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Union Calendar No. 252 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 523 

[Report No. 110–398] 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public land located 

wholly or partially within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric 

Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, 

to the utility district. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

OCTOBER 22, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 17, 2007] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 

public land located wholly or partially within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility 

District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the 

utility district. 

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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 ‘‘Douglas County, Wash5 ington, PUD Conveyance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

9 means the approximately 622 acres of Federal land 

10 managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 

11 identified for conveyance on the map prepared by the 

12 Bureau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Douglas 

13 County Public Utility District Proposal’’ and dated 

14 March 2, 2006. 

15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the Interior. 

17 (3) PUD.—The term ‘‘PUD’’ means the Public 

18 Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Wash19 ington. 

20 (4) WELLS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT.—The 

21 term ‘‘Wells Hydroelectric Project’’ means Federal 

22 Energy Regulatory Commission Project No. 2149. 

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1 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC LAND, WELLS HYDRO2 ELECTRIC PROJECT, PUBLIC UTILITY DIS3 TRICT NO. 1 OF DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASH4 INGTON. 

5 (a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding the 

6 land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 of 

7 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

8 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), and notwithstanding section 24 of the 

9 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 818) and Federal Power 

10 Order for Project 2149, and subject to valid existing rights, 

11 if not later than 45 days after the date of completion of 

12 the appraisal required under subsection (b), the Public Util13 ity District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, submits 

14 to the Secretary of the Interior an offer to acquire the public 

15 land for the appraised value, the Secretary shall convey, 

16 not later than 30 days after the date of the offer, to the 

17 PUD all right, title, and interest of the United States in 

18 and to the public land. 

19 (b) APPRAISAL.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete an 

21 appraisal of the public land. The appraisal shall be con22 ducted in accordance with the ‘‘Uniform Appraisal Stand23 ards for Federal Land Acquisitions’’ and the ‘‘Uniform 

24 Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice’’. 

25 (c) PAYMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

26 on which the public land is conveyed under this section, 

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1 the PUD shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to 

2 the appraised value of the public land as determined under 

3 subsection (b). 

4 (d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as 

5 practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary shall finalize legal descriptions of the public land 

7 to be conveyed under this section. The Secretary may correct 

8 any minor errors in the map referred to in section 2 or 

9 in the legal descriptions. The map and legal descriptions 

10 shall be on file and available for public inspection in appro11 priate offices of the Bureau of Land Management. 

12 (e) COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of convey13 ance, any costs related to the conveyance under this section 

14 shall be paid by the PUD. 

15 (f) DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.—The Secretary shall 

16 deposit the proceeds from the sale in the Federal Land Dis17 posal Account established by section 206 of the Federal 

18 Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 U.S.C. 2305) to be 

19 expended to improve access to public lands administered by 

20 the Bureau of Land Management in the State of Wash21 ington. 

22 SEC. 4. SEGREGATION OF LANDS. 

23 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in section 

24 3(a), effective immediately upon enactment of this Act, and 

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1 subject to valid existing rights, the public land is with2 drawn from— 

3 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 

4 under the public land laws, and all amendments 

5 thereto; 

6 (2) location, entry, and patenting under the 

7 mining laws, and all amendments thereto; and 

8 (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 

9 materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all 

10 amendments thereto. 

11 (b) DURATION.—This section expires two years after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act or on the date of the com13 pletion of the conveyance under section 3, whichever is ear14 lier. 

15 SEC. 5. RETAINED AUTHORITY. 

16 The Secretary shall retain the authority to place condi17 tions on the license to insure adequate protection and utili18 zation of the public land granted to the Secretary in section 

19 4(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 797(e)) until the 

20 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a new 

21 license for the Wells Hydroelectric Project, to replace the 

22 original license expiring May 31, 2012, consistent with sec23 tion 15 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 808). 

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Union Calendar No. 252 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 523 

[Report No. 110

–398] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to convey 

las County, Washington, to the utility district. Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Dougwithin the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric certain public land located wholly or partially 

OCTOBER 22, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

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