II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2142

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey the facilities of the

Pine River Project, to allow jurisdictional transfer of lands between

the Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and the Department

of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 5, 1998

Mr. CAMPBELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey the

facilities of the Pine River Project, to allow jurisdictional

transfer of lands between the Department of Agriculture,

Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

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 ‘‘Pine River Project

5 Conveyance Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act:

3 (1) The term ‘‘Jurisdictional Map’’ means the

4 map entitled ‘‘Transfer of Jurisdiction—Vallecito

5 Reservoir, United States Department of Agriculture,

6 Forest Service and United States Department of the

7 Interior, Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of

8 Indian Affairs’’ dated March, 1998.

9 (2) The term ‘‘Pine River Project’’ or the

10 ‘‘Project’’ means Vallecito Dam and Reservoir

11 owned by the United States and authorized in 1937

12 under the provisions of the Department of the Inte13 rior Appropriation Act of June 25, 1910, 36 Stat.

14 835; facilities appurtenant to the Dam and Res15 ervoir, including equipment, buildings, and other im16 provements; lands adjacent to the Dam and Res17 ervoir; easements and rights-of-way necessary for ac18 cess and all required connections with the Dam and

19 Reservoir, including those for necessary roads; and

20 associated personal property, including contract

21 rights and any and all ownership or property inter22 est in water or water rights.

23 (3) The term ‘‘Repayment Contract’’ means Re24 payment Contract #I1r–1204, between Reclamation

25 and the Pine River Irrigation District, dated April

26 15, 1940, and amended November 30, 1953, cover-
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1 ing the Pine River Project and certain lands ac2 quired in support of the Vallecito Dam and Res3 ervoir pursuant to which the Pine River Irrigation

4 District has assumed operation and maintenance re5 sponsibilities for the dam, reservoir, and water-based

6 recreation in accordance with existing law.

7 (4) The term ‘‘Reclamation’’ means the Depart8 ment of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.

9 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

10 of the Interior.

11 (6) The term ‘‘Southern Ute Indian Tribe’’ or

12 ‘‘Tribe’’ means a federally recognized Indian tribe,

13 located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, La

14 Plata County, Colorado.

15 (7) The term ‘‘Pine River Irrigation District’’

16 or ‘‘District’’ means a political division of the State

17 of Colorado duly organized, existing, and acting pur18 suant to the laws thereof with its principal place of

19 business in the City of Bayfield, La Plata County,

Colorado and having an undivided 5 20 ⁄6 right and in21 terest in the use of the water made available by

22 Vallecito Reservoir for the purpose of supplying the

23 lands of the District, pursuant to the Repayment

24 Contract, and the decree in Case No. 1848–B, Dis25 trict Court, Water Division 7, State of Colorado, as
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well as an undivided 5 1 ⁄6 right and interest in the

2 Pine River Project.

3 SEC. 3. TRANSFER OF THE PINE RIVER PROJECT.

4 (a) CONVEYANCE.—The Secretary is authorized to

5 convey, without consideration or compensation, except as

6 provided in this section, to the District, by quitclaim deed

7 or patent, pursuant to section 6, the United States’ undivided 5 8 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River Project under

9 the jurisdiction of Reclamation for the benefit of the Pine

10 River Irrigation District. The quitclaim deed or patent

shall expressly provide that the undivided 5 11 ⁄6 right and in12 terest transferred cannot be subject to partition from the

undivided 1 13 ⁄6 right and interest retained under the juris14 diction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(b) PRICE.—The sale price for the undivided 5 15 ⁄6 right

16 and interest to the Project to be transferred to the Pine

17 River Irrigation District shall be Four Hundred Ninety18 two Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($492,000) (the ‘‘Sale

19 Price’’). Concurrently with the conveyance, the Sale Price

20 shall be deposited as miscellaneous receipts into the Rec21 lamation Fund of the United States. Payment of the Sale

22 Price shall extinguish all obligations between the District

23 and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the one hand and

24 Reclamation on the other hand, under the Repayment

25 Contract or with respect to the Pine River Project. Upon
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1 completion of the title transfer, said Repayment Contract

2 shall become null and void.

3 (c) TRANSACTION COSTS.—Pursuant to the April 1,

4 1998, Memorandum of Understanding between Reclama5 tion and the District, the District is responsible for paying

6 all costs associated with the title transfer. The Secretary

7 shall credit 50 percent of all costs incurred to fulfill the

8 requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act

9 and other Federal laws toward the Sale Price due under

10 section 3(b) herein, such credit not to exceed the Sale

11 Price.

12 (d) BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS INTEREST.—At the

13 option of the Tribe, the Secretary is authorized to convey

to the Tribe the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ undivided 1 14 ⁄6

15 right and interest in the Pine River Project and the water

16 supply made available by Vallecito Reservoir pursuant to

17 the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau

18 of Reclamation and the Office of Indian Affairs dated Jan19 uary 3, 1940, together with its Amendment dated July

20 9, 1964 (‘‘MOU’’), the Repayment Contract and decrees

21 in Case Nos. 1848–B and W–1603–76D, District Court,

22 Water Division 7, State of Colorado. In the event of such

23 conveyance, no additional consideration or compensation

24 shall be required to be paid to the United States.
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1 (e) FEDERAL DAM USE CHARGE.—Conveyance of

Reclamation’s 5 2 ⁄6 interest in the facilities under this Act

shall result in a 5 3 ⁄6 reduction in the Federal dam use

4 charge assessed under section 10(e) of the Federal Power

5 Act for use of the hydropower potential of the facilities.

6 SEC. 4. JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER OF LANDS.

7 (a) INUNDATED LANDS.—To provide for the consoli8 dation of lands associated with the Pine River Project to

9 be retained by the Forest Service and the consolidation

10 of lands to be transferred to the District, the administra11 tive jurisdiction of lands inundated by and along the

12 shoreline of Vallecito Reservoir, as shown on the Jurisdic13 tional Map, shall be transferred, as set forth below (the

14 ‘‘Jurisdictional Transfer’’), concurrently with the convey15 ance described in section 3(a). Except as otherwise shown

16 on the Jurisdictional Map—

17 (1) for withdrawn lands (approximately 260

18 acres) lying below the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur19 face elevation level, the Forest Service shall transfer

an undivided 5 20 ⁄6 interest to Reclamation and an undivided 1 21 ⁄6 interest to the Bureau of Indian Affairs

22 in trust for the Tribe; and

23 (2) for Project acquired lands (approximately

24 230 acres) above the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur25 face elevation level, Reclamation and the Bureau of
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1 Indian Affairs shall transfer their interests to the

2 Forest Service.

3 (b) MAP.—The Jurisdictional Map and legal descrip4 tions of the lands transferred pursuant to subsection (a)

5 above shall be on file and available for public inspection

6 in the offices of the Chief of the Forest Service, Depart7 ment of Agriculture, the Commissioner of Reclamation,

8 Department of the Interior, appropriate field offices of

9 those agencies, and the Committee on Resources of the

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy

11 and Natural Resources of the Senate.

12 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Following the Jurisdictional

13 Transfer:

14 (1) All lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic15 tional Transfer, become National Forest System

16 lands within the boundaries of the San Juan Na17 tional Forest, shall be administered in accordance

18 with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to

19 the National Forest System.

20 (2) Reclamation withdrawals of land from the

21 San Juan National Forest established by Secretarial

22 Orders on November 9, 1936, October 14, 1937,

23 and June 20, 1945, together designated as Serial

24 No. C–28259, shall be revoked.
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1 (3) The Forest Service shall issue perpetual

2 easements to the District and the Bureau of Indian

3 Affairs, at no cost to the District or the Bureau of

4 Indian Affairs, providing adequate access across all

5 lands subject to Forest Service jurisdiction to insure

6 the District and the Bureau of Indian Affairs the

7 ability to continue to operate and maintain the Pine

8 River Project.

(4) The undivided 5 9 ⁄6 interest in National For10 est System lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic11 tional Transfer is to be administered by Reclama12 tion, shall be conveyed to the District pursuant to

13 section 3(a).

14 (5) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af15 fairs shall issue perpetual easements to the Forest

16 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, from Na17 tional Forest System lands to Vallecito Reservoir to

18 assure continued public access to Vallecito Reservoir

19 when the Reservoir level drops below the 7,765-foot

20 water surface elevation.

21 (6) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af22 fairs shall issue a perpetual easement to the Forest

23 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, for the re24 construction, maintenance, and operation of a road
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1 from La Plata County Road No. 501 to National

2 Forest System lands east of the Reservoir.

3 (d) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall affect any valid existing rights or interests in

5 any existing land use authorization, except that any such

6 land use authorization shall be administered by the agency

7 having jurisdiction over the land after the Jurisdictional

8 Transfer in accordance with subsection (c) and other ap9 plicable law. Renewal or reissuance of any such authoriza10 tion shall be in accordance with applicable law and the

11 regulations of the agency having jurisdiction, except that

12 the change of administrative jurisdiction shall not in itself

13 constitute a ground to deny the renewal or reissuance of

14 any such authorization.

15 SEC. 5. LIABILITY.

16 Effective on the date of the conveyance of an undivided 5 17 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River Project to

18 the District, the United States shall not be held liable by

19 any court for damages of any kind arising out of any act,

omission, or occurrence relating to such undivided 5 20 ⁄6 right

21 and interest, except for damages caused by acts of neg22 ligence committed by the United States or by its employ23 ees, agents, or contractors prior to the date of conveyance.

24 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to increase the

25 liability of the United States beyond that currently pro-
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1 vided in the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2671

2 et seq.)

3 SEC. 6. COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary’s completion of the

5 conveyances under section 3 shall occur promptly after the

6 following events:

7 (1) Compliance with the National Environ8 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

9 and other applicable Federal and State laws.

10 (2) A written statement from the Southern Ute

11 Indian Tribe indicating the Tribe’s satisfaction that

12 the Tribe’s Indian Trust Assets are protected in the

13 conveyance described in section 3.

14 (3) The issuance by the Federal Energy Regu15 latory Commission of an amendment to license

16 #3174–001 which revises annual charges and other17 wise reflects the conveyance described in section 3.

18 (4) The submission of a statement by the Sec19 retary to the District, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

20 and the State of Colorado on the existing condition

21 of Vallecito Dam based on Bureau of Reclamation’s

22 current knowledge and understanding.

23 (5) The development of an agreement between

24 the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the District to pre25 scribe the District’s obligation to so operate the
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Project that the 1 1 ⁄6 rights and interests to the

2 Project and water supply made available by Vallecito

3 Reservoir held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are

4 protected.

5 (6) The submission of a plan by the District to

6 manage the Project in a manner substantially simi7 lar to the manner in which it was managed prior to

8 the transfer and in accordance with applicable Fed9 eral and State laws, including management for the

10 preservation of public access and recreational values

11 and for the prevention of growth on certain lands to

12 be conveyed hereunder, as set forth in an Agreement

13 dated March 20, 1998, between the District and

14 residents of Vallecito Reservoir. Any future change

15 in the use of the water supplied by Vallecito Res16 ervoir shall comply with applicable law.

17 (7) The development of a flood control plan by

18 the Secretary of the Army acting through the Corps

19 of Engineers which shall direct the District in the

20 operation of Vallecito Dam for such purposes.

21 (b) REPORT.—If the transfer authorized in section

22 3 is not substantially completed, the Secretary, in coordi23 nation with the District, shall provide a report to the Com24 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives and

25 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
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1 the Senate within 18 months from the date of enactment

2 of this Act on the status of the transfer described in sec3 tion 3(a), any obstacles to completion of such transfer,

4 and the anticipated date for such transfer.

5 (c) FUTURE BENEFITS.—Effective upon transfer, the

6 District shall not be entitled to receive any further Rec7 lamation benefits pursuant to the Reclamation Act of

8 June 17, 1902, and Acts supplementary thereto or amend9 atory thereof.

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