Washington : Government Printing Office
The purpose of sections 422a to 422k of this title is to encourage State and local participation in the development of projects under the Federal reclamation laws and to provide for Federal assistance in the development of similar projects in the seventeen western reclamation States by non-Federal organizations. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 1, 70 Stat. 1044.)
As used in sections 422a to 422k of this title—
(a) The term "construction" shall include rehabilitation and betterment.
(b) The term "Federal reclamation laws" shall mean the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.
(c) The term "organization" shall mean a State or a department, agency, or political subdivision thereof or a conservancy district, irrigation district, water users association, an agency created by interstate compact, or similar organization which has capacity to contract with the United States under the Federal reclamation laws.
(d) The term "project" shall mean (i) any complete irrigation undertaking, including incidental features thereof, or distinct unit of such an undertaking or a rehabilitation and betterment program for an existing irrigation project, authorized to be constructed pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws and (ii) any similar undertaking proposed to be constructed by an organization. The term "project" shall not include any such undertaking unit, or program the cost of which exceeds $10,000,000, and no loan, grant, or combination thereof for any project shall be in excess of $6,500,000: Provided, That nothing contained in sections 422a to 422k of this title shall preclude the making of more than one loan or grant, or combined loan and grant, to an organization so long as no two such loans or grants or combinations thereof, are for the same project, as herein defined.
(e) The term "Secretary" shall mean the Secretary of the Interior. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 2, 70 Stat. 1044; Sept. 2, 1966, Pub. L. 89-553, § 1(1), 80 Stat. 376.)
Any organization desiring to avail itself of the benefits provided in sections 422a to 422k of this title shall submit a proposal therefor to the Secretary in such form and manner as he shall prescribe. Each such proposal shall be accompanied by a payment of $1,000 to defray, in part, the cost of examining the proposal. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 3, 70 Stat. 1044.)
(a) Plans and estimates; review by States; allocation of capital costs.
Any proposal with respect to the construction of a project which has not theretofore been authorized for construction under the Federal reclamation laws shall set forth, among other things, a
plan and estimated cost in detail comparable to those included in preauthorization reports required for a Federal reclamation project; shall have been submitted for review by the States of the drainage basin in which the project is located in like manner as provided in section 701-1(c) of Title 33, except that the review may be limited to the State or States in which the project is located if the proposal is one solely for rehabilitation and betterment of an existing project; and shall include a proposed allocation of capital costs to functions such that costs for facilities used for a single purpose shall be allocated to that purpose and costs for facilities used for more than one purpose shall be so allocated among the purposes served that each purpose will share equitably in the costs of such joint facilities. The costs of means and measures to prevent loss of and damage to fish and wildlife resources shall be considered as project costs and allocated as may be appropriate among project functions.
(b) Lands and water rights; ownership; financing.
Every such proposal shall include a showing that the organization already holds or can acquire all lands and interests in land (except public and other lands and interests in land owned by the United States which are within the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary and subject to disposition by him) and rights, pursuant to applicable State law, to the use of water necessary for the successful construction, operation, and maintenance of the project and that it is ready, able, and willing to finance otherwise than by loan and grant under sections 422a-422k of this title such portion of the cost of the project (which portion shall include all costs of acquiring lands, interests in land, and rights to the use of water), except as provided in section 422(e)(z)(2) of this title as the Secretary shall have advised is proper in the circumstances.
(c) Transmittal of findings and approval to Congress; reservation of land.
At such times as a project is found by the Secretary and the Governor of the State in which it is located (or an appropriate State agency designated by him) to be financially feasible, is determined by the Secretary to constitute a reasonable risk under the provisions of sections 422a to 422k of this title, and is approved by the Secretary, such findings and approval shall be transmitted to the Congress. The Secretary, at the time of submitting the project proposal to Congress or at the time of his determination that the requested project constitutes a reasonable risk under the provisions of sections 422a to 422k of this title, may reserve from use or disposition inimical to the project any lands and interests in land owned by the United States which are within his administrative jurisdiction and subject to disposition by him and which are required for use by the project. Any such reservation shall expire at the end of two years unless the contract provided for in section 422a of this title shall have been executed.
(d) Appropriation; nonapplicability.
No appropriation shall be made for financial participation in any such project prior to sixty calendar days (which sixty 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 day certain) from the date on which the Secretary's findings and approval are submitted to the Congress and then only if, within said sixty days, neither the House nor the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee disapproves the project proposal by committee resolution. The provisions of this subsection (d) shall not be applicable to proposals made under section 422f of this title.
(e) Consideration of financial feasibility, emergency, or urgent need; jurisdiction and control of project works and facilities.
The Secretary shall give due consideration to financial feasibility emergency, or urgent need for the project, whether the proposal involves furnishing supplemental irrigation water for an existing irrigation project, whether the proposal involves rehabilitation of existing irrigation project works, and whether the proposed project is primarily for irrigation. All project works and facilities constructed under section 422a to 422k of this title shall remain under the jurisdiction and control of the local contracting organization subject to the terms of the repayment contract. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 4, 70 Stat. 1044; June 5, 1957, Pub. L. 85-47, § 1(a), (b), 71 Stat. 48; Sept. 2, 1966, Pub. L. 89-553, § 1(2), (3), 80 Stat. 376.)
Upon approval of any project proposal by the Secretary under the provisions of section 422d of this title, he may negotiate a contract which shall set out, among other things—
(a) the maximum amount of any loan to be made to the organization and the time and method of making the same available to the organization. Said loan shall not exceed the lesser of (1) $6,500,000 or (2) the estimated total cost of the project minus the contribution of the local organization as provided in section 422d(b) of this title and the amount of the grant approved;
(b) the maximum amount of any grant to be accorded the organization. Said grant shall not exceed the sum of the following: (1) the costs of investigations, surveys, and engineering and other services necessary to the preparation of proposals and plans for the project allocable to fish and wildlife enhancement or public recreation; (2) one-half the costs of acquiring lands or interests therein for a reservoir or other area to be operated for fish and wildlife enhancement or public recreation purposes; (3) one-half the costs of basic public outdoor recreation facilities or facilities serving fish and wildlife enhancement purposes exclusively; (4) one-half the costs of construction of joint use facilities properly allocable to fish and wildlife enhancement or public recreation; and (5) that portion of the estimated cost of constructing the project which, if it were constructed as a Federal reclamation project, would be properly allocable to functions, other than recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement, which are nonreimbursable under general provisions of law applicable to such projects;
(c) a plan of repayment by the organization of (1) the sums lent to it in not more than fifty years from the date when the principal benefits of the project first become available; (2) interest, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which the contract is executed, on the basis of the computed average interest rate payable by the Treasury upon its outstanding marketable public obligations, which are neither due nor callable for redemption for fifteen years from date of issue, and by adjusting such average rate to the nearest one-eighth of 1 per centum, on that portion of the loan which is attributable to furnishing irrigation benefits in each particular year to land held in private ownership by any one owner in excess of one hundred and sixty irrigable acres; and (3) in
the case of any project involving an allocation to domestic, industrial, or municipal water supply, or commercial power, interest on the unamortized balance of an appropriate portion of the loan at a rate as determined in (2) above;
(d) provision for operation of the project, if a grant predicated upon its performance of nonreimbursable functions is made, in accordance with regulations with respect thereto prescribed by the head of the Federal department or agency primarily concerned with those functions and, in the event of noncompliance with such regulations, for operation by the United States of the amount of any such grant;
(e) such provisions as the Secretary shall deem necessary or proper to provide assurance of an security for prompt repayment of the loan and interest as aforesaid. The liability of the United States under any contract entered into pursuant to sections 422a to 422k of this title shall be contingent upon the availability of appropriations to carry out the same, and every such contract shall so recite; and
(f) provisions conforming to the preference requirements contained in the proviso to section 485h (c) of this title, if the project produces electric power for sale. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 5, 70 Stat. 1046; June 5, 1957, Pub. L. 85-47, § 1 (c), 71 Stat. 49; Sept. 2, 1966, Pub. L. 89-553, § 1(4), 80 Stat. 376.)
Any proposal with respect to the construction of a project which has theretofore been authorized for construction under the Federal reclamation laws shall be made in like manner as a proposal under section 422d of this title, but the Secretary may waive such requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 422d of this title as he finds to be duplicative of, or rendered unnecessary or impossible by, action already taken by the United States. Upon approval of any such proposal by the Secretary he may negotiate and execute a contract which conforms, as nearly as may be, to the provisions of section 422 of this title. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 6, 70 Stat. 1046.)
Upon request of an organization which has made or intends to make a proposal under sections 422a to 422k of this title, the head of any Federal department or agency may make available to the organization any existing engineering, economic, or hydrologic information and printed material that it may have and that will be useful in connection with the planning, design, construction, or operation and maintenance of the project concerned. The reasonable cost of any plans, specifications, and other unpublished material furnished by the Secretary pursuant to this section and the cost of making and administering any loan under sections 422a to 422k of this title shall, to the extent that they would not be nonreimbursable in the case of a project, constructed under the Federal reclamation laws, be treated as a loan and covered in the provisions of the contract entered into under section 422e of this title unless they are otherwise paid for by the organization. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 7, 70 Stat. 1047.)
The Secretary is authorized to perform any and all acts and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper in carrying out the provisions of sections 422a to 422k of this title. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 9, 70 Stat. 1047.)
There are authorized to be appropriated, such sums as may be necessary, but not to exceed $200,000,000, to carry out the provisions of sections 422a to 422k of this title: Provided, That the Secretary shall advise the Congress promptly on the receipt of each proposal referred to in section 422b of this title, and no contract shall become effective until appropriated funds are available to initiate the specific proposal covered by each contract. All such appropriations shall remain available until expended and shall, insofar as they are used to finance loans made under sections 422a to 422k of this title, be reimbursable in the manner hereinabove provided. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 10, 70 Stat. 1047; Sept. 2, 1966, Pub. L. 89-553, § 1(6), 80 Stat. 377.)
Sections 422a to 422k of this title shall be a supplement to the Federal reclamation laws and may be cited as the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956. (Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 972, § 11, 70 Stat. 1047.)
For the purpose of providing for United States reclamation projects a feasible and comprehensive plan for an economical and equitable treatment of repayment problems and for variable payments of construction charges which can be met regularly and fully from year to year during periods of decline in agricultural income and unsatisfactory conditions of agriculture as well as during periods of prosperity and good prices for agricultural products, and which will protect adequately the financial interest of the United States in said projects, obligations to pay construction charges may be revised or undertaken pursuant to the provisions of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 1, 53 Stat. 1187.)
As used in sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title—
(a) The term "Federal reclamation laws" shall mean the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and all acts amendatory thereof supplementary thereto.
(b) The term "Secretary" shall mean the Secretary of the Interior.
(c) The term "project" shall mean any reclamation or irrigation project, including incidental features thereof, authorized by the Federal reclamation laws, or constructed by the United States pursuant to said laws, or in connection with which there is a repayment contract executed by the United States, pursuant to said laws, or any project constructed or operated and maintained by the Secretary through the Bureau of Reclamation for the reclamation of arid lands or other purposes.
(d) The term "construction charges" shall mean the amounts of principal obligations payable to the United States under water-right applications, repayment contracts, orders of the Secretary, or other forms of obligation entered into pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws, excepting amounts payable for water rental or power charges, operation and maintenance and other yearly service charges, and excepting also any other operation and maintenance, interest, or other charges which are not covered into the principal sums of the construction accounts of the Bureau of Reclamation.
(e) The term "repayment contract" shall mean any contract providing for payment of construction charges to the United States.
(f) The term "project contract unit" shall mean a project or any substantial area of a project which is covered or is proposed to be covered by a repayment contract. On any project where two or more repayment contracts in part cover the same area and in part different areas, the area covered by each such repayment contract shall be a separate project contract unit. On any project where there are either two or more repayment contracts on a single project contract unit or two or more project contract units, the repayment contracts or project contract units may be merged by agreements in form satisfactory to the Secretary.
(g) The term "organization" shall mean any conservancy district irrigation district, water users' association, or other organization, which is organized under State law and which has capacity to enter into contracts with the United States pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws.
(h) The term "division of a project" shall mean any part of a project designated as a division by order of the Secretary or any phase or feature of project operations given a separate designation as a division by order of the Secretary for the purposes of orderly and efficient administration.
(i) The term "development unit" shall mean a part of a project which, for purposes of orderly engineering or reclamation development, is designated as a development unit by order of the Secretary.
(j) The term "irrigation block" shall mean an area of arid or semiarid lands in a project in which, in the judgment of the Secretary, the irrigable lands should be reclaimed and put under irrigation at substantially the same time, and which is designated as an irrigation block by order of the Secretary. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 2, 53 Stat. 1187; Aug. 8, 1958, Pub. L. 85-611, § 3, 72 Stat. 543.)
In connection with any repayment contract or other form of obligation, existing on August 4, 1939, to pay construction charges, providing for repayment on the basis of a definite period, the Secretary is authorized, upon request by the water users involved or their duly authorized representatives for amendment under this section of said contract or other form of obligation, and if in the Secretary's judgment such amendment is both practicable and in keeping with the general purpose of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title, to amend said contract or other form of obligation so as to provide that the construction charges remaining unaccrued on the date of the amendment, or any later date agreed upon, shall be spread in definite annual installments on the basis of a longer definite period fixed in each case by the Secretary: Provided, That for any construction charges said longer period shall not exceed forty years, exclusive of 1931 and subsequent years to the extent of moratoria or deferments of construction charges due and payable for such years effected pursuant to Acts of Congress, from the date when the first installment of said construction charges becomes due and payable under the original obligation to pay said construction charges and in no event shall the unexpired part of said longer period exceed double the number of remaining years, as of the date of the amendment made pursuant to sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title, in which installments of said construction charges would become due and payable under said existing repayment contract or other form of obligation to pay construction charges. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 3, 53 Stat. 1188.)
(a) The authority granted in section 485b of this title for modification of existing repayment contracts or other forms of obligations to pay construction charges shall continue through December 31, 1960.
(b) The Secretary is authorized, subject to the provisions of this subsection to defer the time for the payment of such part of any installments of construction charges under any repayment contract or other form of obligation as he deems necessary to adjust such installments to amounts within the probable ability of the water users to pay. Any such deferment shall be effected only after findings by the Secretary that the installments under consideration probably cannot be paid on their due date without undue burden on the water users, considering the various factors which in the Secretary's judgment bear on the ability of the water users so to pay.
The Secretary may effect the deferments hereunder subject to such conditions and provisions relating to the operation and maintenance of the project involved as he deems to be in the interest of the United States. If, however, any deferments would affect installments to accrue more than twelve months after the action of deferment, they shall be effected only by a formal supplemental contract. Such a contract shall provide by its terms that, it being only an interim solution of the repayment problems dealt with therein, its terms are not, in themselves, to be construed as a criterion of the terms of any amendatory contract that may be negotiated and that any such amendatory contract must be approved by the Congress unless it does not lengthen the repayment period for the project in question beyond that permitted by the laws applicable to that project, involves no reduction in the total amount payable by the water users, and is not in other respects less advantageous to the Government than the existing contract arrangements. The Secretary shall report to the Congress all deferments granted under this subsection. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 17, 53 Stat. 1198; Apr. 24, 1945, ch. 94, § 3, 59 Stat. 76; Aug. 8, 1958, Pub. L. 85-611, § 3, 72 Stat. 543; Sept. 21, 1959, Pub. L. 86-308, § 1, 73 Stat. 584.)
The Secretary in his discretion may require, in connection with any contract entered into pursuant to the authority of sections 375a, 387 to 389
and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title, that the contract provide (1) that the payments for each year to be made to the United States shall become due and payable on such date or dates, not exceeding two, in each year as the Secretary determines will be substantially contemporaneous with the time or times in each year when water users receive crop returns and (2) if the contract be with an organization, that assessments or levies for the purpose of obtaining moneys sufficient to meet the organization's payments under said contract shall be made and shall become due and payable within a certain period or periods of time prior to the date or dates on which the organization's payments to the United States are due and payable, said period or periods of time to be agreed upon in each said contract.
The Secretary may provide such deferments of construction charges as in his judgment are necessary to prevent said requirements from resulting in inequitable pyramiding of payments of said charges. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 5, 53 Stat. 1191.)
In connection with any contract, relating to construction charges, entered into pursuant to the authority of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485k of this title, the Secretary is authorized to require such provisions as he deems proper to secure the adoption of proper accounting, to protect the condition of project works and to provide for the proper use thereof, and to protect project lands against deterioration due to improper use of water. Any such contract shall require advance payment of adequate operation and maintenance charges. The Secretary is further authorized, in his discretion, to require such provisions as he deems proper to penalize delinquencies in payments of construction charges or operation and maintenance charges: Provided, That in any event there shall be penalties imposed on account of delinquencies of not less than one-half of 1 per centum per month of the delinquent charge from and after the date when such charge becomes due and payable: Provided further, That any such contract shall require that no water shall be delivered to lands or parties which are in arrears in the advance payment of operation and maintenance or toll charges, or to lands or parties which are in arrears for more than twelve months in the payment of construction charges due from such lands or parties to the United States or to the organization in which the lands or parties are included, or to any lands or parties included in an organization which is in arrears in the advance payment of operation and maintenance or toll charges or in arrears more than twelve months in the payment of construction charges due from such organization to the United States. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 6, 53 Stat. 1191.)
(a) Existing project contract unit.
The Secretary is authorized and directed to investigate the repayment problems of any existing project contract unit in connection with which, in his judgment, a contract under section 485b or 485c of this title would not be practicable nor provide an economically sound adjustment, and to negotiate a contract which, in his judgment, both would provide fair and equitable treatment of the repayment problems involved and would be in keeping with the general purpose of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title.
(b) New projects or projects under construction; public lands; development periods.
For any project, division of a project, development unit of a project, or supplemental works on a project, under construction on August 4, 1939, or for which appropriations had been made, and in connection with which a repayment contract had not been executed, allocations of costs may be made in accordance with the provisions of section 485h of this title and a repayment contract may be negotiated, in the discretion of the Secretary, (1) pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) of this section or (2) in accordance, as near as may be, with the provisions in section 485h (d) or 485h (e) of this title. In connection with any such project, division, or development unit, on which the majority of the lands involved are public lands of the United States, the Secretary, prior to entering into a repayment contract, may fix a development period for each irrigation block, if any, of not to exceed ten years from and including the first year in which water is delivered for the lands in said block: Provided, That in the event a development period is fixed prior to execution of a repayment contract, execution thereof shall be a condition precedent to delivery of water after the close of the development period. During any such development period water shall be delivered to the lands in the irrigation block involved only on a toll-charge basis, at a charge per annum per acre-foot to be fixed by the Secretary each year and to be collected in advance of delivery of water. Pending negotiation and execution of a repayment contract for any other such project, division, or development unit, water may be delivered for a period of not more than five years from August 4, 1939, on the same toll-charge basis. Any such toll charges collected and which the Secretary determines to be in excess of the cost of operation and maintenance during the toll-charge period shall be credited to the construction cost of the project in the manner determined by the Secretary.
(c) Report of proposed contracts to Congress; approval; amendment after approval.
The Secretary from time to time shall report to the Congress on any proposed contracts negotiated pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) or (b) (1) of this section, and he may execute any such contract on behalf of the United States only after approval thereof has been given by Act of Congress. Contracts, so approved, however, may be amended from time to time by mutual agreement and without further approval by Congress if such amendments are within the scope of authority granted prior to or after April 24, 1945, to the Secretary under any Act, except that amendments providing for repayment of construction charges in a period of years longer than authorized by sections 375a, 387 to 389, and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title, shall be effective only when approved by Congress. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 7, 53 Stat. 1192; Apr. 24, 1945, ch. 94, § 2, 59 Stat. 76.)
(a) Generally.
The Secretary is authorized and directed in the manner hereinafter provided to classify or to reclassify, from time to time but not more often than at five-year intervals, as to irrigability and productivity those lands which have been, are, or may be included within any project.
(b) Necessity for request.
No classification or reclassification pursuant to the authority of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title
shall be undertaken unless a request therefor, by an organization or duly authorized representatives of the water users, in the form required by subsection (c) of this section has been made of the Secretary. The Secretary shall plan the classification work, undertaken pursuant to the authority of this section, in such manner as in his judgment will result in the most expeditious completion of the work.
(c) Furnishing data.
In any request made to the Secretary for a land classification or reclassification under this section, the organization or representatives of the water users shall furnish a list of those lands which are considered to be of comparatively low productivity or to be nonproductive, and of those lands which are considered to be of greater or lesser productivity than indicated by existing classifications, if any, made pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws, and shall furnish also such data relating thereto as the Secretary by regulation may require.
(d) Primary determination.
Upon receipt of any such request the Secretary shall make a preliminary determination whether the requested land classification or reclassification probably is justified by reason of the conditions of the lands involved and other pertinent conditions of the project, including its contractual relations with the United States.
(e) Probable justification.
If the Secretary finds probable justification and if the advance to the United States hereinafter required is made, he shall undertake as soon as practicable the classification or reclassification of the lands listed in the request, and of any other lands which have been, are, or may be included within the project involved and which in his judgment should be classified or reclassified.
(f) Report to Congress.
As soon as practicable after completion of the classification work undertaken pursuant to this section, or from time to time, the Secretary shall report to Congress on the classifications and reclassifications made and shall include in his report, as to each project involved, his recommendations, if any, for remedial legislation.
(g) Expenses.
One-half of the expense involved in any classification work undertaken pursuant to this section shall be charged to operation and maintenance administration nonreimbursable; and one-half shall be paid in advance by the organization involved. On determining probable justification for the requested classification or reclassification as provided in this section, the Secretary shall estimate the cost of the work involved and shall submit a statement of the estimated cost to said organization. Said organization, before commencement of the work, shall advance to the United States one-half of the amount set forth in said statement and also shall advance one-half of the amount of supplementary estimates of costs which the Secretary may find it necessary to make from time to time during the progress of the work; and said amounts shall be and remain available for expenditure by the Secretary for the purposes for which they are advanced, until the work is completed or abandoned. After completion or abandonment of the work, the Secretary shall determine the actual costs thereof; and said organization shall pay any additional amount required to make its total payments hereunder equal to one-half of the actual cost or shall be credited with any amount by which advances made by it exceed one-half of said actual cost, as the case may be.
(h) Classification as prerequisite to contract.
If in the judgment of the Secretary a classification or reclassification pursuant to the provisions of this section is a necessary preliminary to entering into a contract under section 485b or 485c of this title, he may require the same as a condition precedent to entering into such a contract.
(i) Modification of existing obligations.
No modification of any existing obligation to pay construction charges on any project shall be made by reason of any classification or reclassification undertaken pursuant to this section without express authority therefor granted by Congress upon recommendations of the Secretary made in a report under subsection (f) of this section. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 8, 53 Stat. 1192.)
(a) Findings of Secretary.
No expenditures for the construction of any new project, new division of a project, or new supplemental works on a project shall be made, nor shall estimates be submitted therefor, by the Secretary until after he has made an investigation thereof and has submitted to the President and to the Congress his report and findings on—
(1) the engineering feasibility of the proposed construction;
(2) the estimated cost of the proposed construction;
(3) the part of the estimated cost which can properly be allocated to irrigation and probably be repaid by the water users;
(4) the part of the estimated cost which can properly be allocated to power and probably be returned to the United States in net power revenues;
(5) the part of the estimated cost which can properly be allocated to municipal water supply or other miscellaneous purposes and probably be returned to the United States.
If the proposed construction is found by the Secretary to have engineering feasibility and if the repayable and returnable allocations to irrigation, power, and municipal water supply or other miscellaneous purposes found by the Secretary to be proper, together with any allocation to flood control or navigation made under subsection (b) of this section, equal the total estimated cost of construction as determined by the Secretary, then the new project, new division of a project, or supplemental works on a project, covered by his findings, shall be deemed authorized and may be undertaken by the Secretary. If all such allocations do not equal said total estimated cost, then said new project, new division, or new supplemental works may be undertaken by the Secretary only after provision therefor has been made by Act of Congress enacted after the Secretary has submitted to the President and the Congress the report and findings involved.
(b) Allocation of part of cost to food control or navigation.
In connection with any new project, new division of a project, or supplemental works on a project there may be allocated to flood control or navigation the part of said total estimated cost which the Secretary may find to be proper. Items for any such allocations made in connection with projects which may be undertaken pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be included in
the estimates of appropriations submitted by the Secretary for said projects, and funds for such portions of the projects shall not become available except as directly appropriated or allotted to the Department of the Interior. In connection with the making of such an allocation, the Secretary shall consult with the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of the Army, and may perform any of the necessary investigations or studies under a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of the Army. In the event of such an allocation the Secretary of the Interior shall operate the project for purposes of flood control or navigation, to the extent justified by said allocation therefor.
(c) Furnishing water to municipalities; sale of electric power; lease of power privileges.
The Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts to furnish water for municipal water supply or miscellaneous purposes: Provided, That any such contract either (1) shall require repayment to the United States, over a period of not to exceed forty years from the year in which water first delivered for the use of the contracting party, with interest not exceeding the rate of 3'/z per centum per annum if the Secretary determines an interest charge to be proper, of an appropriate share as determined by the Secretary of that part of the construction costs allocated by him to municipal water supply or other miscellaneous purposes; or (2) shall be for such periods, not to exceed forty years, and at such rates as in the Secretary's judgment will produce revenues at least sufficient to cover an appropriate share of the annual operation and maintenance cost and an appropriate share of such fixed charges as the Secretary deems proper, and shall require the payment of said rates each year in advance of delivery of water for said year. Any sale of electric power or lease of power privileges, made by the Secretary in connection with the operation of any project or division of a project, shall be for such periods, not to exceed forty years, and at such rates as in the Secretary's judgment will produce power revenues at least sufficient to cover an appropriate share of the annual operation and maintenance cost, interest on an appropriate share of the construction investment at not less than 3 per centum per annum, and such other fixed charges as the Secretary deems proper: Provided further, That in said sales or leases preference shall be given to municipalities and other public corporations or agencies; and also to cooperatives and other nonprofit organizations financed in whole or in part by loans made pursuant to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. Nothing in this subsection shall be applicable to provisions in existing contracts, made pursuant to law, for the use of power and miscellaneous revenues of a project for the benefit of users of water from such project. The provisions of this subsection respecting the terms of sales of electric power and leases of power privileges shall be in addition and alternative to any authority in existing laws relating to particular projects. No contract relating to municipal water supply or miscellaneous purposes or to electric power or power privileges shall be made unless, in the judgment of the Secretary, it will not impair the efficiency of the project for irrigation purposes.
(d) Delivery of water for irrigation; repayment contract prerequisites.
No water may be delivered for irrigation of lands in connection with any new project, new division of a project, or supplemental works on a project until an organization, satisfactory in form and powers to the Secretary, has entered into a repayment contract with the United States, in a form satisfactory to the Secretary, providing among other things—
(1) That the Secretary may fix a development period for each irrigation block, if any, of not to exceed ten years from and including the first calendar year in which water is delivered for the lands in said block; and that during the development period water shall be delivered to the lands in the irrigation block involved at a charge per annum per acre-foot, or other charge, to be fixed by the Secretary each year and to be paid in advance of delivery of water: Provided, That where the lands included in an irrigation block are for the most part lands owned by the United States, the Secretary, prior to execution of a repayment contract, may fix a development period, but in such case execution of such a contract shall be a condition precedent to delivery of water after the close of the development period: Provided further, That when the Secretary, by contract or by notice given thereunder, shall have fixed a development period of less than ten years, and at any time thereafter but before commencement of the repayment period conditions arise which in the judgment of the Secretary would have justified the fixing of a longer period, he may amend such contract or notice to extend such development period to a date not to exceed ten years from its commencement, and in a case where no development period was provided, he may amend such contract within the same limits: Provided further, That when the Secretary shall have deferred the payment of all or any part of any installments of construction charges under any repayment contract pursuant to the authority of the Act of September 21, 1959, he may, at any time prior to the due date prescribed for the first installment not reduced by such deferment, and by agreement with the contracting organization, terminate the supplemental contract by which such deferment was effected, credit the construction payments made, and exercise the authority granted in this section. After the close of the development period, any such charges collected and which the Secretary determines to be in excess of the cost of the operation and maintenance during the development period shall be credited to the construction cost of the project in the manner determined by the Secretary.
(2) That the part of the construction costs allocated by the Secretary to irrigation shall be included in a general repayment obligation of the organization; and that the organization may vary its distribution of construction charges in a manner that takes into account the productivity of the various classes of lands and the benefits accruing to the lands by reason of the construction: Provided, That no distribution of construction charges over the lands included in the organization shall in any manner be deemed to relieve the organization or any party or any land therein of the organization's general obligation to the United States.
(3) That the general repayment obligation of the organization shall be spread in annual installments, of the number and amounts fixed by the Secretary, over a period of not more than 40 years, exclusive of any development period fixed under paragraph (1) of this subsection, for any project contract unit or, if the project contract unit be divided into two or more irrigation blocks, for any such block, or as near to said period of not more than forty years as is consistent
with the adoption and operation of a variable payment formula which, being based on full repayment within such period under average conditions, permits variance in the required annual payments in the light of economic factors pertinent to the ability of the organization to pay.
(4) That the first annual installment for any project contract unit, or for any irrigation block, as the case may be, shall accrue, on the date fixed by the Secretary, in the year after the last year of the development period or, if there be no development period, in the calendar year after the Secretary announces that the construction contemplated in the repayment contract is substantially completed or is advanced to a point where delivery of water can be made to substantially all of the lands in said unit or block to be irrigated; and if there be no development period fixed, that prior to and including the year in which the Secretary makes said announcement water shall be delivered only on the toll charge basis hereinbefore provided for development periods.
(e) Contracts to furnish water.
In lieu of entering into a repayment contract pursuant to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section to cover that part of the cost of the construction of works connected with water supply and allocated to irrigation, the Secretary, in his discretion, may enter into either short- or long-term contracts to furnish water for irrigation purposes. Each such contract shall be for such period, not to exceed forty years, and at such rates as in the Secretary's judgment will produce revenues at least sufficient to cover an appropriate share of the annual operation and maintenance cost and an appropriate share of such fixed charges as the Secretary deems proper, due consideration being given to that part of the cost of construction of works connected with water supply and allocated to irrigation; and shall require payment of said rates each year in advance of delivery of water for said year. In the event such contracts are made for furnishing water for irrigation purposes, the costs of any irrigation water distribution works constructed by the United States in connection with the new project, new division of a project, or supplemental works on a project, shall be covered by a repayment contract entered into pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 9, 53 Stat. 1193; Aug. 8, 1958, Pub. L. 85-611, §§ 1, 3, 72 Stat. 542, 543; Aug. 28, 1962, Pub. L. 87-613, § 2, 76 Stat. 407.)
In administering subsections (d) and (e) of section 485h of this title, the Secretary of the Interior shall—
(1) include in any long-term contract hereafter entered into under subsection (e) of section 485h of this title provision, if the other contracting party so requests, for renewal thereof under stated terms and conditions mutually agreeable to the parties. Such terms and conditions shall provide for an increase or decrease in the charges set forth in the contract to reflect, among other things, increases or decreases in construction, operation, and maintenance costs and improvement or deterioration in the party's repayment capacity. Any right of renewal shall be exercised within such reasonable time prior to the expiration of the contract as the parties shall have agreed upon and set forth therein;
(2) include in any long-term contract hereafter entered into under subsection (e) of section 485h of this title with a contracting organization provision, if the organization so requests, for conversion of said contract, under stated terms and conditions mutually agreeable to the parties, to a contract under subsection (d) of section 485h of this title at such time as, account being taken of the amount credited to return by the organization as hereinafter provided, the remaining amount of construction cost which is properly assignable for ultimate return by it can probably be repaid to the United States within the term of a contract under subsection (d) of section 485h of this title;
(3) credit each year to every party which has entered into or which shall enter into a long-term contract pursuant to subsection (e) of section 485h of this title so much of the amount paid by said party on or before the due date as is in excess of the share of the operation and maintenance costs of the project which the Secretary finds is properly chargeable to that party. Credit for payments heretofore made under any such contract shall be established by the Secretary as soon after July 2, 1956, as it is feasible for him to do so. After the sum of such credits is equal to the amount which would have been for repayment by the party if a repayment contract under subsection (d) of section 485h of this title had been entered into, which amount shall be established by the Secretary upon completion of the project concerned or as far in advance thereof as is feasible, no construction component shall be included in any charges made for the furnishing of water to the contracting party and any charges theretofore fixed by contract or otherwise shall be reduced accordingly;
(4) provide that the other party to any contract entered into pursuant to subsection (d) of section 485h of this title or to any long-term contract entered into pursuant to subsection (e) of section 485h of this title shall, during the term of the contract and of any renewal thereof and subject to fulfillment of all obligations thereunder, have a first right (to which right the rights of the holders of any other type of irrigation water contract shall be subordinate) to a stated share or quantity of the project's available water supply for beneficial use on the irrigable lands within the boundaries of, or owned by, the party and a permanent right to such share or quantity upon completion of payment of the amount assigned for ultimate return by the party subject to payment of an appropriate share of such costs, if any, as may thereafter be incurred by the United States in its operation and maintenance of the project works; and
(5) provide for payment of rates under any contract entered into pursuant to subsection (e) of section 485h of this title in advance of delivery of water on an annual or semiannual basis as specified in the contract.
(6) include a reasonable construction component in the rates set out in any long-term contract hereafter entered into under subsection (e) of section 485h of this title prior to amortization of that part of the cost of constructing the project which is assigned to be repaid by the contracting party.
(July 2, 1956, ch. 492, § 1, 70 Stat. 483.)
The Secretary is authorized to negotiate amendments to existing contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (e) of section 485h of this title to conform said contracts to the provisions of sections 485h-1 to 485h-5 of this title. (July 2, 1956, ch. 492, § 2, 70 Stat. 484.)
As used in sections 485h-1 to 485h-5 of this title, the term "long-term contract" shall mean any contract the term of which is more than ten years. (July 2, 1956, ch. 492, § 3, 70 Stat. 484.)
Nothing in sections 485h-1 to 485h-5 of this title shall be construed as affecting or intended to affect or to in any way interfere with the laws of any State relating to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irrigation, or any vested right acquired thereunder, and the Secretary in carrying out the provisions of such sections, shall proceed in conformity with such laws, and nothing herein shall in any way affect any right of any State or of the Federal Government or of any landowner, appropriator, or user of water in, to, or from any interstate stream or the waters thereof: Provided, That the right to the use of water acquired under the provisions of such sections shall be appurtenant to the land irrigated and beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right. (July 2, 1956, ch. 492, § 4, 70 Stat. 484.)
Sections 485h-1 to 485h-5 of this title shall be a supplement to the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto). (July 2, 1956, ch. 492, § 5, 70 Stat. 484.)
After the execution of a contract pursuant to the authority of section 9(d)(1) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 and prior to the commencement of the development period provided thereunder, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to amend such contract to provide for irrigation blocks, or if such are already provided, to add to or modify such irrigation blocks, as he shall deem desirable to carry out the purposes of that Act. (Pub. L. 87-613, § 1, Aug. 28, 1962, 76 Stat. 407.)
In any repayment contract which provides for payment of construction charges by single annual installments, the Secretary may by agreement with the contracting organization amend such contract to provide for the payment of such annual installments in two parts on such dates in the calendar year as may best enable the contracting organization to meet its payments. (Pub. L. 87-613, § 3, Aug. 28, 1962, 76 Stat. 408.)
The Secretary is authorized to perform any and all acts and to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying the provisions of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title into full force and effect. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 15, 53 Stat. 1198.)
The provisions of previous Acts of Congress not inconsistent with the provisions of sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title shall remain in full force and effect. (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 16, 53 Stat. 1198.)
Sections 375a, 387 to 389 and 485 to 485b-1, 485d to 485h, 485i to 485k of this title may be cited as the "Reclamation Project Act of 1939." (Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 418, § 19, 53 Stat. 1198.)
