An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain the Ventura River reclamation project, California.
PL 84-423 (S.926), enacted 02/27/1956

32 
PUBLIC LAW 423--MAR. 1, 1966 
[70 ST A T . 
67 Stat. 5. 
68 Stat. 402. 
Effective date. 
SEC. 2. (a) Clause (1) of section 2 of such Act of June 23, 1949, as 
amended (2 U. S. C , sec. 46g), is amended by striking out "1,800" both 
times it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof "3,000". 
(b) The eighth paragraph under the subheading "Contingent Ex-
penses of the House" under the heading "House of Kepresentatives" 
m the Legislative Appropriation Act, 1955, is amended by striking out 
": Provided^ That effective July 1, 1954, the number of minutes of 
official long-distance telephone calls allowed each Member shall not 
exceed 2,700 per annum". 
(c) Clause (2) of section 2 of such Act of June 23,1949, is amended 
to read as follows: 
"(2) charges on strictly official telegrams, cablegrams, and 
radiograms sent by or on behalf of the Member aggregating 
during the year not more than 20,000 words of which not more 
than 2,000 may be in telegrams, cablegrams, and radiograms sent 
to or from a point outside the United States, or its Territories or 
possessions except that if a Member is elected for a portion of a 
term the aggregate number of words with respect to which charges 
may be paid under the first section shall be reduced, with respect 
to the year in which he commences his service, to a number which 
is the same percentage of 20,000 as the number of days of his 
service in such year is of the total number of days in such year." 
SEC. 3. The amendments made by this Act shall take effect as of 
noon on January 3,1956. 
Approved February 27, 1956. 
March 1, 1956 
[S. 926] 
Public Law 423 
CHAPTER 75 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain 
the Ventura River reclamation project, California. 
V e n t u r a River 
project, Calif. 
C o n s t r u e tion, 
etc. 
43 u s e 371 note. 
A l i o c a t i o n of 
costs. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhJed, That, for the pur-
pose of supplying water for the irrigation of lands in Ventura County, 
California, and for municipal, domestic, and industrial use therein, 
and for other incidental beneficial purposes, the Secretary of the 
Interior is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain the Ventura 
River reclamation project comprising, as its principal works, Casitas 
Dam and Reservoir on Coyote Creek, Robles diversion dam on Ventura 
River, a canal to carry water from the Robles diversion dam to Casitas 
Reservoir, and other conduits and related facilities to deliver water to 
the lands and area to be served by the project. 
SEC. 2. (a) Li constructing, operating, and maintaining the Ventura 
River project, the Secretary shall be governed by the Federal recla-
mation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory 
thereof or supplementary thereto) except as is otherwise provided 
in this Act. 
(b) In furnishing water for irrigation and for mimicipal, domestic, 
and industrial uses from the Ventura River project the Secretary shall 
charge rates with the object of returning to the United States during 
a fifty-year payment period (including any development period) all of 
the costs incurred by it in constructing, operating, and maintaining 
the project which the Secretary finds to be properly allocable to the 
purposes aforesaid and of interest, as hereinafter provided, on the 
portion of the construction cost which is allocated to municipal, 
domestic, and industrial water. 
70 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 424-MAR. 1, 1966 
33 
(c) Any contract entered into under section 9, subsection (d), of 
Repayment con-
the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187, 1193, 43 U. S. C, 
sec. 485 (h)) for payment of those portions of tlie costs of constructing, 
^3 use 485h. 
operating, and maintaining the Ventura River project which are 
allocated to irrigation and assigned to be paid bv the contracting 
organization may provide for the repayment of the portion of the 
construction cost of the project assigned to any project contract unit 
or, if the contract unit be divided into two or more irrigation blocks, 
to any such block over a period of not more than fifty years or as near 
thereto as is consistent with the adoption and operation of a variable 
payment fo'-mula which, being based on full repayment within the 
period stated under normal conditions, permits variance in the required 
annual payments in the light of economic factors pertinent to the 
ability of the organization to pay. 
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 
nil net revenues derived by the Secretary from the furnishing of water 
for municipal, domestic, and industrial use shall be applied first to the 
amortization of that portion of the cost of constructing the Ventura 
River project which is allocated to that purpose with interest on the 
unamortized balance thereof at the average rate (which rate shall be 
certified bv the Secretary of the Treasury) paid by the United States 
on its marketable long-term securities outstanding on the date of this 
Act and thereafter to the amortization of that portion of the cost of 
constructing the project which is allocated to irrigation but which is 
beyond the ability of the irrigation water users or their contracting 
organization to repay as provided above. 
(e) The Secretary is authorized, subject to such lules and regu-
lations as he may prescribe, to turn over to any contracting organiza-
tion or to an organization which is designated by it for that purpose 
and which is satisfactory to the Secretary the care, operation, and 
maintenance of such portions of the Ventura River project as are used 
solely or principally for the benefit of that organization. 
(f) Minimum basic facilities may be provided for the accommoda- fa^-iaiM" ^®'^'' 
tion of the visiting public at Casitas Dam and, if res])onsible local 
interests agree to assume the oi:)eration and maintenance thereof, at 
the project reservoirs. The costs of such facilities shall be non-
reimbursable. 
SEC. 3. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for construe- 
Appropriauon. 
tion of the Ventura River project the sum of $27,600,000 plus such 
amounts, if any, as may be required by reason of changes in construc-
tion costs as may be indicated by engineering cost indices applicable 
to the types of construction involved herein and, in addition thereto, 
such sums as may be required to operate and maintain the project. 
Approved March 1, 1956. 
Public Law 424 
CHAPTER 76 
^ 
^ ^ " ^ 
March 1 1956 
To authorize the Secretary of the Army to give twenty-five World War II 
[H. R. Sioi] ^ 
paintings to the Government of New Zealand. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That (a) the Sec- woTi^^^virS***!! 
retary of the Army is authorized to transfer to the Government of paintings. 
New Zealand without compensation twenty-five German war paint-
ings depicting Xew Zealand troops which are now the property of 
the United States in the custody of the Secretary of the Army. 
69225 O - 57 - 7 (Vol. 70)