A bill to grant the consent of the United States to the Arkansas River Basin compact, Arkansas-Oklahoma.
PL 93-152 (S.11), enacted 11/13/1973

87 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
i569 
Public Law 93-152 
A N A C T 
November 13, 1973 
To grant the consent of the United States to the Arkansas River Basin compact, 
*-^' ^^^ 
Arkansas-Oklahoma. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, Tliat the consent of 
Arkansas River 
Congress is hereby given to the Arkansas River Basin compact, Arkansa°s'^okial 
Arkansas-Oklahoma. 1970, as ratified by the States of Arkansas and noma, 1970. 
Oklahoma as follows: 
„?°r'^"* °' """"• 
,. . 
T- 
gress. 
"ARTICLE I 
"The major purposes of this C^ompact are: 
"A. To promote interstate comity between the States of Arkansas 
and Oklahoma; 
"B. To provide for an equitable apportionment of the waters of the 
Arkansas River between the States of Arkansas and Oklahoma and 
to promote the orderly development thereof; 
"C. To provide an agency for administering the water apportion-
ment agreed to herein; 
"D. To encourage the maintenance of an active pollution abatement 
program in each of the two States and to seek the further reduction 
of both natural and man-made pollution in the waters of the Arkansas 
River Basin; and 
"E. To facilitate the cooperation of the water administration agencies 
of the States of Arkansas and Oklahoma in the total development and 
management of the water resources of the Arkansas River Basin. 
"ARTICLE 
I I 
"As used in this Compact: 
definitions. 
"A. The term 'State' means either State signatory hereto and shall 
be construed to include any person or persons, entity or agency of 
either State who, by reason of official responsibility or by designation 
of the Governor of that State, is acting as an official representative of 
that State. 
"B. The term 'Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Com-
mission,' or the term 'Commission' means the agency created by this 
Compact for the administration thereof. 
"C. The term 'Arkansas River Basin' means all of the drainage 
basin of the Arkansas River and its tributaries from a point imme-
diately below the confluence of the Grand-Neosho River with the 
Arkansas River near Muskogee, Oklahoma, to a point immediately 
below the confluence of Lee Creek with the Arkansas River near Van 
Buren, Arkansas, together with the drainage basin of Spavinaw Creek 
in Arkansas, but excluding that portion of the drainage basin of the 
Canadian River above Euf aula Dam. 
"D. The term 'Spavinaw Creek Sub-basin' means the drainage area 
of Spavinaw Creek in the State of Arkansas. 
"E. The term 'Illinois River Sub-basin' means the drainage area 
of Illinois River in the State of Arkansas. 
"F. The term 'Lee Creek Sub-basin' means the drainage area of 
Lee Creek in the State of Arkansas and the State of Oklahoma. 
"G. The term 'Poteau River Sub-basin' means the drainage area of 
Poteau River in the State of Arkansas. 
"H. The term 'Arkansas River Sub-basin' means all areas of the 
Arkansas River Basin except the four sub-basins described above. 
"I. The term 'water-year' means a twelve-month period beginning 
on October 1, and ending September 30. 
570 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
[87 STAT. 
"J. The term 'aiinual yield' means the computed amiual gross nm-
otf from any specified sub-basin which would have passed any certain 
point on a stream and would have originated within any specified area 
under natural conditions, without any man-made depletion or accre-
tion during the water year. 
"K. The term 'pollution' means contamination or other alterations 
of the physical, chemical, biological or radiological properties of 
water or the discharge of any liquid, gaseous, or solid substances into 
any waters which creates, or is likely to result in a nuisance, or which 
renders or is likely to render the waters into which it is discharged 
hai-mful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety, or welfare, 
or which is hai-mful, detrimental or injurious to beneficial uses of the 
water. 
"ARTICLE 
I I I 
••A. T'he physical and other conditions peculiar to the Arkansas 
River l^asin constitute the basis of this Compact, and neither of the 
States hereby, nor the Congress of the United States by its consent 
hereto, concedes that this Compact established any general principle 
with respect to any other interstate stream. 
"B. By this Compact, neither State signatory hereto is relinquish-
ing any interest or right it may have with respect to any waters flowing 
between them which do not originate in the Arkansas River Basin as 
defined l)y this Compact. 
"ARTICLE 
IV 
"The States of Arkansas and Oklahoma hereby agree upon the 
following apportionment of the waters of the Arkansas River Basin; 
"A. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use 
the waters of the Spavinaw Creek Sub-basin subject to the limitation 
tliat the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than fifty percent 
(50%). 
"B. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use 
the waters of the Illinois River Sub-basin subject to the limitation 
that the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than sixty percent 
(60%). 
"C. The St^te of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use 
all waters ori^nating within the Lee Creek Sub-basin in the State of 
Arkansas, or the equivalent thereof. 
"D. The State of Oklahoma shall have the right to develop and 
use all watere originating within the Lee Creek Sub-basin in the State 
of Oklahoma, or the equivalent thereof. 
"E. The State of Arkansas shall have the right to develop and use 
the waters of the Poteau River Sub-basin subject to the limitation that 
the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than sixty percent 
(60%). 
"F. The State of Oklahoma shall have the right to develop and use 
the waters of the Arkansas River Sub-basin subject to the limitation 
that the annual yield shall not be depleted by more than sixty per-
cent (60%). 
87 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
571 
"ARTICLE V 
"A. On or before December 31 of each year, following tlie effective 
(late of this Compact, the Commission shall determine the stateline 
yields of the Arkansas Kiver Basin for the previous water year. 
"B. Any depletion of annual yield in excess of that allowed by the 
provisions of this Compact shall, subject to the control of the Com-
mission, be delivered to the downstream State, and said delivery shall 
consist of not less than sixty percent (60%) of the current runoff of 
the basin. 
''C. Methods for determining the annual yield of each of the sub-
basins shall be those developed and approved by the Commission. 
"ARTICLE 
VI 
"A. Each State may construct, own and operate for its needs water 
storage reservoirs in the other State: Provided^ lioivever^ That nothing 
contained in this Compact or its ratification by Arkansas or Oklahoma 
shall be interpreted as granting either State or the parties hereto the 
r'ight or power of eminent domain in any manner whatsoever outside 
the borders of its own State. 
"B. Depletion in annual yield of any sub-basin of the Arkansas 
River Basin caused by the operation of any water storage reservoir 
either heretofore or hereafter constructed by the United States or any 
of its agencies, instrumentalities or wards, or by a State, political sub-
division thereof, or any person or persons shall be charged against the 
State in which the yield therefrom is utilized. 
"C. Each State shall have the free and unrestricted right to utilize 
the natural channel of any stream within the Arkansas River Basin 
for conveyance through the other State of watei-s released from any 
water- storage reseivoir for an intended downstream point of diversion 
or use without loss of ownership of such waters: Provided^ 
however, 
That a reduction shall be made in the amount of water which can be 
withdrawn at point of removal, equal to the transmission losses. 
"ARTICLE V T I 
"The States of Arkansas and Oklahoma mutually agree to: 
"A. The principle of individual State effort to abate man-made 
pollution within each State's respective borders, and the continuing 
suppoit of both States in an active pollution abatement program; 
"B. The cooperation of the appropriate State agencies in the States 
of Arkansas and Oklahoma to investigate and abate sources of alleged 
interstate pollution within the Arkansas River Basin; 
"C. Enter into joint programs for the identification and control of 
sources of pollution of the waters of the Arkansas River and its 
tributaries which are of interstate significance; 
"D. The principle that neither State may require the other to pro-
\ide water for the purpose of water quality control as a substitute for 
adeqiiate waste treatment; 
"E. Utilize the provisions of all Federal and State water pollution 
hnvs and to recognize such water quality standards as may be now or 
hereafter established under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
^^ stat. sie. 
in the resolution of any pollution problems affecting the waters of no^te."^^ ^^^^ 
the Arkansas River Basin. 
f^ 
572 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
[87 STAT. 
Arkansas-Okla-
homa Arkansas 
River Compact 
Commission. 
Establishment. 
"ARTICLE V I I I 
"A. There is hereby created an interstate administrative agency to 
be known as the 'Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Com-
mission.' The Commission shall be composed of three Commissioners 
representing the State of Arkansas and three Commissioners repre-
senting the State of Oklahoma, selected as provided below; and, if 
designated by the President or an authorized Federal agency, one 
Commissioner representing the United States. The President, or the 
Federal agency authorized to make such appointments, is hereby 
requested to designate a Commissioner and aji alternate representing 
the United States. The Federal Commissioner, if one be designated, 
shall be the Chairman and presiding officer of the Commission, but 
shall not have the right to vote in any of the deliberations of the 
Commission. 
"B. One Arkansas Commissioner shall be the Director of the 
Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, or such other 
agency as may be hereafter responsible for administering water law 
in the State. The other two Commissioners shall reside in the Arkansas 
River drainage area in the State of Arkansas and shall be appointed 
by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
to four-year staggei'ed terms with the first two Commissioners being 
appointed simultaneously to terms of two (2) and four (4) years, 
res])ectively. 
"C. One Oklahoma Commissioner shall be the Director of the Okla-
homa Water Resources Board, or such other agency as may be hereafter 
responsible for administering water law in the State. The other two 
Commissioners shall reside within the Arkansas River drainage area 
in the State of Oklahoma and shall be appointed by the Governor, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to four-year staggered 
terms, with the first two Commissioners being appointed simultane-
ously to terms of two (2) and four (4) years, respectively. 
"D. A majority of the Commissioners of each State and the Com-
missioner or his alternate representing the United States, if they are 
so designated, must be present to constitute a quorum. In taking any 
(Commission action, each signatory State shall have a single vote repre-
senting the majority opinion of the Commissioners of that State. 
"E. In the case of a tie vote on any of the Commission's determina-
tions, order, or other actions, a majority of the Commissioners of 
either State may, upon written request to the Chairman, submit the 
question to arbitration. Arbitration shall not be compulsory, but on 
the event of arbitration, there shall be three arbitrators: 
"(1) One named by resolution duly adopted by the Arkansas 
Soil and Water Conservation Commission, or such other State 
agency as may be hereafter responsible for administering water 
law in the State of Arkansas; and 
"(2) One named by resolution duly adopted by the Oklahoma 
Water Resources Board, or such other State agency as may be 
Itereafter responsible for administering water law in the State of 
Oklahoma; and 
"(3) The third chosen by the two arbitrators who are selected 
as provided above. 
If the arbitrators fail to select a third within sixty (60) days following 
their selection, then he shall be chosen by the Chairman of the 
Commission. 
87 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
573 
"F. The salaiies and personal expenses of each Commissioner shall 
be paid by tlie Ciovernment which he represents. All other expenses 
which are incurred by the Commission incident to the administration 
of this Compact shall be borne equally by the two States and shall 
be paid by the Commission out of the 'Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas 
River Compact Fund,' initiated and maintained as provided in Article 
IX(B)(5) below. The States hereby mutually agree to appropriate 
sums sufficient to cover its share of the expenses incurred in the admin-
istration of this Compact, to be paid into said fund. Disbursements 
tshall be made from said fund in such manner as may be authorized 
by the Commission. Such funds shall not be subject to the audit and 
accounting procedures of the States; however, all receipts and dis-
bursements of funds handled by the Commission shall be audited by 
!i <iualified independent public accountant at regular intervals, and 
the rei)ort of such audit shall be included in and become a part of the 
uiinual report of the Commission, provided b;^ Article IX(B)(6) 
below. The Commission shall not pledge the credit of either State and 
shall not incur any obligations prior to the availability of funds ade-
((uate to meet the same. 
"ARTICLE 
I X 
"A. The Commission shall have the power to: 
"(1) Employ such engineering, legal, clerical and other per-
sonnel as in its judgment may be necessary for the performance 
of its functions under this Compact; 
"(2) Enter into contracts with appropriate State or Federal 
agencies for the collection, correlation, and presentation of factual 
data, for the maintenance of records and for the preparation of 
reports; 
"(3) Establish and maintain an office for the conduct of its 
affairs; 
"(4) Adopt and procure a seal for its official use; 
" (5) Adopt rules and regulations governing its operations. The 
proceduies employed foi- the administration of this Compact shall 
not be subject to any Administrative Procedures Act of either 
State, but shall be subject to the provisions hereof and to the rules 
and regulations of the Commission: Provided, however. All rules 
and regulations of the Commission shall be filed with the Secre-
tary of State of the signatory States. 
"(6) Cooperate with Federal and State agencies and political 
subdivisions of the signatory States in developing principles, con-
sistent with the provisions of this Compact and with Federal and 
State policy, for the storage and release of water from reservoirs, 
both existing and future within the Arkansas River Basin, for the 
purpose of assuring their operation in the best interests of the 
States and the United States; 
'' (7) Hold hearings and compel the attendance of witnesses for 
the purpose of taking testimony and receiving other appropriate 
and proper evidence and issuing such appropriate orders as it 
deems necessary for the proper administration of this Compact, 
which orders shall be enforceable upon the request by the Commis-
sion or any other interested partj in any court of competent juris-
diction within the county wherein the subject matter to which the 
order relates is in existence, subject to the right of review through 
the appellate courts of the State of situs. Any hearing held for 
the promulgation and issuance of orders shall be in the county and 
State of the subject matter of said hearing; 
574 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
[87 STAT. 
"(8) Make and file official certified copies of any of its findings, 
recommendations or reports with such officers or agencies of either 
State, or the United States as may have any interest in or juris-
diction over the subject matter. Findings of fact made by the 
Commission shall be admissible in evidence and shall constitute 
prima facie evidence of such fact in any court or before any 
agency of competent jurisdiction. The making of findings, recom-
mendations, or reports by the Commission shall not be a condition 
precedent to instituting or maintaining any action or proceeding 
of any kind by a signatory State in any court, or before any 
tribunal agency or officer, for the protection of any right under 
this Compact or for the enforcement of any of its provisions; 
"(9) Secure from the head of any department or agency of the 
Federal or State government such information, suggestions, esti-
mates and statistics as it may need or believe to be useful for 
carrying out its functions and as may be available to or pro-
curable by the department or agency to which the request is 
addressed; 
"(10) Print or otherwise reproduce and distribute all of its 
proceedings and reports; and 
"(11) Accept, for the purposes of this Compact, any and all 
private donations and gifts and Federal grants of money. 
"B. The Commission shall: 
"(1) Cause to be established, maintained and operated such 
stream, reservoir or other gaging stations as may be necessary 
for the proper administration of this Compact; 
"(2) Collect, analyze and report on data as to stream flows, 
water quality, annual yields and such other information as is 
necessary for the proper administration of this Compact; 
"(3) Continue research for developing methods of determining 
total basin yields; 
" (4) Perform all other functions required of it by the Compact 
and do all things necessary, proper or convenient in the perform-
ance of its duties thereunder; 
"(5) Establish and maintain the'Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkan-
sas Kiver Compact Fund,' consisting of any and all funds received 
by the Commission under the authority of this Compact and 
deposited in one or more banks qualifying for the deposit of 
public funds of the signatory States; 
"(6) Prepare and submit an annual report to the Governor 
of each signatory State and to the President of the United States 
covering the activities of the Commission for the preceding fiscal 
year, together with an accounting of all funds received and 
expended by it in the conduct of its work; 
" (7) Prepare and submit to the Governor of each of the States 
of Arkansas and Oklahoma an annual budget covering the antici-
pated expenses of the Commission for the following fiscal year; 
and 
"(8) Make available to the Governor or any State agency of 
either State or to any authorized representative of the United 
States, upon request, any information within its possession. 
Report. 
87 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973 
575 
"ARTICLE 
X 
"A. The provisions hereof shall remain in full force and effect 
i;ntil changed or amended by unanimous action of the States acting 
through their Commissioners and until such changes are ratified by 
the legislatures of the respective States and consented to by the Con-
gress of the United States in the same manner as this Compact is 
required to be ratified to become effective. 
' B. This Compact may be terminated at any time by the appro-
priate action of the legislature of both signatory States. 
•'C. In the event of amendment or termination of the Compact, all 
rights established under the Compact shall continue unimj^aired. 
"ARTICLE 
X I 
•"Xothing in this Compact shall be deemed: 
"A. To impair or affect the powers, rights or obligations of the 
United States, or those claiming under its authority in, over, and to 
the waters of the Arkansas River Basin; 
"B. To interfere with or impair the right or power of either sig-
natory State to regulate within its boundaries of appropriation, use 
and control of waters within that State not inconsistent with its 
obligations under this Compact. 
"ARTICLE 
X I I 
"If any part or application of this Compact should be declared 
invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, all other provisions and 
application of this Compact shall remain in full force and effect. 
"ARTICLE X I I I 
"A. This Compact shall become binding and obligatory when it 
shall have been ratified by the legislature of each State and consented 
to by the Congress of the United States, and when the Congressional 
Act consenting to this Compact includes the consent of Congress to 
name and join the L^nited States as a party in any litigation in the 
I'nited States Supreme Court, if the United States is an indispensable 
party, and if the litigation arises out of this Compact or its applica-
tion, and if a signatory State is a party thereto. 
"B. The States of Arkansas and Oklahoma mutually agree and 
consent to be sued in the United States District Court under the pro-
visions of Public LaAv 87-830 as enacted October 15, 1962, or as may 
76 stat. 957. 
, 
,1 
«, 
J 
1 
' 
' 
" ^ 3 3 use 466g-l 
he thereafter amended. 
and note. 
"C. Notice of ratification by the legislature of each State shall be 
given by the Governor of that State to the Governor of the other 
State, and to the President of the United States, and the President is 
liereby i-equested to give notice to the Governor of each State of con-
sent by the Congress of the United States. 
" I N 
WITNESS 
WHEREOF, the authorized representatives have 
executed three counterparts hereof such of which shall be and consti-
tute an original, one of which will be deposited with the Administrator 
of General Seivices of the I'nited States, and one of which shall be 
forwarded to the Governor of each State. 
576 
PUBLIC LAW 93-153-NOV. 16, 1973 
[87 STAT. 
"Done at the City of Little Kock, State of Arkansas, this 16th dav 
of March A.D., 1070. 
''FOR OKLAHOMA: 
"GLADE R . KIRKPATRICK, 
"Committee Member. 
"MILTON CRAIG, 
"Committee Member. 
Representative, United States of 
"FOR ARKANSAS: 
"S. KEITH JACKSON, 
"Committee Member. 
" J O H N LUCE, 
"Committee Member. 
"Approved: TRIGG 
TWICHELL, 
America. 
"Attest: WiLLARD B. MILLS, Secretary." 
SEC. 2. In order to carry out the purposes of this Act, and the pur-
poses of ai-ticle X I I I of this compact consented to by Congress by this 
Act, the congressional consent to this compact includes and expressly 
gives the consent of Congress to have the United States of America 
named and joined as a party litigant in any litigation in the United 
States Supreme Court, if the United States of America is an indispens-
able party to such litigation, and if the litigation arises out of this 
compact, or its application, and if a signatory State to this compact is 
a party litigant, in the litigation. 
SEC. 3. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act, is expressly 
reserved. 
Approved November 13, 1973. 
November 16, 1973 
[S.1081] 
Public Law 93-153 
AN ACT 
To amend section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, and to authorize a 
trans-Alaska oil pipeline, and for other purposes. 
Ac 
amendments and 
trans-Alaska oil 
pipeline authori-
zation. 
67 Stat. 557. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
Mineral Leasing iT^Ued Stotes of AmeHca in Congress assembled^ 
ct of 1920, 
•' 
^ 
' 
TITLE I 
SECTION 101. Section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (41 
Stat. 449), as amended (30 U.S.C. 185), is further amended to read 
as follows: 
"Grant of Authority 
"SEC. 28. (a) Rights-of-way through any Federal lands may be 
granted hj the Secretary of the Interior or appropriate agency head 
for pipeline purposes for the transportation of oil, natural gas, 
synthetic liquid or gaseous fuels, or any refined product produced 
therefrom to any applicant possessing the qualifications provided in 
7/star'79o^°' 
section 1 of this Act, as amended, in accordance with the provisions 
30 use 181. 
of this section.