II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3832 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish criteria to transfer title 

to reclamation facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish criteria 

to transfer title to reclamation facilities, 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 ‘‘Reclamation Facility 

5 Title Transfer Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

9 means an Indian tribe, band, Nation, or other orgaVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:12 Aug 07, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3832.IS S3832

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1 nized group or community that is recognized as eli2 gible for the special programs and services provided 

3 by the United States to Indians because of their sta4 tus as Indians. 

5 (2) PROJECT BENEFICIARY.—The term 

6 ‘‘project beneficiary’’ means 1 or more contractors 

7 or other persons or entities that receive a direct ben8 efit under 1 or more of the authorized purposes for 

9 a reclamation facility. 

10 (3) RECLAMATION FACILITY.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘reclamation 

12 facility’’ means any single-purpose or multipur13 pose structure, reservoir, impoundment, ditch, 

14 canal, pumping station, or other facility for the 

15 storage, diversion, distribution, or conveyance of 

16 water— 

17 (i) that is— 

18 (I) authorized by Federal rec19 lamation law; and 

20 (II) constructed by the United 

21 States under that law; 

22 (ii) for which the United States holds 

23 title; and 


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1 (iii) for which any non-Federal con2 struction repayment obligations, as appli3 cable, have been fulfilled. 

4 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘reclamation 

5 facility’’ includes any land that is appurtenant 

6 to, and any administrative buildings associated 

7 with, a reclamation facility. 

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

9 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

10 Commissioner of Reclamation. 

11 (5) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’ 

12 means— 

13 (A) a project beneficiary; and 

14 (B) any person that— 

15 (i) receives an indirect benefit from a 

16 reclamation facility; or 

17 (ii) may be particularly affected by 

18 any transfer of title to a reclamation facil19 ity. 

20 SEC. 3. TITLE TRANSFER. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish 

23 criteria for the transfer of title to reclamation facilities 

24 from the United States to project beneficiaries or an entity 

25 approved by project beneficiaries. 


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1 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The criteria established under sub2 section (a) shall include— 

3 (1) criteria requiring that— 

4 (A) project beneficiaries (or an entity ap5 proved by the project beneficiaries) be willing to 

6 have title to a reclamation facility transferred 

7 to the project beneficiaries; 

8 (B) if the project beneficiaries have not yet 

9 assumed operations, maintenance, and rehabili10 tation of the applicable reclamation facility, the 

11 project beneficiaries be capable of assuming op12 erations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the 

13 reclamation facility; 

14 (C) if there are multiple project bene15 ficiaries, there is an agreement among multiple 

16 project beneficiaries relating to the transfer of 

17 title to a reclamation facility; and 

18 (D) project beneficiaries be willing to as19 sume any liability associated with the reclama20 tion facility for which title is proposed to be 

21 transferred; 

22 (2) criteria requiring an assessment by the Sec23 retary of— 

24 (A) any effects that the transfer of title 

25 would have on the ability of the Federal GovVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:12 Aug 07, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3832.IS S3832

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1 ernment to carry out the trust responsibility of 

2 the Federal Government with respect to any In3 dian tribe; 

4 (B) the cost savings to the United States 

5 if title to a reclamation facility is transferred; 

6 (C) the interest of the project beneficiaries 

7 in owning the reclamation facility; 

8 (D) any environmental considerations asso9 ciated with the transfer of title to a reclamation 

10 facility; 

11 (E) whether stakeholders will be adversely 

12 impacted by the transfer; 

13 (F) the ability of project beneficiaries to 

14 meet financial obligations associated with a rec15 lamation facility, including— 

16 (i) transactional costs; and 

17 (ii) costs associated with meeting the 

18 compliance requirements of the National 

19 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

20 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

21 (G) any legal considerations associated 

22 with the transfer of title to a reclamation facil23 ity, including any Federal, State, tribal, and 

24 local laws, international treaties, and interstate 

25 compacts that apply to the transfer of title of 


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1 a reclamation facility to project beneficiaries; 

2 and 

3 (H) the willingness and ability of project 

4 beneficiaries to fulfill any legal obligations asso5 ciated with receiving title to a reclamation facil6 ity, including compliance with any Federal, 

7 State, tribal, and local laws, international trea8 ties, and interstate compacts that apply to the 

9 transfer of title of a reclamation facility to 

10 project beneficiaries; 

11 (3) procedures for— 

12 (A) soliciting stakeholder involvement in 

13 the transfer of title to a reclamation facility; 

14 and 

15 (B) involving appropriate Federal, State, 

16 and local entities in evaluating and carrying out 

17 the transfer of title to a reclamation facility; 

18 (4) the requirement that the Secretary prepare 

19 a comprehensive list of any items that need to be ac20 complished before the transfer of title to a reclama21 tion facility; 

22 (5) procedures to allow the Secretary to address 

23 real property and cultural and historic preservation 

24 issues in a more efficient manner; and 


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1 (6) any other criteria that the Secretary deter2 mines to be appropriate. 

3 (c) USE OF EXISTING CRITERIA.—For purposes of 

4 establishing the criteria under subsection (a), the Sec5 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable and con6 sistent with this Act, incorporate any applicable criteria 

7 that are in existence on the date of enactment of this Act, 

8 including the criteria for the transfer of title to uncompli9 cated projects described in the Bureau of Reclamation 

10 document entitled ‘‘Framework for the Transfer of Title: 

11 Bureau of Reclamation Projects’’ and dated August 7, 

12 1995. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

14 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

16 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 

18 a report that includes any recommendations of the Sec19 retary with respect to which reclamation facilities may be 

20 appropriate for transfer in accordance with the criteria es21 tablished under section 3(a). 

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this Act $2,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2007 

25 through 2010. 


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1 SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

2 The authority of the Secretary to carry out this Act 

3 terminates on the date that is 5 years after the date of 

4 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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