[Senate Report 109-188]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 307
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    109-188

======================================================================



 
 NEWLANDS PROJECT HEADQUARTERS AND MAINTENANCE YARD FACILITY TRANSFER 
                                  ACT

                                _______
                                

                December 8, 2005.--Ordered to be printed

 Filed under authority of the order of the Senate of November 18, 2005

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 310]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 310) to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and 
Maintenance Yard Facility to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District in the State of Nevada, having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that 
the bill do pass.

                           PURPOSE OF MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 310 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and 
Maintenance Yard Facility to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District in the State of Nevada.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Newlands Project, one of the first Bureau of 
Reclamation (Bureau or Reclamation) projects in the West, 
provides water for approximately 73,000 irrigated acres near 
Fallon, Nevada. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID) 
operates and maintains the project, which is considered a 
``paid out project'' under Reclamation law.
    TCID currently leases 40 acres of land from the Bureau for 
office headquarters, as well as for an operation and 
maintenance yard. TCID seeks title to 35.6 acres of this land 
in order to make permanent improvements. The transfer will 
allow TCID to obtain the necessary financing for such 
improvements, which includes the construction of a new office 
building. The remaining 4.4 acres of land will be retained by 
the Bureau for its Fallon office.
    TCID is the only irrigation district in the Newlands 
Project and has operated and maintained the Project since 1926. 
In 1975, TCID relocated approximately four miles away to its 
current site, now proposed for transfer. This move allowed all 
of the District's central operations to be located on a single 
tract and is close to the irrigation works. The land at issue 
was not considered to be suitable for irrigation or crop 
production and was therefore never homesteaded or patented.
    In 1996, TCID fully repaid the Project construction costs. 
The completed repayment included TCID's original headquarters 
and maintenance yard, now known as the Fallon Freight Yard. 
Notwithstanding TCID's repayment, title to the Fallon Freight 
Yard was never transferred from the United States to TCID. 
Since 1996, the Bureau has leased the Fallon Freight Yard to 
the city of Fallon. The lease payments, which, as of October 
30, 2005, total approximately $91,308, are held in a fund in 
the Treasury for the Newlands Project. The pending sale of the 
Fallon Freight Yard to the City of Fallon (pursuant to P.L. 
107-339) will add another $115,000 to the account.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 310 was introduced by Senators Ensign and Reid on 
February 8, 2005, and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources. The Water and Power Subcommittee held a 
hearing on S. 310 on April 19, 2005 (S. Hrg. 109-96). At the 
business meeting on November 16, 2005, the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources ordered S. 310 favorably reported without 
amendment.
    During the 108th Congress, Representative Gibbons 
introduced a similar measure, H.R. 2831, in the House of 
Representatives. H.R. 2831 passed the House on July 19, 2004, 
but was not considered in the Senate.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business session on November 16, 2005, by unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
310.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 sets forth the short title.
    Section 2 defines the terms used in the Act.
    Section 3(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard 
Facility located in Fallon, Nevada to the TCID as soon as 
practicable and in accordance with an Agreement between TCID 
and Reclamation and any applicable laws.
    Subsection (b) provides that amounts received by the United 
States for the lease or sale of Newlands Project land 
comprising the Fallon Freight Yard shall be treated as 
consideration for the real property conveyed. Utilizing the 
Fallon Freight Yard proceeds as consideration for the 
conveyance required by this legislation is appropriate under 
its unique circumstances, and is not in any way precedent-
setting.
    As explained in the Background and Need section, TCID 
completed its repayment obligation to the Federal Government 
for the Newlands Project, including its original office 
headquarters and operation and maintenance yard now known as 
the Fallon Freight Yard. Applying the anticipated $206,308 from 
the Newlands Project Treasury fund for the lease or sale of the 
Fallon Freight Yard is appropriate and will keep the Federal 
Government whole. This amount compares favorably to the value 
of the property to be transferred pursuant to this Act. In 
August 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sold a 48.14 
acre parcel of farm land, minus the water rights, to Churchill 
County for $164,000. That land is located about one-half mile 
east of the parcel TCID is requesting to be transferred. At 
approximately $3,400 per acre, the property to be conveyed here 
is less than the amount being credited
    Subsection (c) directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
submit a report to Congress if the conveyance has not been 
completed within one year after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
    Subsection (d) provides that the transfer cannot occur 
until compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 has been achieved and any necessary environmental site 
assessment, remediation, or removal has been completed.
    Subsection (e) holds the United States harmless from any 
damages arising from TCID actions, or those of its employees or 
contractors, with respect to the property at issue.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                                  December 8, 2005.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 310, the Newlands 
Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard Facility Transfer 
Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Rachel 
Milberg.
            Sincerely,
                                       Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 310--Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard Facility 
        Transfer Act

    S. 310 would convey all rights, title, and interest of the 
United States in approximately 37 acres of land to the Truckee-
Carson Irrigation District in Nevada. Under the bill, the 
government would receive no financial payments as consideration 
for the conveyance; the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has no 
current appraisal of the land's fair market value.
    CBO estimates that implementing S. 310 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. According to BOR, the 
federal land to be conveyed currently generates no significant 
receipts and is not expected to do so over the next 10 years. 
Hence, we estimate that conveying that land would not affect 
offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending). 
Enacting S. 310 would not affect revenues.
    S. 310 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 
Accepting the land conveyance authorized by this bill would be 
voluntary on the part of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District. Any costs they might incur to comply with the 
conditions of the conveyance would be incurred voluntarily.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Rachel Milberg. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 310.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
responsibilities on private individuals and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 310.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the Subcommittee hearing on S. 310 follows:

    Statement of William Rinne, Deputy Commissioner of Reclamation, 
                       Department of the Interior

    Madam Chairman, and members of the Committee, I am William 
Rinne, Deputy Commissioner of Reclamation. I am pleased to 
appear before this Subcommittee to provide the Administration's 
views on S. 310.
    S. 310 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and maintenance yard 
facility to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. The 
facilities cover about 37 acres of Reclamation withdrawn 
property in Fallon, Nevada.
    Mr. Chairman, over the past couple years, we have been 
working very closely with the District to resolve each of the 
issues on the title transfer of the headquarters property. In 
June 2003, Reclamation and the President of the District's 
Board of Director's signed an extensive Memorandum of Agreement 
governing the proposed title transfer. Reclamation actively 
supports transferring title to state and local entities when in 
the mutual interest of affected parties. Based on this 
coordination, the Administration supports the concept of 
transferring the title for the property to the Truckee-Carson 
Irrigation District.
    However, we are concerned that S. 310 directs that the 
proceeds received by the United States for the lease and sale 
of Fallon Freight Yard, the transfer of which was authorized in 
P.L. 107-339, be treated as full payment for the 37 acres. 
Under this language, the District will not be required to pay 
anything for the property. Under Reclamation law and policy, 
the proceeds from the sale of acquired lands and lease revenues 
such as those from Fallon Freight yard are to be treated as a 
tail-end credit to the applicable project. In this case, the 
Newlands Project, not the District, our Contractor who operates 
and maintains the Project on behalf of the United States, 
should receive the credit. The lands associated with the 
headquarters property that is proposed to be transferred under 
S. 310 are withdrawn lands and thus the District has not repaid 
their value. If enacted as is, we are concerned the bill could 
set a precedent that would allow the District and other 
irrigation districts to make additional claims on lease or 
eventual sale revenues from Reclamation acquired lands.
    In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to 
compliment District Board President Ernest Schank and the 
District's Board of Directors for their diligence and 
commitment in working with us on the issues surrounding this 
transfer. I also commend Senator Ensign for his leadership.
    That concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer any 
questions.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 310, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
