[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 144 (Monday, October 12, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H10602-H10603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AUTHORIZING SECRETARY OF INTERIOR TO CONVEY CERTAIN FACILITIES OF THE 
           MINIDOKA PROJECT TO THE BURLEY IRRIGATION DISTRICT

  Mr. HANSEN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 538) to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to convey certain facilities of the Minidoka project to 
the Burley Irrigation District, and for other purposes, and ask for its 
immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                 S. 538

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

     SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF FACILITIES.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Burley.--The term ``Burley'' means the Burley 
     Irrigation District, an irrigation district organized under 
     the law of the State of Idaho.
       (2) Division.--The term ``Division'' means the Southside 
     Pumping Division of the Minidoka project, Idaho.
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (b) Conveyance.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall, without consideration 
     or compensation except as provided in this section, convey to 
     Burley, by quitclaim deed or patent, all right, title, and 
     interest of the United States in and to acquired lands, 
     easements, and rights-of-way of or in connection with the 
     Division, together with the pumping plants, canals, drains, 
     laterals, roads, pumps, checks, headgates, transformers, 
     pumping plant substations, buildings, transmission lines, and 
     other improvements or appurtenances to the land or used for 
     the delivery of water from the headworks (but not the 
     headworks themselves) of the Southside Canal at the Minidoka 
     Dam and reservoir to land in Burley, including all facilities 
     used in conjunction with the Division (including the electric 
     transmission lines used to transmit electric power for the 
     operation of the pumping facilities of the Division and 
     related purposes for which the allocable construction costs 
     have been fully repaid by Burley).
       (2) Costs.--The first $80,000 in administrative costs of 
     transfer of title and related activities shall be paid in 
     equal shares by the United States and Burley, and any 
     additional amount of administrative costs shall be paid by 
     the United States.
       (c) Water Rights.--
       (1) Transfer.--(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
     the Secretary shall transfer to Burley, through an agreement 
     among Burley, the Minidoka Irrigation district, and the 
     Secretary, in accordance with and subject to the law of the 
     State of Idaho, all natural flow, waste, seepage, return 
     flow, and groundwater rights held in the name of the United 
     States--
       (i) for the benefit of the Minidoka Project or specifically 
     for the Burley Irrigation District;
       (ii) that are for use on lands within the Burley Irrigation 
     District; and
       (iii) which are set forth in contracts between the United 
     States and Burley or in the decree of June 20, 1913 of the 
     District Court of the Fourth Judicial District of the State 
     of Idaho, in and for the County of Twin Falls, in the case of 
     Twin Falls Canal Company v. Charles N. Foster, et al., and 
     commonly referred to as the ``Foster decree''.
       (B) Any rights that are presently held for the benefit of 
     lands within both the Minidoka Irrigation District and the 
     Burley Irrigation District shall be allotted in such manner 
     so as to neither enlarge nor diminish the respective rights 
     of either district in such water rights as described in 
     contracts between Burley and the United States.
       (C) The transfer of water rights in accordance with this 
     paragraph shall not impair the integrated operation of the 
     Minidoka Project, affect any other adjudicated rights, or 
     result in any adverse impact on any other project water user.
       (2) Allocation of storage space.--The Secretary shall 
     provide an allocation to Burley of storage space in Minidoka 
     Reservoir, American Falls Reservoir, and Palisades Reservoir, 
     as described in Burley Contract Nos. 14-06-100-2455 and 14-
     06-W-48, subject to the obligation of Burley to continue to 
     assume and satisfy its allocable costs of operation and 
     maintenance associated with the storage facilities operated 
     by the Bureau of Reclamation.
       (d) Project Reserved Power.--The Secretary shall continue 
     to provide Burley with project reserved power from the 
     Minidoka Reclamation Power Plant, Palisades Reclamation Power 
     Plant, Black Canyon Reclamation Power Plant, and Anderson 
     Ranch Reclamation Power Plant in accordance with the terms of 
     the existing contracts, including any renewals thereof as 
     provided in such contracts.
       (e) Savings.--
       (1) Nothing in this Act or any transfer pursuant thereto 
     shall affect the right of Minidoka Irrigation District to the 
     joint use of the gravity portion of the Southside Canal, 
     subject to compliance by the Minidoka Irrigation District 
     with the terms and conditions of a contract between Burley 
     and Minidoka Irrigation District, and any amendments or 
     changes made by agreement of the irrigation districts.
       (2) Nothing in this Act shall affect the rights of any 
     person or entity except as may be specifically provided 
     herein.
       (f) Liability.--Effective on the date of conveyance of the 
     project facilities, described in section (1)(b)(1), 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 facilities, except for 
     damages caused by acts of negligence committed by the United 
     States or by its employees, agents, or contractors prior to 
     the date of conveyance. Nothing in this section shall be 
     deemed to increase the liability of the United States beyond 
     that currently provided in the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 
     U.S.C. 2671 et seq.
       (g) Completion of Conveyance.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall complete the 
     conveyance under subsection (b) (including such action as may 
     be required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
     1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)) not later than 2 years after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) 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 section, and the anticipated date for such 
     transfer.

  Mrs. CHENOWETH. Madam. Speaker, I am happy to come before the House 
to express my strong support for S. 538, the Burley Irrigation District 
Conveyance Act, sponsored by my Senate colleagues, Senator Craig and 
Senator Kempthorne. S. 538 also resembles H.R. 1282, a bill introduced 
by my friend and fellow Idahoan in the House, Mike Crapo.

[[Page H10603]]

  Madam Speaker, S. 538 would simply convey certain facilities of the 
Minidoka project, which was authorized in 1902, to the Burley 
Irrigation District. This fulfills the contract the District had with 
the Federal government.
  Per their agreement, the water users of the Burley Irrigation 
District have paid their obligations to the U.S. Treasury. Having 
fulfilled this responsibility under the Reclamation Act, the Water 
District has been working diligently with Congressman Crapo and me over 
the last year to develop this important legislation.
  Madam Speaker, S. 538 transfers the rights and use of the facility 
for which the District already has a right of title.
  In April of this year we heard testimony from Roger Ling before the 
House Subcommittee on Water and Power, chaired by my good friend John 
Doolittle. Mr. Ling, who is an Idaho Citizen, and a member of the 
Burley Irrigation District, laid out for the subcommittee in detail the 
fascinating history of how this project came to fruition. He made a 
compelling case why the Burley water users deserve to receive the title 
which they have lawfully paid for.
  I am very pleased to have the opportunity to assist Burley in working 
through the intent of the Reclamation Act. I am convinced that the 
District will do a tremendous job managing the Minidoka facility, 
including the environmental aspects of this project.
  I would like to address some concerns my democratic colleagues have 
with regard to NEPA. This is not a complicated bill. S. 538 simply 
authorizes a title transfer. Nothing more, nothing less. The everyday 
workings of the irrigation district will not change. The simple 
``paper'' transfer will not have an environmental impact. Therefore, an 
environmental assessment or impact study is not necessary and a waste 
of resources. And it is my understanding of this bill that, so long as 
the day-to-day operations are unchanged, NEPA is deemed to be complied 
with.
  The only change to the Burley Irrigation District will be that the 
people who have worked for decades to pay for the Minidoka facility 
will finally receive that which is due to--ownership title.
  I thank Chairman Doolittle for bringing this important legislation 
before the House, and I urge my fellow Colleagues to vote for its 
passage.
  Mr. CRAPO. Madam Speaker, I rise to voice my strong support for S. 
538, a bill to convey title to certain facilities in the Minidoka 
Project to the Burley Irrigation District in Idaho. This bill 
represents a watershed for irrigators in the western United States by 
setting a model for future legislation involving facility title 
transfers.
  Burley Irrigation District is a waterusers cooperative operating in 
southern Idaho for the benefit of local irrigators and was authorized 
in 1904 under the Reclamation Act. Under authority outlined in the Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, 
transferred to the District the care, operation, and maintenance of 
certain project works. In 1926, the District entered into a contract 
with the United States to assume the care, operation, and maintenance 
of the South Side Pumping Division, together with certain telephone 
lines.
  In this contract, the District agreed to pay to the United States the 
balance of all construction indebtedness of landowners, including 
interest and penalties, operation and maintenance charges, and book 
value of equipment and supplies transferred to the District.
  Supplemental contracts between the District and the United States 
have transferred responsibility for certain transmission lines, 
transformer stations, and the main South Side Canal from its headworks 
to the first lift pumping station of the South Side Pumping Division.
  Since that time, the District has repaid out all construction and 
other costs allocated to it under the various contracts. The District 
has been in continuous operation, maintenance, and management of the 
distribution facilities and pumping plants for 72 years.
  S. 538 is consistent with the Reclamation Act of 1902 and the need of 
the United States to divest itself of title to property for which it 
has liability, but not the operation and maintenance responsibilities. 
Moreover, it fulfills the spirit of the Reclamation Act and the goal of 
reducing the size of the federal government by transferring to private 
hands title to Bureau of Reclamation facilities.
  I would like to take a moment to address certain questions that had 
been raised by the Administration regarding the intentions of this 
bill. These issues have already been clarified with the Secretary of 
the Interior, but I would like to state them here for the purpose of 
placing them in the Record.
  First, the question of what is meant in this legislation by the 
inclusion of return flows as part of the water rights transfer. As a 
result of the irrigation of the lands within Burley Irrigation District 
and Minidoka Irrigation District, there are return flows to the Snake 
River. Under the Foster Decree, when these districts are using stored 
water to which they are entitled under their spaceholder contracts for 
irrigation of their lands, they receive a credit for the return flows 
to the river which is used on a proportionate basis to reduce their use 
of stored water. The Decree is administered by the State of Idaho, and 
the extent of return flows depends on the operation of the districts' 
distribution systems. These rights clearly belong to the districts and 
inure the benefit of the districts and the landowners therein.
  Second, a concern had been raised about this bill potentially 
changing the crediting system of return flows from the way it is 
currently carried out and, in particular, adversely affecting the 
Minidoka Irrigation District. Let me assure you that nothing in the 
bill is intended to modify the crediting of return flows from the way 
they are currently credited. Of course, it is extremely difficult to 
differentiate the source of return flows, but I would expect that the 
agreement to be negotiated between the Burley Irrigation District, the 
Minidoka Irrigation District, and the Secretary of the Interior, would 
address the partitioning of credits in a manner that will preserve the 
status quo.
  Finally, the Administration had raised a question about the possible 
impact on storage rights of provisions in the bill transferring natural 
flow rights. The Bureau of Reclamation has been informed that nothing 
under this bill is intended to transfer or impair storage rights held 
by the Bureau, and nothing is intended to impair the operations of the 
Minidoka Project by the Secretary of the Interior. To the extent 
operational issues or concerns arise as a result of the transfer, I 
would expect the Burley Irrigation District and the Secretary to 
address such matters in the agreement that will be negotiated under the 
bill.
  These questions have been addressed to the satisfaction of the 
Administration, and all sides have given their assent to this 
legislation.
  Madam Speaker, this legislation is the product of months of intensive 
negotiations involving the District, the Administration, and Congress. 
It is fair and cost-effective to the American taxpayer, and it is 
simply wise public policy. The compromises reached allow all those 
involved to feel a sense of ownership in this legislation. Accordingly, 
I would like to express my appreciation to the distinguished 
subcommittee chairman, Mr. Doolittle, the ranking member, Mr. DeFazio, 
as well as the full committee Chairman Young and Ranking Member Miller, 
and the Administration for their hard work and cooperation on this 
important bill.
  I would also like to express my thanks to my colleague from Idaho, 
Mrs. Chenoweth, for her invaluable help in passing this legislation. 
And, of course, I extend special appreciation to the bill's sponsor in 
the other body, Senator Craig, and applaud his persistence in this 
endeavor.
  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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