[Senate Report 115-53]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                         Calendar No. 66
                                                        
115th Congress     }                                         {     Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session       }                                         {     115-53

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                     BOLTS DITCH ACCESS AND USE ACT

                                _______
                                

                  May 9, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 285]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 285) 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, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 285 is to ensure adequate use and access 
to the existing Bolts Ditch headgate and ditch segment within 
the Holy Cross Wilderness in Eagle County, Colorado.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    When Congress authorized and designated the Holy Cross 
Wilderness Area in 1980, Bolts Ditch was inadvertently not 
included on the list of existing water facilities. Bolts Lake 
is an existing water facility in Minturn, Colorado, outside of 
the Wilderness Area, which can only be filled using the Bolts 
ditch and headgate. S. 285 would allow for a special use permit 
to be granted to the Town of Minturn, Colorado, for access to 
the ditch and headgate within the Wilderness Area.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 285 was introduced by Senator Gardner on February 2, 
2017.
    An identical bill, H.R. 689, was introduced in the House of 
Representatives by Representative Polis on January 24, 2017. 
H.R. 689 passed the House on February 6, 2017.
    In the 114th Congress, a similar measure, S. 2524, was 
introduced by Senators Gardner and Bennet on February 9, 2016. 
On May 17, 2016, the Subcommittee on Water and Power held a 
hearing on S. 2524. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources met in open business session on July 13, 2016, and 
ordered S. 2524 favorably reported as amended.
    A companion measure, H.R. 4510, was introduced in the House 
of Representatives by Representatives Polis, Lamborn, and 
Tipton on February 9, 2016. On February 25, 2016, the House 
Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Federal Lands held 
a hearing on H.R. 4510.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on March 30, 2017, and ordered S. 285 and H.R. 
689 favorably reported without amendment.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
285.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides a short title.

Section 2. Bolts Ditch access

    Section 2 grants access and use by special use 
authorization to Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate 
within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado as designated by 
Public Law 96-560 and as depicted on the referenced map for the 
purposes of the diversion of water and use, maintenance, and 
repair of such ditch and headgate to the Town of Minturn, 
Colorado.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

S. 285--Bolts Ditch Access and Use Act

    S. 285 would require the Forest Service to provide a 
special use authorization to the town of Minturn, Colorado, to 
allow the town to manage and maintain a headgate used to divert 
water to Bolts Lake. Based on an analysis of information from 
the Forest Service, CBO estimates that enacting the legislation 
would increase offsetting receipts from annual fees associated 
with the authorization by about $150 a year; therefore, pay-as-
you-go procedures apply. Enacting the legislation would not 
affect revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 285 would not increase net 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    S. 285 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would benefit the town of Minturn, Colorado; it would give the 
town easier access to the Bolts Ditch headgate so that it could 
repair and maintain the town's water supply.
    On April 7, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
689, the Bolts Ditch Access and Use Act, as ordered reported by 
the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 
30, 2017. S. 285 and H.R. 689 are similar and CBO's cost 
estimate for each piece of legislation is the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. 285. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic 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. 285, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 285, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    Because S. 285 is similar to legislation considered by the 
Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request 
Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the U.S. 
Forest Service at the hearing before the Subcommittee on Water 
and Power hearing on May 17, 2016, follows:

Statement of Leslie Weldon, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, U.S. 
             Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

    S. 2524 seeks to resolve issues associated with the use and 
maintenance of Bolts Ditch near the Town of Minturn, Colorado. 
The headgate and approximately 450 lineal feet of the ditch are 
located within the Holy Cross Wilderness on the White River 
National Forest. The United States opposed two water rights 
application cases associated with this ditch in 2006 and 2007. 
Subsequently, the United States and the applicants reached a 
stipulated agreement and settlement in both cases; where it was 
agreed that the point of diversion would be removed from the 
Holy Cross Wilderness unless (1) the point of diversion in the 
Holy Cross Wilderness is specifically authorized by the 
President, (2) the Holy Cross Wilderness boundary is altered to 
exclude the point of diversion from the Wilderness area, or (3) 
the point of diversion is confirmed by Congress to be 
specifically included as a part of the authorization of the 
Homestake Reservoir Project within the Holy Cross Wilderness 
Area.
    S. 2524 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to issue 
a special use permit to the Town of Minturn authorizing non-
motorized access to use and perform routine maintenance on the 
Bolts Ditch headgate and 450 lineal feet of Bolts Ditch in 
accordance with US Forest Service wilderness regulation. This 
bill does not authorize new construction or reconstruction.
    S. 2524 has the support of Eagle County, the Colorado River 
District, and local and national wilderness advocacy 
organizations.
    The Department does not oppose S. 2524.

                        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 as ordered 
reported.