I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 432 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land and facilities 

of the Central Valley Project. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2019 

Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 

land and facilities of the Central Valley Project. 

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 ‘‘Contra Costa Canal 

5 Transfer Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACQUIRED LAND.—The term ‘‘acquired 

9 land’’ means land in Federal ownership and land 

10 over which the Federal Government holds an interest 


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1 for the purpose of the construction and operation of 

2 the Contra Costa Canal, including land under the ju3 risdiction of— 

4 (A) the Bureau of Reclamation; 

5 (B) the Western Area Power Administra6 tion; and 

7 (C) the Department of Defense in the case 

8 of the Clayton Canal diversion traversing the 

9 Concord Naval Weapons Station. 

10 (2) CONTRA COSTA CANAL.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Contra 

12 Costa Canal’’ means the Contra Costa Canal 

13 Unit of the Central Valley Project, which exclu14 sively serves the Contra Costa Water District in 

15 an urban area of Contra Costa County, Cali16 fornia. 

17 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Contra 

18 Costa Canal’’ includes pipelines, conduits, 

19 pumping plants, aqueducts, laterals, water stor20 age and regulatory facilities, electric sub21 stations, related works and improvements, and 

22 all interests in land associated with the Contra 

23 Costa Canal Unit of the Central Valley Project 

24 in existence on the date of enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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1 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Contra Costa 

2 Canal’’ does not include the Rock Slough fish 

3 screen facility. 

4 (3) CONTRA COSTA CANAL AGREEMENT.—The 

5 term ‘‘Contra Costa Canal Agreement’’ means an 

6 agreement between the District and the Bureau of 

7 Reclamation to determine the legal, institutional, 

8 and financial terms surrounding the transfer of the 

9 Contra Costa Canal, including compensation to the 

10 reclamation fund established by the first section of 

11 the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 

12 1093), equal to the net present value of miscella13 neous revenues that the United States would other14 wise derive over the 10 years following the date of 

15 enactment of this Act from the eligible lands and fa16 cilities to be transferred, as governed by reclamation 

17 law and policy and the contracts. 

18 (4) CONTRACTS.—The term ‘‘contracts’’ means 

19 the existing water service contract between the Dis20 trict and the United States, Contract No. 175r– 

21 3401A–LTR1 (2005), Contract No. 14–06–200– 

22 6072A (1972, as amended), and any other contract 

23 or land permit involving the United States, the Dis24 trict, and Contra Costa Canal. 


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

2 Contra Costa Water District, a political subdivision 

3 of the State of California. 

4 (6) ROCK SLOUGH FISH SCREEN FACILITY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Rock 

6 Slough fish screen facility’’ means the fish 

7 screen facility at the Rock Slough intake to the 

8 Contra Costa Canal. 

9 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Rock Slough 

10 fish screen facility’’ includes the screen struc11 ture, rake cleaning system, and accessory struc12 tures integral to the screen function of the 

13 Rock Slough fish screen facility, as required 

14 under the Central Valley Project Improvement 

15 Act (Public Law 102–575; 106 Stat. 4706). 

16 (7) ROCK SLOUGH FISH SCREEN FACILITY

17 TITLE TRANSFER AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Rock 

18 Slough fish screen facility title transfer agreement’’ 

19 means an agreement between the District and the 

20 Bureau of Reclamation to— 

21 (A) determine the legal, institutional, and 

22 financial terms surrounding the transfer of the 

23 Rock Slough fish screen facility; and 


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1 (B) ensure the continued safe and reliable 

2 operations of the Rock Slough fish screen facil3 ity. 

4 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LAND AND FACILITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, in consideration for the Dis9 trict assuming from the United States all liability for the 

10 administration, operation, maintenance, and replacement 

11 of the Contra Costa Canal, consistent with the terms and 

12 conditions set forth in the Contra Costa Canal Agreement 

13 and subject to valid existing rights and existing recreation 

14 agreements between the Bureau of Reclamation and the 

15 East Bay Regional Park District for Contra Loma Re16 gional Park and other local agencies within the Contra 

17 Costa Canal, the Secretary shall offer to convey and assign 

18 to the District— 

19 (1) all right, title, and interest of the United 

20 States in and to— 

21 (A) the Contra Costa Canal; and 

22 (B) the acquired land; and 

23 (2) all interests reserved and developed as of 

24 the date of enactment of this Act for the Contra 

25 Costa Canal in the acquired land, including existing 


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1 recreation agreements between the Bureau of Rec2 lamation and the East Bay Regional Park District 

3 for Contra Loma Regional Park and other local 

4 agencies within the Contra Costa Canal. 

5 (b) ROCK SLOUGH FISH SCREEN FACILITY.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall convey 

7 and assign to the District all right, title, and inter8 est of the United States in and to the Rock Slough 

9 fish screen facility pursuant to the Rock Slough fish 

10 screen facility title transfer agreement. 

11 (2) COOPERATION.—No later than 180 days 

12 after the conveyance of the Contra Costa Canal, the 

13 Secretary and the District shall enter into good faith 

14 negotiations to accomplish the conveyance and as15 signment under paragraph (1). 

16 (c) PAYMENT OF COSTS.—The District shall pay to 

17 the Secretary any administrative and real estate transfer 

18 costs incurred by the Secretary in carrying out the convey19 ances and assignments under subsections (a) and (b), in20 cluding the cost of any boundary survey, title search, ca21 dastral survey, appraisal, and other real estate transaction 

22 required for the conveyances and assignments. 

23 (d) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before carrying out the con25 veyances and assignments under subsections (a) and 


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1 (b), the Secretary shall comply with all applicable re2 quirements under— 

3 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

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

5 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

6 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

7 (C) any other law applicable to the Contra 

8 Costa Canal or the acquired land. 

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

10 alters any obligations under— 

11 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

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

13 (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

14 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

15 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING CENTRAL VALLEY 

16 PROJECT CONTRACTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act affects— 

18 (1) the application of the reclamation laws to 

19 water delivered to the District pursuant to any con20 tract with the Secretary; or 

21 (2) subject to subsection (b), the contracts. 

22 (b) AMENDMENTS TO CONTRACTS.—The Secretary 

23 and the District may modify the contracts as necessary 

24 to comply with this Act. 

25 (c) LIABILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the United States shall not be liable for 

3 damages arising out of any act, omission, or occur4 rence relating to the Contra Costa Canal or the ac5 quired land. 

6 (2) EXCEPTION.—The United States shall con7 tinue to be liable for damages caused by acts of neg8 ligence committed by the United States or by any 

9 employee or agent of the United States before the 

10 date of the conveyance and assignment under section 

11 3(a), consistent with chapter 171 of title 28, United 

12 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

13 Claims Act’’). 

14 (3) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this Act increases 

15 the liability of the United States beyond the liability 

16 provided under chapter 171 of title 28, United 

17 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort 

18 Claims Act’’). 

19 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

20 If the conveyance and assignment authorized by sec21 tion 3(a) is not completed by the date that is 1 year after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub23 mit to Congress a report that— 

24 (1) describes the status of the conveyance and 

25 assignment; 


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1 (2) describes any obstacles to completing the 

2 conveyance and assignment; and 

3 (3) specifies an anticipated date for completion 

4 of the conveyance and assignment. 

Æ 


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