I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2142

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 8, 1998

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

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, and all
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1 amendments and additions thereto, including the Act

2 of July 27, 1954 (68 Stat. 534), covering the Pine

3 River Project and certain lands acquired in support

4 of the Vallecito Dam and Reservoir pursuant to

5 which the Pine River Irrigation District has as6 sumed operation and maintenance responsibilities

7 for the dam, reservoir, and water-based recreation in

8 accordance with existing law.

9 (4) The term ‘‘Reclamation’’ means the Depart10 ment of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.

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

12 of the Interior.

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

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

15 located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, La

16 Plata County, Colorado.

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

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

19 of Colorado duly organized, existing, and acting pur20 suant to the laws thereof with its principal place of

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

Colorado and having an undivided 5 22 ⁄6 right and in23 terest in the use of the water made available by

24 Vallecito Reservoir for the purpose of supplying the

25 lands of the District, pursuant to the Repayment
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1 Contract, and the decree in Case No. 1848–B, Dis2 trict Court, Water Division 7, State of Colorado, as

well as an undivided 5 3 ⁄6 right and interest in the

4 Pine River Project.

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

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

7 convey, without consideration or compensation to the Dis8 trict, by quitclaim deed or patent, pursuant to section 6,

the United States undivided 5 9 ⁄6 right and interest in the

10 Pine River Project under the jurisdiction of Reclamation

11 for the benefit of the Pine River Irrigation District. No

partition of the undivided 5 12 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine

River Project shall be permitted from the undivided 1 13 ⁄6

14 right and interest in the Pine River Project described in

15 subsection (b) and any quitclaim deed or patent evidencing

16 a transfer shall expressly prohibit partitioning. Effective

17 on the date of the conveyance, all obligations between the

18 District and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the one hand

19 and Reclamation on the other hand, under the Repayment

20 Contract or with respect to the Pine River Project are ex21 tinguished. Upon completion of the title transfer, said Re22 payment Contract shall become null and void. The District

23 shall be responsible for paying 50 percent of all costs asso24 ciated with the title transfer.
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1 (b) BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS INTEREST.—At the

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

to the Tribe the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ undivided 1 3 ⁄6

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

5 supply made available by Vallecito Reservoir pursuant to

6 the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bureau

7 of Reclamation and the Office of Indian Affairs dated Jan8 uary 3, 1940, together with its Amendment dated July

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

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

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

12 conveyance, no consideration or compensation shall be re13 quired to be paid to the United States.

14 (c) FEDERAL DAM USE CHARGE.—Nothing in this

15 Act shall relieve the holder of the license issued by the

16 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Fed17 eral Power Act for Vallecito Dam in effect on the date

18 of enactment of this Act from the obligation to make pay19 ments under section 10(e)(2) of the Federal Power Act

20 during the remaining term of the present license. At the

21 expiration of the present license term, the Federal Energy

22 Regulatory Commission shall adjust the charge to reflect

either (1) the 1 23 ⁄6 interest of the United States remaining

24 in the Vallecito Dam after conveyance to the District; or

(2) if the remaining 1 25 ⁄6 interest of the United States has
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1 been conveyed to the Tribe pursuant to subsection (b),

2 then no Federal dam charge shall be levied from the date

3 of expiration of the present license.

4 SEC. 4. JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER OF LANDS.

5 (a) INUNDATED LANDS.—To provide for the consoli6 dation of lands associated with the Pine River Project to

7 be retained by the Forest Service and the consolidation

8 of lands to be transferred to the District, the administra9 tive jurisdiction of lands inundated by and along the

10 shoreline of Vallecito Reservoir, as shown on the Jurisdic11 tional Map, shall be transferred, as set forth in subsection

12 (b) (the ‘‘Jurisdictional Transfer’’), concurrently with the

13 conveyance described in section 3(a). Except as otherwise

14 shown on the Jurisdictional Map—

15 (1) for withdrawn lands (approximately 260

16 acres) lying below the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur17 face elevation level, the Forest Service shall transfer

an undivided 5 18 ⁄6 interest to Reclamation and an undivided 1 19 ⁄6 interest to the Bureau of Indian Affairs

20 in trust for the Tribe; and

21 (2) for Project acquired lands (approximately

22 230 acres) above the 7,765-foot reservoir water sur23 face elevation level, Reclamation and the Bureau of

24 Indian Affairs shall transfer their interests to the

25 Forest Service.
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1 (b) MAP.—The Jurisdictional Map and legal descrip2 tions of the lands transferred pursuant to subsection (a)

3 shall be on file and available for public inspection in the

4 offices of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department of

5 Agriculture, the Commissioner of Reclamation, Depart6 ment of the Interior, appropriate field offices of those

7 agencies, and the Committee on Resources of the House

8 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and

9 Natural Resources of the Senate.

10 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Following the Jurisdictional

11 Transfer:

12 (1) All lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic13 tional Transfer, become National Forest System

14 lands within the boundaries of the San Juan Na15 tional Forest, shall be administered in accordance

16 with the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to

17 the National Forest System.

18 (2) Reclamation withdrawals of land from the

19 San Juan National Forest established by Secretarial

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

21 and June 20, 1945, together designated as Serial

22 No. C–28259, shall be revoked.

23 (3) The Forest Service shall issue perpetual

24 easements to the District and the Bureau of Indian

25 Affairs, at no cost to the District or the Bureau of
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1 Indian Affairs, providing adequate access across all

2 lands subject to Forest Service jurisdiction to insure

3 the District and the Bureau of Indian Affairs the

4 ability to continue to operate and maintain the Pine

5 River Project.

(4) The undivided 5 6 ⁄6 interest in National For7 est System lands that, by reason of the Jurisdic8 tional Transfer is to be administered by Reclama9 tion, shall be conveyed to the District pursuant to

10 section 3(a).

11 (5) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af12 fairs shall issue perpetual easements to the Forest

13 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, from Na14 tional Forest System lands to Vallecito Reservoir to

15 assure continued public access to Vallecito Reservoir

16 when the Reservoir level drops below the 7,665-foot

17 water surface elevation.

18 (6) The District and the Bureau of Indian Af19 fairs shall issue a perpetual easement to the Forest

20 Service, at no cost to the Forest Service, for the re21 construction, maintenance, and operation of a road

22 from La Plata County Road No. 501 to National

23 Forest System lands east of the Reservoir.

24 (d) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act

25 shall affect any valid existing rights or interests in any
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1 existing land use authorization, except that any such land

2 use authorization shall be administered by the agency hav3 ing jurisdiction over the land after the Jurisdictional

4 Transfer in accordance with subsection (c) and other ap5 plicable law. Renewal or reissuance of any such authoriza6 tion shall be in accordance with applicable law and the

7 regulations of the agency having jurisdiction, except that

8 the change of administrative jurisdiction shall not in itself

9 constitute a ground to deny the renewal or reissuance of

10 any such authorization.

11 SEC. 5. LIABILITY.

12 Effective on the date of the conveyance of the remaining undivided 1 13 ⁄6 right and interest in the Pine River

14 Project to the Tribe pursuant to subsection 3(b), the

15 United States shall not be held liable by any court for

16 damages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or

17 occurrence relating to such Project, except for damages

18 caused by acts of negligence committed by the United

19 States or by its employees, agents, or contractors prior

20 to the date of conveyance. Nothing in this section shall

21 be deemed to increase the liability of the United States

22 beyond that currently provided in the Federal Tort Claims

23 Act (28 U.S.C. 2671 et seq.).
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1 SEC. 6. COMPLETION OF CONVEYANCE.

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

3 conveyance under section 3 shall not occur until the fol4 lowing events have been completed:

5 (1) Compliance with the National Environ6 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

7 and other applicable Federal and State laws.

8 (2) The submission of a written statement from

9 the Southern Ute Indian Tribe to the Secretary indi10 cating the Tribe’s satisfaction that the Tribe’s In11 dian Trust Assets are protected in the conveyance

12 described in section 3.

13 (3) Execution of an agreement acceptable to the

14 Secretary which limits the future liability of the

15 United States relative to the operation of the

16 Project.

17 (4) The submission of a statement by the Sec18 retary to the District, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,

19 and the State of Colorado on the existing condition

20 of Vallecito Dam based on Bureau of Reclamation’s

21 current knowledge and understanding.

22 (5) The development of an agreement between

23 the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the District to pre24 scribe the District’s obligation to so operate the

Project that the 1 25 ⁄6 rights and interests to the

26 Project and water supply made available by Vallecito
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1 Reservoir held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are

2 protected. Such agreement shall supercede the

3 Memorandum of Agreement referred to in section

4 3(b) of this Act.

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 within 18 months from

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordi24 nation with the District, shall promptly provide a report

25 to the Committee on Resources of the House of Represent-
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1 atives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate on the status of the transfer de3 scribed in section 3(a), any obstacles to completion of such

4 transfer, 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 attributable to its status as a Reclama8 tion project pursuant to the Reclamation Act of June 17,

9 1902, and Acts supplementary thereto or amendatory

10 thereof.

Passed the Senate October 7 (legislative day, October 2), 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.