[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 844 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 844

    To subject the United States to imposition of fees and costs in 
       proceedings relating to State water rights adjudications.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 9, 2003

 Mr. Crapo (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Allard, Mr. Kyl, 
and Mr. Craig) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To subject the United States to imposition of fees and costs in 
       proceedings relating to State water rights adjudications.

    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 ``Water Adjudication Fee Fairness Act 
of 2003''.

 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Generally, water allocation in the western United 
        States is based upon the doctrine of prior appropriation, under 
        which water users' rights are quantified under State law. 
        Appropriative rights carry designated priority dates that 
        establish the relative right of priority to use water from a 
        source. Most States in the West have developed judicial and 
        administrative proceedings, often called general adjudications, 
        to quantify and document these relative rights, including the 
        rights to water claimed by the United States Government under 
        either State or Federal law.
            (2) State general adjudications are typically complicated, 
        expensive civil court and administrative actions that can 
        involve hundreds or even thousands of claimants. Such 
        adjudications give certainty to water rights, provide direction 
        for water administration, and reduce conflict over water 
        allocation and water usage. Those claiming and establishing 
        rights to water are the primary beneficiaries of State general 
        adjudication proceedings.
            (3) The Congress has recognized the benefits of the State 
        general adjudication system, and by enactment of section 208 of 
        the Department of Justice Appropriation Act, 1953 (43 U.S.C. 
        666; popularly known as the ``McCarran Amendment''), required 
        the United States to submit to State court jurisdiction and to 
        file claims in State general adjudication proceedings.
            (4) Water rights claims by Federal agencies under either 
        State or Federal law are often the largest or most complex 
        claims in State general adjudications. However, the United 
        States Supreme Court, in the case United States v. Idaho, 508 
        U.S. 1 (1992), determined that the McCarran Amendment does not 
        require the United States to pay some filing fees simply 
        because they were misconstrued or perceived to be the same as 
        costs taxed against all parties.
            (5) Since Federal agency water rights claims are among the 
        most difficult to adjudicate, and since the United States is 
        not required to pay some fees and costs paid by non-Federal 
        claimants, the burden of funding adjudication proceedings 
        unfairly shifts to private water users and State taxpayers.
            (6) The lack of Federal Government funding to support State 
        water rights adjudications in relation to the complexity of the 
        claims involved has produced significant delays in completion 
        of many State general adjudications. These delays inhibit the 
        ability of both the States and Federal agencies to protect 
        private and public property interests. Also, failure to 
        complete the final adjudication of claims to water restricts 
        the ability of resource managers to determine how much 
        unappropriated water is available to satisfy environmental and 
        economic development demands.

SEC. 3. LIABILITY OF UNITED STATES FOR FEES AND COSTS IN WATER USE 
              RIGHTS PROCEEDINGS.

    (a) In General.--In any State administrative or judicial proceeding 
for the adjudication or administration of rights to the use of water in 
which the United States is a party, the United States shall be subject 
to the imposition of fees and costs on its claims to water rights under 
either State or Federal law to the same extent as a private party to 
the proceeding.
    (b) Application.--Subsection (a) shall apply to proceedings pending 
on or initiated after the date of enactment of this Act, including with 
respect to fees and costs imposed in such a proceeding before the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Report to Congress.--The head of any Federal agency that files 
or has pending any water rights claim shall prepare and submit to the 
Congress, within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, a report 
that identifies--
            (1) each such claim filed by the agency that has not yet 
        been decreed;
            (2) all fees and costs imposed on the United States for 
        each claim identified under paragraph (1);
            (3) any portion of such fees and costs that has not been 
        paid; and
            (4) the source of funds used to pay such fees and costs.
    (d) Fees and Costs Defined.--In this section, the term ``fees and 
costs'' means any administrative fee, administrative cost, claim fee, 
judicial fee, or judicial cost imposed by a State on a party claiming a 
right to the use of water under either State or Federal law in a State 
proceeding referred to in subsection (a).
                                 <all>