[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 9, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1507-S1508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 524. A bill to terminate certain hydropower reservations, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
to remove the encumbrances from land patents for a dam project that 
will never be built. This will enable the current owner of the land to 
sell or bequeath his land more easily.
  Donald Smith and his family acquired two parcels of undeveloped 
public land in Madera County, California by patent of the United States 
in 1983 and 1987. These parcels, comprising 103.26 acres and 41.323 
acres, respectively, are adjacent to U.S. Forest Service land.
  In the early 1980s, the U.S. Government anticipated that a 
hydroelectric power project might someday be built in the vicinity, 
causing all or a portion of these lands to be inundated with water. 
Accordingly, when it issued the 1983 patent to Mr. Smith, the Bureau of 
Land Management included a ``flowage easement'', reserving the right of 
the government to flood the lands for a power dam. In the mid-1980s, 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined that this 
reservation and others like it were ``non-essential'', and that no dam 
would be built. Accordingly, no easement was included in the 1987 
patent, although some believe it was erroneously omitted.
  Flowage easements constitute a cloud on the title to land, 
restricting its market value and the orderly disposition of his estate. 
Since FERC, and all potentially interested parties, including BLM, 
Southern California Edison and the U.S. Forest Service, have agreed 
that the easement in this instance serves no purpose, and no dam

[[Page S1508]]

will be built, clear title should be restored. The Solicitor of the 
Department of the Interior has decided this requires an Act of 
Congress.
  Mr. Smith is now a senior citizen, and seeks to assure that his heirs 
will not be burdened by this matter and will benefit from the full fair 
market value of these now-verdant and recreational lands. Through 
enactment of this simple bill, the Congress will finally affirm a 
decision made by FERC in 1986, and restore ``clean'' title for benefit 
of Mr. Smith, his heirs and assigns.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 524

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

     SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF HYDROPOWER RESERVATIONS.

       (a) Termination of Reservation Relating to Bureau of Land 
     Management Patent Numbered CA 6313.--The reservation under 
     section 24 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 818) of the 
     Bureau of Land Management patent numbered CA 6313 and dated 
     May 13, 1983, to the approximately 103.26 acres of land now 
     owned by Donald L. Smith in Madera County, California, and 
     more particularly described as a portion of secs. 25, 26, 35, 
     and 36, T. 4 S., R. 24 E., Mount Diablo Meridian, is 
     terminated.
       (b) Termination of Reservation Relating to Bureau of Land 
     Management Patent Numbered CA 19394.--To the extent that any 
     reservation of use for hydropower could be determined to have 
     been omitted under section 24 of the Federal Power Act (16 
     U.S.C. 818) from the Bureau of Land Management patent 
     numbered CA 19394 and dated September 25, 1987, to the 
     approximately 41.323 acres of land conveyed to Lindsay Smith, 
     Peggy L. Birchim, Donald L. Smith, and Keith Smith, and more 
     particularly described as comprising a portion of secs. 25 
     and 36, unsurveyed T. 4 S., R. 24 E., Mount Diablo Meridian, 
     Jackass Mining District, Madera County, California, the 
     reservation is terminated.
                                 ______