[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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