[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2575 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2575
To amend the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 1993
Mr. Smith of Oregon (for himself, Mr. Allard, Mr. Dooley, Mr. Dornan,
Mr. Crapo, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hansen, Mr. LaRocco, Mr. Lehman,
and Mr. Doolittle) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CERTIFICATION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
Section 206 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390ff)
is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(a)'' after ``Sec. 206.'';
(2) by inserting ``whose total landholding westwide exceeds
320 acres'' after ``such district'';
(3) by striking ``title'' and inserting ``Act'';
(4) by inserting at the end of subsection (a), as so
designated by paragraph (1) of this section, the following new
sentence: ``In the event that there is no change from the
information contained in the form previously submitted, a
landowner or lessee may notify the district in writing that no
change has occurred in lieu of submitting a new form.''; and
(5) by inserting after subsection (a), as so designated by
paragraph (1) of this section, the following:
``(b)(1) In the case of noncompliance in connection with reporting
and certification forms for incidents of noncompliance violations based
on errors, good faith questions of interpretation or unintentional
omissions, the Secretary shall have the authority to impose penalties
not to exceed $1,500 per year against the person or legal entity who is
in such noncompliance. For the imposition of the penalty, the Secretary
shall establish a table of penalties which shall account for the
acreage of the person or legal entity in violation and the number of
their previous violations, if any. A penalty under this paragraph may
not be applied to any person or legal entity who is otherwise liable if
the violation was discovered and reported to the Secretary or his
authorized representative by the liable person or legal entity and
corrected within 30 days of the submission of the form. In the event
the person or legal entity in noncompliance under this section received
irrigation water on ineligible lands or at less than the appropriate
water rate, the total penalty imposed against the noncomplying person
or legal entity shall not exceed $1,500 per year, and the noncomplying
person or legal entity shall not be subject to the underpayment penalty
provisions set forth in section 224(i) of the Act.
``(2) The Secretary shall collect the fines and penalties assessed
pursuant to this subsection from the person or legal entity who is in
violation and not the district which delivers the irrigation water to
the person or legal entity who is in violation.
``(3) Any funds recovered by the Secretary pursuant to this
subsection shall be covered into the Reclamation Fund and placed to the
credit of the district from whence such funds were derived.
``(4) The Secretary is directed to review all compliance violations
identified prior to the date of enactment of this subsection. In the
case of incidents of noncompliance based on errors, late submissions of
forms, good faith questions of interpretations, and unintentional
omissions, in lieu of an assessment of full cost, whether or not
previously collected from the landholder or district, the Secretary may
impose penalties of up to $1,500 per year against the person or legal
entity who was in violation. Any amounts collected in excess thereof
shall be refunded or credited to future payments of the district. The
Secretary shall collect the fines and penalties from the person or
legal entity who was in violation.
``(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any determination
of noncompliance by the Secretary under this section or under section
224(i) shall be in accordance with chapter 5 of title 5 of the United
States Code (relating to administrative procedure) and subject to an
adjudicatory hearing. No penalty shall be imposed by the Secretary on a
landholder for failure to comply with any provision of this Act and the
regulations established pursuant to this Act after one year from the
date of noncompliance unless such noncompliance was the result of fraud
or intentional misrepresentation of fact by the landholder.''.
SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on January 1,
1994.
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