Colorado River Floodway Protection Act
PL 99-450 (H.R.1246), enacted 10/08/1986

PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
100 STAT. 1129 
Public Law 99-450 
99th Congress 
An Act 
To establish a federally declared Floodway for the Colorado River below Davis Dam. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SHORT TITLE 
Oct. 8, 1986 
[H.R. 1246] 
Colorado River 
Floodway 
Protection Act. 
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Colorado River Floodway 43 use 1600 
Protection Act". 
note. 
FINDINGS AND PURPOSES 
SEC. 2. (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— 
43 use leoo. 
(1) there are multiple purposes established by law for the 
dams and other control structures administered by the Sec-
retary of the Interior on the Colorado River; 
(2) the maintenance of the Colorado River Floodway estab-
lished in this Act is essential to accomplish these multiple 
. ..*• 
purposes; 
(3) developments within the Floodway are and will continue 
to be vulnerable to damaging flows such as the property damage 
which occurred in 1983 and may occur in the future; 
(4) certain Federal programs which subsidize or permit devel-
opment within the Floodway threaten human life, health, prop-
erty, and natural resources; and 
(5) there is a need for coordinated Federal, State, and local 
action to limit Floodway development. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The Congress declares that the purposes of this Act 
are to— 
' 
''"''' '" 
(1) establish the Colorado River Floodway, as designated and 
described further in this Act, so as to provide benefits to river 
users and to minimize the loss of human life, protect health and 
safety, and minimize damage to property and natural resources 
by restricting future Federal expenditures and financial assist-
ance, except public health funds, which have the effect of 
encouraging development within the Colorado River Floodway; 
and 
(2) establish a task force to advise the Secretary of the In-
terior and the Congress on establishment of the Floodway and 
on managing existing and future development within the 
Floodway, including the appropriateness of compensation in 
specified cases of extraordinary hardship. 
DEFINITIONS 
SEC. 3. (a) The term "Committees" refers to the Committee on 43 use leooa. 
Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works 
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United 
States Senate. 
100 STAT. 1130 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
(b) The term "financial assistance" means any form of loan, grant, 
guaranty, insurance, payment, rebate, subsidy, or any other form of 
direct or indirect Federal assistance other than— 
(1) general revenue-sharing grants made under section 102 of 
the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Amendments of 1972 (31 
U.S.C. 1221); 
(2) deposit or account insurance for customers of banks, sav-
ings and loan associations, credit unions, or similar institutions; 
(3) the purchase of mortgages or loans by the Government 
National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage 
Association, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; 
(4) assistance for environmental studies, plans, and assess-
ments that are required incident to the issuance of permits or 
other authorizations under Federal law; and 
(5) assistance pursuant to programs entirely unrelated to 
development, such as any Federal or federally assisted public 
assistance program or any Federal old-age, survivors, or disabil-
ity insurance program. 
Such term also includes flood insurance described in sections 1322 
(a) and (b) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, Public Law 
Post, p. 1135. 
90-448, title XIII (82 Stat. 572) as amended, on and after the dates on 
which the provisions of those sections become effective. 
(c) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior. 
(d) The term "water district" means any public agency providing 
water service, including water districts, county water districts, 
public utility districts, and irrigation districts. 
(e) The term "Floodway" means the Colorado River Floodway 
established in section 5 of this Act. 
COLORADO RIVER FLOODWAY TASK FORCE 
43 use 1600b. 
SEC. 4. (a) To advise the Secretary and the Congress there shall be 
a Colorado River Floodway Task Force, which shall include one 
representative o
f
— 
(1) each State (appointed by the Governor) and Indian reserva-
tion in which the Floodway is located; 
(2) each county in which the Floodway is located; 
(3) a law enforcement agency from each county in which the 
Floodway is located; 
(4) each water district in which the Floodway is located; 
(5) the cities of Needles, Parker, Blythe, Bullhead City, Yuma, 
Laughlin, Lake Havasu City, Nevada (if and when incor-
porated), and Mojave County, Arizona Supervisor District No. 2 
(chosen by, but not a member of the Board of Supervisors); 
(6) the Chamber of Commerce from each county in which 
the Floodway is located; 
(7) the Colorado River Wildlife Council; 
(8) the Army Corps of Engineers; 
(9) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); 
(10) the Department of Agriculture; 
(11) the Department of the Interior; and 
(12) the Department of State. 
03) The task force shall be chartered and operate under the 
provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law 
92-463; 5 U.S.C. App. I) and shall prepare recommendations 
concerning the Colorado River Floodway, which recommendations 
shall deal with: 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
100 STAT. 1131 
State and local 
governments. 
Indians. 
(1) the means to restore and maintain the Floodway specified 
in section 5 of this Act, including, but not limited to, specific 
instances where land transfers or relocations, or other changes 
in land management, might best effect the purposes of this Act; 
(2) the necessity for additional Floodway management legisla-
tion at local, tribal. State, and Federal levels; 
(3) the development of specific design criteria for the creation 
of the Floodway boundaries; 
(4) the 
review 
of mapping 
procedures 
for 
Floodway 
boundaries; 
(5) whether compensation should be recommended in specific 
cases of economic hardship resulting from impacts of the 1983 
flood on property outside the Floodway which could not reason-
ably have been foreseen; and 
(6) the potential application of the Floodway on Indian lands Indians. 
and recommended legislation or regulations that might be 
needed to achieve the purposes of the Floodway taking into 
consideration the special Federal status of Indian lands. 
(c) The task force shall exist for at least one year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, or until such time as the Secretary has filed 
with the Committees the maps described in subsection 5(b)(2). The Reports. 
task force shall file its report with the Secretary and the Commit-
tees within nine months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
COLORADO RIVER FLOODWAY 
SEC. 5. (a) There is established the Colorado River Floodway as 43 use I600c. 
identified and generally depicted on maps that are to be submitted 
by the Secretary. 
(bXl) Within eighteen months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the seven Colorado River 
Basin States, represented by persons designated by the Governors of 
those States, the Colorado River Floodway Task Force, and any 
other interested parties shgill: 
(i) complete a study of the tributary floodflows downstream of Davis Dam. 
Davis Dam; 
(ii) define the specific boundaries of the Colorado River 
Floodway so that the Floodway can accommodate either a one-
in-one hundred year river flow consisting of controlled releases 
and tributary inflow, or a flow of forty thousand cubic feet per 
second (cfs), whichever is greater, from below Davis Dam to the 
Southerly International Boundary between the United States of 
America and the Republic of Mexico. 
(2) As soon as practicable after the determination of the Floodway 
boundary pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary shall prepare 
and file with the Committees maps depicting the Colorado River 
Floodway, and each such map shall be considered a standard map to 
be adhered to by all agencies and shall have the same force and 
effect as if included in this Act, except that correction of clerical and 
typographical errors in each such map may be made. Each such map 
shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Office of 
the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the 
Interior, and in other appropriate offices of the Department. 
(3) The Secretary shall provide copies of the Colorado River 
State and local 
Floodway maps to (A) the chief executive officer of each State, governments. 
county, municipality, water district, Indian tribe, or equivalent 
Banks and 
jurisdiction in which the Floodway is located, (B) each appropriate banking. 
100 STAT. 1132 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
State and local 
governments. 
Indians. 
Federal agency, including agencies which regulate Federal financial 
institutions, and (C) each federally insured financial institution 
which serves the geographic area as one of its primary markets. 
(c)(1) The Secretary shall conduct, at least once every five years, a 
review of the Colorado River Floodway and make, after notice to and 
in consultation with the appropriate officers referred to in para-
graph (3) of subsection (b), and others, such minor and technical 
modifications to the boundaries of the Floodway as are necessary 
solely to reflect changes that have occurred in the size or location of 
any portion of the floodplain as a result of natural forces, and as 
necessary pursuant to subsection (c) of section (7) of this Act. 
(2) If, in the case of any minor and technical modification to the 
boundaries of the Floodway made under the authority of this subsec-
tion, an appropriate chief executive officer of a State, county, 
municipality, water district, Indian tribe, or equivalent jurisdiction, 
to which notice was given in accordance with this subsection files 
comments disagreeing with all or part of the modification and the 
Secretary makes a modification which is in conflict with such 
comments, the Secretary shall submit to the chief executive officer a 
written justification for his failure to make modifications consistent 
with such comments or proposals. 
LIMITATIONS ON FEDERAL EXPENDITURES AFFECTING THE FLOODWAY 
43 use 1600d. 
SEC. 6. (a) Except as provided in section 7, no new expenditures or 
new financial assistance may be made available under authority of 
any Federal law for any purpose within the Floodway established 
under section 5 of this Act. 
(b) An expenditure or financial assistance made available under 
authority of Federal law shall, for purposes of this Act, be a new 
expenditure or new financial assistance i
f
— 
(1) in any case with respect to which specific appropriations 
are required, no money for construction or purchase purposes 
was appropriated before the date of the enactment of this Act; 
or 
(2) no legally binding commitment for the expenditure or 
financial assistance was made before such date of enactment. 
Grants. 
Loans. 
43 u s e 1600e. 
EXCEPTIONS 
SEC. 7. Notwithstanding section 6, the appropriate Federal officer, 
after consultation with the Secretary, may make Federal expendi-
tures or financial assistance available within the Colorado River 
Floodway for— 
(a) any dam, channel or levee construction, operation or 
maintenance for the purpose of flood control, water conserva-
tion, power or water quality; 
(b) other remedial or corrective actions, including but not 
limited to drainage facilities essential to assist in controlling 
adjacent high ground water conditions caused by flood flows; 
(c) the maintenance, replacement, reconstruction, repair, and 
expansion, of publicly or tribally owned or operated roads, 
structures (including bridges), or facilities: Provided, That, no 
such expansion shall be permitted unless— 
(1) the expansion is designed and built in accordance with 
the procedures and standards established in section 650.101 
of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, and the following as 
they may be amended from time to time; and 
(2) the boundaries of the Floodway are adjusted to ac-
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
100 STAT. 1133 
count for changes in flows caused, directly or indirectly, by 
the expansion; 
(d) military activities essential to national security; 
(e) any of the following actions or projects, but only if the 
Secretary finds that the making available of expenditures or 
assistance therefor is consistent with the purposes of this Act: 
(1) projects for the study, management, protection and 
enhancement of fish and wildlife resources and habitats, 
including, but not limited to, acquisition of fish and wildlife 
habitats and related lands, stabilization projects for fish 
and wildlife habitats, and recreational projects; 
(2) the establishment, operation, and maintenance of air 
and water navigation aids and devices, and for access 
thereto; 
(3) projects eligible for funding under the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601-4 through 
11); 
(4) scientific research, including but not limited to aero-
nautical, atmospheric, space, geologic, marine, fish and 
wildlife and other research, development, and applications; 
(5) assistance for emergency actions essential to the 
saving of lives and the protection of property and the public 
health and safety, if such actions are performed pursuant to 
sections 305 and 306 of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5145 and 5146) and are limited to actions that are 
necessary to alleviate the emergency. Disaster assistance 
under other provisions of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 
(Public Law 93-288, as amended) may also be provided with 42 use 5121 
respect to persons residing within the Floodway, or struc- "°*®-
tures or public infrastructure in existence or substantially 
under construction therein, on the date ninety days after 
the date of enactment of this Act: Provided, That, such 
persons, or with respect to public infrastructure the State 
or local political entity which owns or controls such infra-
structure, had purchased flood insurance for structures or 
infrastructure under the National Flood Insurance Pro-
gram, if eligible, and had taken prudent and reasonable 
steps, as determined by the Director of the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency, to minimize damage from 
future floods or operations of the Floodway established in 
the Act; 
"'' 
(6) other assistance for public health purposes, such as 
mosquito abatement programs; 
(7) nonstructural projects for riverbank stabilization that 
are designed to enhance or restore natural stabilization 
systems; 
(8) publicly or tribally financed, owned and operated 
compatible recreational developments such as regional 
^ 
' 
parks, golf courses, docks, boat launching ramps (including 
steamboat and ferry landings), including compatible recre-
ation uses and accompanying utility or 
interpretive 
improvements which are essential or closely related to the 
purpose of restoring the accuracy of a National Historical 
Landmark and which meet best engineering practices 
considering the nature of Floodway conditions; and 
(9) compatible agricultural uses that do not involve 
permanent crops and include only a minimal amount of 
permanent facilities in the Floodway. 
100 STAT. 1134 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE 
43 use I600f. 
SEC. 8. The Secretary of the Interior shall, on behalf of each 
Federal agency concerned, make written certification that each 
agency has complied with the provisions of this Act during 
each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1985. Such certifi-
cation shall be submitted on an annual basis to the United States 
House of Representatives and the United States Senate on or 
before January 15 of each fiscal year. 
State and local 
governments. 
Indians. 
43 u s e 1600g. 
43 u s e 1600h. 
Indians. 
43 u s e 1600i. 
PRIORITY OF LAWS 
SEC. 9. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to alter, 
amend, repeal, modify, interpret, or be in conflict with the provi-
sions of the Colorado River Compact (45 Stat. 1057), the Upper 
Colorado River Basin Compact (63 Stat. 31), the Water Treaty of 
1944 with the United Mexican States (Treaty Series 944, 59 Stat. 
1219), the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 887), the decree entered 
by the Supreme Court of the United States in Arizona v. California, 
and others (376 U.S. 340), the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 
1057), the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act (54 Stat. 774; 43 
U.S.C. 618a), the Colorado River Storage Project Act (70 Stat. 105; 43 
U.S.C. 620), the Colorado River Basin Project Act (82 Stat. 885; 
43 U.S.C. 1501). Furthermore, nothing contained in this Act shall be 
construed as indicating an intent on the part of the Congress to 
change the existing relationship of other Federal laws to the law of 
a State, or a political subdivision of a State, or to relieve any person 
of any obligation imposed by any law of any State, tribe, or political 
subdivision of a State. No provision of this Act shall be construed to 
invalidate any provision of State, tribal, or local law unless there is 
a direct conflict between such provision and the law of the State, or 
political subdivision of the State or tribe, so that the two cannot be 
reconciled or consistently stand together. Inconsistencies shall be 
reviewed by the task force, and the task force shall make rec-
ommendations concerning such local laws. This Act shall in no way 
be interpreted to interfere with a State's or tribe's right to protect, 
rehabilitate, preserve, and restore lands within its established 
boundary. 
SEPARABILITY 
SEC. 10. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to 
any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the 
Act and the application of such provision to other persons not 
similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected 
thereby. 
REPORTS TO CONGRESS 
SEC. 11. Within one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Committees a 
report regarding the Colorado River Floodway, the task force's 
report, and the Secretary's recommendations with respect to the 
objectives outlined in section 4(b) of this Act. In making his report, 
the Secretary shall analyze the effects of this Act on the economic 
development of the Indian tribes whose lands are located within the 
Floodway. 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
100 STAT. 1135 
AMENDMENTS REGARDING FLOOD INSURANCE 
SEC. 12. (a) The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, Public Law 
90-448, title XIII (82 Stat. 572), as amended, is amended by adding 
the following section: 
"SEC. 1322. (a) Owners of existing National Flood Insurance Act 
policies with respect to structures located within the Floodway 
established under section 5 of the Colorado River Floodway Protec-
tion Act shall have the right to renew and transfer such policies. 
Owners of existing structures located within said Floodway on the 
date of enactment of the Colorado River Floodway Protection Act 
who have not acquired National Flood Insurance Act policies shall 
have the right to acquire policies with respect to such structures for 
six months after the Secretary of the Interior files the Floodway 
maps required by section 50t))(2) of the Colorado River Floodway 
Protection Act and to renew and transfer such policies. 
"(b) No new flood insurance coverage may be provided under this 
title on or after a date six months after the enactment of the 
Colorado River Floodway Protection Act for any new construction or 
substantial improvements of structures located within the Colorado 
River Floodway established by section 5 of the Colorado River 
Floodway Protection Act. New construction includes all structures 
that are not insurable prior to that date. 
"(c) The Secretary of the Interior may by rule after notice and 
comment pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553 establish temporary Floodway 
boundaries to be in effect until the maps required by section 5(bX2) 
of the Colorado River Floodway Protection Act are filed, for the 
purpose of enforcing subsections (b) and (d) of this section. 
"(d) A federally supervised, approved, regulated or insured finan-
cial institution may make loans secured by structures which are not 
eligible for flood insurance by reason of this section: Provided, That 
prior to making such a loan, such institution determines that the 
loans or structures securing the loan are within the Floodway.". 
42 u s e 4029. 
42 u s e 4001 
note. 
Banks and 
banking. 
Loans. 
FEDERAL LEASES 
SEC. 13. (a) No lease of lands owned in whole or in part by the Public lands. 
United States and within the Colorado River Floodway shall be 43 use leooj. 
granted after the date of enactment of this Act unless the Secretary 
determines that such lease would be consistent with the operation 
and maintenance of the Colorado River Floodway. 
(b) No existing lease of lands owned in whole or in part by the 
United States and within the Colorado River Floodway shall be 
extended beyond the date of enactment of this Act or the stated 
expiration date of its current term, whichever is later, unless the 
lessee agrees to take reeisonable and prudent steps determined to be 
necessary by the Secretary to minimize the inconsistency of oper-
ation under such le£ise with the operation and maintenance of the 
Colorado River Floodway. 
(c) No lease of lands owned in whole or part by the United States 
between Hoover Dam and Davis Dam below elevation 655.0 feet on 
Lake Mohave shall be granted unless the Secretary determines that 
such lease would be consistent with the operation of Lake Mohave. 
(d) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not Indians. 
apply to leeise operations on Indian lands pursuant to a lease 
providing for activities which are exempted under section 7 of this 
Act. 
100 STAT. 1136 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
Public lands. 
Indians. 
Insurance. 
Securities. 
(e) Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to lands 
held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe 
or individual with respect to any lease where capital improvements, 
and operation and maintenance costs are not provided for by Fed-
eral financial assistance if the lessee, tribe, or individual has pro-
vided insurance or other security for the benefit of the Secretary 
sufficient to insure against all reasonably forseeable, direct, and 
consequential damages to the property of the tribe, private persons, 
and the United States, which may result from the proposed lease. 
43 use 
1600k. 
Public lands. 
42 use 4001 
note. 
Ante, p. 1135. 
NOTICES AND EXISTING LAWS 
SEC. 14. (a)(1) Nothing in this Act shall alter or affect in any way 
the provisions of section 702c of title 33, United States Code. 
(2) The Secretary shall provide notice of the provisions of section 
702c of title 33, United States Code, and this Act to all existing and 
prospective lessees of lands leased by the United States and within 
the Colorado River Floodway. 
(b) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, all provi-
sions of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended, and 
requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program ("NFIP") 
shall continue in full force and effect within areas wholly or par-
tially within the Colorado River Floodway. Any maps or other 
information required to be prepared by this Act shall be used to the 
maximum extent practicable to support implementation of the 
NFIP. 
(c) The Secretary shall publish notice on three successive occa-
sions in newspapers of general circulation in communities affected 
by the provisions of section 1322 of Public Law 90-448 (82 Stat. 572), 
as amended by this Act. 
Contracts. 
Indians. 
43 use 1600/. 
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 
SEC. 15. There is authorized to be appropriated to the Department 
of the Interior $600,000, through the end of fiscal year 1990, in 
addition to any other funds now available to the Department to 
discharge its duties to implement sections 4 through 14 of this Act: 
Provided, That by mutual agreement, such funds shall be made 
fkf^nit^ 
r>^.,';i.,i 
-,!« Vrt . i l l 
^
M
5 
PUBLIC LAW 99-450—OCT. 8, 1986 
100 STAT. 1137 
available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to dis-
charge its duties under section 12 of this Act: Provided further, That 
the provisions of sections 6 and 7 of this Act shall not be affected by 
this section: And provided further, in addition, Indian tribes may be 
eligible under Public Law 93-638 to contract for studies of Indian 25 USC 450 note, 
lands required under the provisions of this Act. 
Approved October 8, 1986. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 1246 (S. 1696): 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 99-261 (Comm. on Interior and Insular Affairs). 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 99-410 accompanying S. 1696 (Comm. on Environment and 
Public Works). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 131 (1985): Sept. 24, considered and passed House. 
^ Vol. 132 (1986): Sept. 15, considered and passed Senate, amended, in lieu of 
S. 1696. 
Sept. 23, House concurred in Senate amendment.