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act and in accordance 

8 with applicable law, convey and assign to the District 

9 without charge or further consideration— 

10 (1) all of the United States right, title, and in11 terest in and to— 

12 (A) all fixtures owned by the United States 

13 as part of the Electric Distribution System; and 

14 (B) the distribution fixture land; 

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

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

17 and replace Electric Distribution Fixtures attached 

18 to the shared power poles; and 

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

20 for purposes of operation, maintenance, and replace21 ment across, over, and along— 

22 (A) all project lands and interests in irri23 gation and power facilities lands where the 

24 Electric Distribution System is located on the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act that are necVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:12 Jan 13, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S500.RS S500

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1 essary for other Strawberry Valley Project fa2 cilities (the ownership of such underlying lands 

3 or interests in lands shall remain with the 

4 United States), including lands underlying the 

5 Strawberry Substation; and 

6 (B) such corridors where Federal lands 

7 and interests in lands— 

8 (i) are abutting public streets and 

9 roads; and 

10 (ii) can provide access that will facili11 tate operation, maintenance, and replace12 ment of facilities. 

13 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before conveying lands, in15 terest in lands, and fixtures under subsection (a), 

16 the Secretary shall comply with all applicable re17 quirements under— 

18 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

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

20 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

21 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

22 (C) any other law applicable to the land 

23 and facilities. 

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

25 alters any obligations under— 


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1 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

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

3 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

4 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

5 (c) POWER GENERATION AND 46KV TRANSMISSION

6 FACILITIES EXCLUDED.—Except for the uses as granted 

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

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

9 to the District or any other party, any interest in any fa10 cilities shared or otherwise that comprise a portion of the 

11 Strawberry Valley Project power generation system or the 

12 federally owned portions of the 46 kilovolt transmission 

13 system which ownership shall remain in the United States. 

14 SEC. 4. EFFECT OF CONVEYANCE. 

15 On conveyance of any land or facility under section 

16 3(a)(1)— 

17 (1) the conveyed and assigned land and facili18 ties shall no longer be part of a Federal reclamation 

19 project; 

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

21 any future Bureau or Reclamation benefits with re22 spect to the conveyed and assigned land and facili23 ties, except for benefits that would be available to 

24 other non-Bureau of Reclamation facilities; and 


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

2 damages arising out of any act, omission, or occur3 rence relating to the land and facilities, but shall 

4 continue to be liable for damages caused by acts of 

5 negligence committed by the United States or by any 

6 employee or agent of the United States before the 

7 date of conveyance, consistent with chapter 171 of 

8 title 28, United States Code. including the trans9 action of April 7, 1986, between the Strawberry 

10 Water Users Association and the Strawberry Electric 

11 Service District. 

12 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

13 If a conveyance required under section 3 is not com14 pleted by the date that is 24 months after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act 1 year after the date of enactment 

16 of this Act, not later than 30 days after that date, the Sec17 retary shall submit to Congress a report that— 

18 (1) describes the status of the conveyance; 

19 (2) describes any obstacles to completing the 

20 conveyance; and 

21 (3) specifies an anticipated date for completion 

22 of the conveyance. 


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Calendar No. 273 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 500 

[Report No. 112–111] 

A BILL 

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 with amendments 


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