An Act to authorize appropriations for continuation of construction of distribution systems and drains on the San Luis Unit, Central Valley project, California, to mandate the extension and review of the project by the Secretary, and for other purposes.
PL 95-46 (H.R.4390), enacted 06/15/1977

PUBLIC LAW 95-46—JUNE 15, 1977 
91 STAT. 225 
Public Law 95-46 
95th Congress 
An Act 
To authorize appropriations for continuation of construction of distribution 
systems and drains on the San Luis Unit, Central Valley project, California, 
to mandate the extension and review of the project by the Secretary, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That there is hereby 
authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 1978, and to be com-
mitted for expenditure by the Secretary notwithstanding any other 
provision of law or contract, the sum of $31,050,000 for continuation 
of construction of distribution systems and drains on the San Luis 
Unit, Central Valley Project, California. No funds shall be expended 
by the Secretary prior to his obtaining a pledge of the Board of 
Directors of the Westlands Water District, and any other affected 
districts, indicating their intention to repay costs associated with con-
struction authorized by this Act. 
SEC. 2. (a) The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to 
as the "Secretary") shall, within thirty days after enactment of this 
section, establish a task force to review the management, organization, 
and operations of the San Luis Unit to determine the extent to which 
they conform to the purposes and intent of the Act of June 3,1960 (74 
Stat. 156) and the Act of June 17,1902 (32 Stat. 388). The task force, 
in conducting its review, shall hold no fewer than three public hear-
ings, at least two of which shall be held within the State of California. 
Members of said task force shall include, among others, the Commis-
sioner of Reclamation, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land 
and Water, the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, the 
Comptroller General of the United States, or their representatives, 
members of the general public, representatives of the State of Cali-
fornia, and the Westlands W^ater District. The Secretary shall appoint 
a task force chairman who shall set the dates of hearings, meetings, 
workshops, and other official task force functions in carrying out the 
purposes of this Act. The Secretary is authorized and directed to 
finance from funds available to him the reasonable expenses of the 
task force created by this section. The task force shall dissolve on 
January 1, 1978. 
(b) The task force shall submit to the chairmen of the House Com-
mittee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and the Senate Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources, no later than January 1,1978, a report 
on the San Luis Unit, including— 
(1) a detailed accounting of funds expended for planning or 
construction of facilities utilized by landowners within the San 
Luis Unit, and the specific legislative authority for each feature 
of the project; 
(2) an analysis of the compatibility of the present design and 
plan of the San Luis Unit with the original feasibility report, 
environmental impact statement, and cost estimates; 
June 15, 1977 
[H.R. 4390] 
Central Valley 
project, San Luis 
Unit, Calif. 
Appropriation 
authorization. 
Pledge. 
Task force. 
Establishment. 
Public hearings. 
Membership. 
Chairman. 
Expenses. 
Termination date. 
Report to 
congressional 
committees. 
91 STAT. 226 
PUBLIC LAW 95-46—JUNE 15, 1977 
(3) an analysis of existing repayment obligations, including 
rates and types of repayment, the duration of repayments, and 
the desirability of maintaining present repayment timetables or 
of modifying them in order to ensure that an equitable burden of 
repayment falls on all project beneficiaries; 
(4) a review of the contractual commitments for water delivery 
to water districts of the unit, and the development of new methods 
for calculating and, on a periodic basis, recalculating, all future 
water service charges; 
^ 
(5) the fiscal and future environmental impacts of the com-
pletion, under current plans, of the San Luis interceptor drain 
north of Kesterson Reservoir, and recommendations as to the fea-
sibility of implementing alternative uses of waste, water such as 
reclamation for agricultural or industrial re-use; 
(6) a procedure to provide greater public awareness of and 
participation in the design and review of future water delivery 
contracts by all potentially affected parties by means of public 
notice and the opportunity for a public hearing; 
(7) the adequacy of present levels of authorization for com-
pleting the unit and recommendations for funding such 
completion, such as indexing of authorization or periodic 
•^•'^ 
reauthorization; 
(8) the record of enforcement of the requirements concerning 
the disposition of excess lands by persons receiving Federal water 
or major project benefits, and the residency requirement of the 
4^«;».';,?l •...!' ' 
j^ci of June 17,1902 (32 Stat. 388), to the extent required by law, 
and an evaluation of the success of the project in fostering family 
farms, including the adequacy of present legislation and depart-
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mental rules and regulations pertaining to these provisions; 
(9) the impact of the commitment of water from the Sacra-
mento-San Joaquin Delta in excess of that obligated in the existing 
long-term contract, for delivery to the unit under future contracts; 
(10) the fiscal and agricultural impacts of extending the project 
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PUBLIC LAW 95-46—JUNE 15, 1977 
91 STAT. 227 
SEC. 8. Neither the Secretary nor any of his representatives shall 
approve any amendatory or other contract modifying the current 
water service contract of June 5, 1963 (contract 
numbered 
14-06-200-495-A) or the current repayment contract of April 1,1965 
(contract numbered 14-06-200-2020-A), or any temporary contract 
extending more than one hundred and eighty days beyond Decem-
ber 31, 1977, prior to the completion of the report of the task force 
required in section 2 or January 1, 1978, whichever occurs first. No 
such contract shall be approved by the Secretary or his representative 
prior to its submission to the Congress for a period of not more than 
ninety day (which ninety days, however, shall not include days on 
which either the House of Representatives or the Senate is not in 
session because of an adjournment of more than three calendar days to 
a date certain). 
SEC. 4. Nothing in this Act shall affect any litigation initiated prior 
to the date of enactment. 
Approved June 15, 1977. 
Contracts, 
modifications. 
Submittal to 
Congress. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 95-233 (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORT No. 95-144 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 123 (1977): 
May 2, considered and passed House. 
May 24, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
May 26, House concurred in Senate amendments. 
WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 13, No. 
June 16, Presidential statement. 
25: