[House Report 119-190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
119th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 119-190
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BOLTS DITCH ACT
_______
July 10, 2025.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1729]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1729) to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr.
Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for
additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance
work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the
Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that
the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Legislation
The purpose of H.R. 1729 is to amend the John D. Dingell,
Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for
additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance
work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the
Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado.
Background and Need for Legislation
Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch headgate are water
facilities located near the Town of Minturn, Colorado, that
divert water into Bolts Lake.\1\ In 1980, Congress established
the Holy Cross Wilderness in the White River and San Isabel
National Forests and inadvertently failed to include Bolts
Ditch among a list of existing water facilities excluded from
the designation, meaning the structure could not be rebuilt or
repaired for more than three decades.\2\ The inability to
rehabilitate and rebuild the Bolts Ditch headgate stymied any
development in the area, as any new development would require
the expansion of Bolts Lake to provide a water supply for
surrounding homes.\3\
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\1\Vail Daily, ``Federal Legislation authorizes repairs on Bolts
Ditch above Minturn'', https://www.vaildaily.com/news/federal-
legislation-authorizes-repairs-on-bolts-ditch-above-minturn/.
\2\U.S. Forest Service, ``Holy Cross Wilderness'', https://
www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/psicc/recarea/
?recid=37210#::text=Holy%20Cross%20Wilderness%2C%20established%20in,and
%20White%20
River%20National%20Forests.
\3\Id.
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In 2019, Congress passed the ``John D. Dingell, Jr.
Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act'' (Dingell Act),
which included a provision allowing the Town of Minturn to
access the Bolts Ditch headgate for ``the diversion of water
and use, maintenance, and repair of such ditch and
headgate.''\4\ H.R. 1729, the ``Bolts Ditch Act,'' amends the
Dingell Act to allow the Eagle River Water and Sanitation
District, a Colorado Special District, and the Upper Eagle
Regional Water Authority to also conduct maintenance and
repairs on the ditch and headgate. This commonsense change will
improve the efficiency and operation of the headgate and lead
to greater economic opportunity for the community of Minturn.
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\4\Public Law No. 116-9, https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-
congress/senate-bill/47/text.
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Committee Action
H.R. 1729 was introduced on February 27, 2025, by
Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources. On June 25, 2025, the Committee
on Natural Resources met to consider the bill. The bill was
then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by unanimous consent.
Hearings
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure:
hearing in the 118th Congress by the Subcommittee on Federal
Lands held on January 31, 2024.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 establishes that bill may be cited as the ``Bolts
Ditch Act.''
Section 2. Additional entities allowed to maintain Bolts Ditch and the
Bolts Ditch Headgate
Section 2 amends the ``John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation,
Management, and Recreation Act'' to allow the Eagle River Water
and Sanitation District, a Colorado Special District, or the
Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority to conduct maintenance
work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch headgate within the
Holy Cross Wilderness in the White River National Forest in
Colorado.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
Compliance With House Rule XIII and Congressional Budget Act
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to
clause 3(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this bill.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr.
Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for
additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance
work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the
Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado.
Earmark Statement
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Statement
An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chair of
the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee, if such
estimate is not publicly available on the Congressional Budget
Office website.
Existing Programs
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italics and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
JOHN D. DINGELL, JR. CONSERVATION, MANAGEMENT, AND RECREATION ACT
* * * * * * *
TITLE I--PUBLIC LAND AND FORESTS
* * * * * * *
Subtitle B--Public Land and National Forest System Management
SEC. 1101. 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 (94 Stat. 3265), 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, the Eagle River Water and Sanitation
District, a Colorado Special District, or the Upper Eagle
Regional Water Authority, an authority organized under the laws
of the State of Colorado.
(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'' and dated November 2015.
* * * * * * *
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