[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 6, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H5064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1700
BOLTS DITCH ACCESS AND USE ACT
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4510) to insure adequate use and access
to the existing Bolts Ditch headgate and ditch segment within the Holy
Cross Wilderness in Eagle County, Colorado, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4510
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 ``Bolts Ditch Access and Use
Act''.
SEC. 2. BOLTS DITCH ACCESS.
(a) Access Granted.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall
permit by special use authorization nonmotorized access and
use, in accordance with section 293.6 of title 36, Code of
Federal Regulations, of the Bolts Ditch headgate and the
Bolts Ditch within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado, as
designated by Public Law 96-560, for the purposes of the
diversion of water and use, maintenance, and repair of such
ditch and headgate by the Town of Minturn, Colorado, a
Colorado Home Rule Municipality.
(b) Location of Facilities.--The Bolts Ditch headgate and
ditch segment referenced in subsection (a) are as generally
depicted on the map entitled ``Bolts Ditch headgate and Ditch
Segment'', dated November 2015.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
General Leave
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their
remarks and to include extraneous materials on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Since 1882, the town of Minturn, Colorado, has used Bolts Ditch to
fill Bolts Lake, a place of recreation for the town and an important
source of water for the surrounding community. When Congress passed the
Colorado Wilderness Act in 1980, 450 feet of Bolts Ditch was
inadvertently included in the Holy Cross Wilderness area, which led to
questions about the town's ability to access this important
infrastructure. After a discussion amongst stakeholders, the town
agreed to seek a legislative solution to address this access issue.
This bipartisan bill simply allows the Forest Service to issue a
special use permit to the town of Minturn to allow nonmotorized access
to maintain a headgate and water ditch in the Holy Cross Wilderness.
This bill ensures the town will have access to Bolts Ditch for basic
maintenance needs. H.R. 4510 was developed in consultation with the
community and the Forest Service, and it enjoys support from a wide
range of groups in the region.
I urge the adoption of the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank Chairman Bishop for bringing H.R. 4510, the Bolts Ditch
Access and Use Act, to the floor today.
I introduced this simple but very important piece of legislation at
the request of the local community of Minturn, in Eagle County, because
it improves public land, water, and communities in my district.
This bill has bipartisan support from the Colorado delegation. I
thank Mr. Tipton and Mr. Lamborn for partnering with me on this bill
here in the House. In the Senate, Senator Gardner and Senator Bennet
have partnered to pass this bill as well. I am also thankful to the
town of Minturn, to the conservation community, and to water utilities
for working together for a commonsense solution that we can all
support. This is an example of how we can solve a problem when
everybody comes together.
The need for this legislation is to solve a vital local problem for
the people of Minturn, Colorado, a town of about 1,000 people in Eagle
County, which is in our Rocky Mountains in Colorado. The problem it
fixes results from a mistake in the 1980 Wilderness Act, which
inadvertently left Bolts Ditch off of the list of existing water
facilities which it should have been included on. This legislation
would authorize a special use of the Bolts Ditch headgate and the
segment of the Bolts Ditch within the Holy Cross Wilderness area,
allowing Minturn to use its existing water right to fill Bolts Lake.
The residents of Minturn who brought this bill to me, as well as
Coloradans across the central mountains, have long relied on water
infrastructure like Bolts Ditch to access clean and affordable drinking
water. This bill will ensure that the town of Minturn is able to
utilize a crucial resource and to do so without compromising the
sanctity of the surrounding wilderness areas.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional
speakers on this piece of legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority and minority staffs of
the committee for working with us on this bill. It is very important to
the people of Minturn and to our central mountain region in Colorado,
so I urge its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this is important
infrastructure for this community in Colorado.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4510, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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