[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2087 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2087

  To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain works, 
facilities, and titles of the Gila Project, and designated lands within 
 or adjacent to the Gila Project, to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and 
               Drainage District, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 18, 1998

  Mr. Kyl (for himself and Mr. McCain) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain works, 
facilities, and titles of the Gila Project, and designated lands within 
 or adjacent to the Gila Project, to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and 
               Drainage District, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer Act of 
1998''.

SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF TITLE TO WORKS, FACILITIES AND LANDS.

    (a) Definitions.--
            (1) Memorandum of agreement.--The term ``Memorandum of 
        Agreement'' means the agreement between the Secretary and 
        Wellton-Mohawk, relating to the transfer, dated on or before 
        July 1, 1998.
            (2) Reclamation.--The term ``Reclamation'' means the 
        Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (4) Wellton-mohawk.--The term ``Wellton-Mohawk'' means the 
        Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, an irrigation 
        and drainage district created, organized, and existing under 
        and by virtue of the laws of the State of Arizona.
            (5) Western.--The term ``Western'' means the Department of 
        Energy, Western Area Power Administration.
    (b) Implementation.--The Secretary shall carry out the provisions 
of the Memorandum of Agreement. If transfer has not occurred by the 
date set forth in the Memorandum of Agreement, but review under the 
National Environmental Policy Act has been completed and fair market 
value has been established, then upon tender of fair market value to 
the Secretary by Wellton-Mohawk, all right, title, and interest of the 
United States in and to the works, facilities, and lands described in 
the Memorandum of Agreement shall transfer to and vest in Wellton-
Mohawk by operation of law. The Secretary shall provide such evidence 
of title as may be requested by Wellton-Mohawk. In the event that no 
Memorandum of Agreement is agreed to by July 1, 1998, this Act shall be 
considered null and void.
    (c) Water and Power Delivery.--Notwithstanding the transfer of 
title to works, facilities, and lands, the Secretary is authorized and 
shall continue to deliver to Wellton-Mohawk in accordance with the 
terms of the Amendatory and Supplemental Consolidated Contract with 
Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District for Delivery of Water, 
Construction of Works, Repayment, and Project Power Supply 
(Reclamation's Contract Number 1-07-30-W0021 Amendment No. 1) including 
any renewals, amendments, supplements, or extensions thereof. 
Notwithstanding the transfer of title to works, facilities, and lands, 
the Secretary and Western are authorized and shall continue to provide 
Wellton-Mohawk with project reserved power from the Parker Reclamation 
Power Plant and Davis Reclamation Power Plant, in accordance with the 
terms of the Consolidated Contract and the Power Management Agreement 
(Reclamation's and Western's contract Numbers 6-CU-30-P1136, 6-CU-30-
P1137, and 6-CU-30-P1138) including any renewals, amendments, 
supplements, or extensions thereof.
    (d) Liability.--Effective on the date of conveyance of the project 
works, facilities and lands, the United States shall not be held liable 
by any court for damages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, 
or occurrence relating to the conveyed works, facilities, and lands, 
except for damages caused by acts of negligence committed by the United 
States or by its employees, agents, or contractors as provided in the 
Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C. 2671 et seq.).
    (e) Agricultural Return Flows.--As a condition of transfer, 
Wellton-Mohawk shall agree that--
            (1) the volume of agricultural return flows from Wellton-
        Mohawk delivered to Reclamation's Main Outlet Drain at Station 
        0+00 shall comply with applicable law and contracts and shall 
        not exceed 175,000 annual acre feet; and
            (2) Wellton-Mohawk and Reclamation shall work cooperatively 
        to attempt to limit return flows to the design capacity of the 
        Yuma Desalinization Plant.
    (f) Report.--The Secretary shall provide a report to the Committee 
on Resources of the United States House of Representatives and to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate 
within eighteen months from the date of enactment of this Act on the 
status of the transfer, any obstacles to completion of the transfer as 
provided in this Act, and the anticipated date for such transfer.
    (g) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated such 
sums as necessary for the purposes of this Act.
                                 <all>