110 HR 29 RH: To authorize the Secretary of the Interior
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-12-19
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.For the purposes of this Act, the following
definitions apply:
(1)The
term District
means the Fallbrook Public Utility District, San
Diego County, California.
(2)The
term Project
means the impoundment, recharge, treatment, and
other facilities the construction, operation, watershed management, and
maintenance of which is authorized under section 2.
(3)The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of the Interior, unless
otherwise stated.
2.Authorization for
construction of santa margarita river project
(a)The
Secretary, acting pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17,
1902; 32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, as
far as those laws are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, is
authorized to construct, operate, and maintain the Project substantially in
accordance with the final feasibility report and this Act.
(b)The
Secretary may construct the Project only after the Secretary determines that
the following conditions have occurred:
(1)The District and
the Navy have entered into contracts under sections 9(c)2 and 9(e) of the
Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to repay to the United States equitable and
appropriate portions, as determined by the Secretary, of the actual costs of
constructing, operating, and maintaining the Project.
(2)The officer or
agency of the State of California authorized by law to grant permits for the
appropriation of water has granted such permits to the Bureau of Reclamation
for the benefit of the Department of the Navy and the District as permittees
for rights to the use of water for storage and diversion as provided in this
Act, including approval of all requisite changes in points of diversion and
storage, and purposes and places of use.
(3)The District has
agreed that it will not assert against the United States any prior
appropriative right the District may have to water in excess of the quantity
deliverable to it under this Act, and will share in the use of the waters
impounded by the Project on the basis of equal priority and in accordance with
the ratio prescribed in section 4(b). This agreement and waiver and the changes
in points of diversion and storage under paragraph (2), shall become effective
and binding only when the Project has been completed and put into operation and
may be varied by agreement between the District and the Secretary of the
Navy.
(4)The Secretary has
determined that the Project has economic, environmental, and engineering
feasibility.
3.Upon completion of the construction of the
Project, the Department of the Navy shall be responsible to repay to the
Secretary only that portion of the construction, operation and maintenance
costs of the Project that the Secretary and the Secretary of the Navy determine
reflects the extent to which the Department of the Navy benefits from the
Project. Provided that the Secretary is hereby authorized to enter into a
contract with the Secretary of the Navy for the impounding, storage, treatment,
and carriage of prior rights water for domestic, municipal, fish and wildlife,
industrial and other beneficial purposes using Project facilities.
4.Operation; yield
allotment; delivery
(a)The
operation of the Project, subject to a memorandum of agreement between the
Secretary, the Navy, and the District and under regulations satisfactory to the
Secretary of the Navy with respect to the Navy’s share of the project, may be
by the Secretary, the District, or a third party consistent with section
6.
(b)Except as otherwise agreed between the parties, the
Department of the Navy and the District shall participate in the Project yield
on the basis of equal priority and in accordance with the following
ratio:
(1)60 percent of the
Project’s yield is allotted to the Secretary of the Navy.
(2)40 percent of the
Project’s yield is allotted to the District.
(c)Contracts for
Delivery of Excess Water
(1)Excess water
available to other personsIf the Secretary of the Navy certifies
to the official agreed upon to administer the Project that the Department of
the Navy does not have immediate need for any portion of the 60 percent of the
Project’s yield allotted to the Secretary of the Navy under subsection (b), the
official may enter into temporary contracts for the sale and delivery of the
excess water.
(2)First right for
excess waterThe first right to excess water to be made available
under paragraph (1) shall be given the District, if otherwise consistent with
the laws of the State of California.
(3)Each contract entered into under paragraph (1) for the
sale and delivery of excess water shall include a condition that the Secretary
of the Navy has the right to demand that water, without charge and without
obligation on the part of the United States, after 30 days notice.
(4)Modification of
rights and obligationsThe rights and obligations of the United
States and the District regarding the ratio, amounts, definition of Project
yield, and payment for excess water may be modified by an agreement between the
parties.
(d)
(1)Moneys paid to the United States under a contract entered
into under subsection (c) shall be deposited in the special account established
for the Department of the Navy under paragraph (1) of section 2667(d) of title
10, United States Code, and shall be available for the purposes specified in
subparagraph (C) of such paragraph. Subparagraph (D) of such paragraph shall
not apply to moneys deposited in the special account pursuant to this
subsection.
(2)In lieu of monetary consideration under paragraph
(1), or in addition to such consideration, the Secretary of the Navy may accept
in-kind consideration in a form and quantity that is acceptable to the
Secretary of the Navy, including the following forms of in-kind
consideration:
(A)Maintenance,
protection, alteration, repair, improvement, or restoration (including
environmental restoration) of property or facilities of the Department of the
Navy.
(B)Construction of
new facilities for the Department of the Navy.
(C)Provision of
facilities for use by the Department of the Navy.
(D)Facilities
operation support for the Department of the Navy.
(E)Provision of such
other services as the Secretary of the Navy considers appropriate.
(3)Sections 2662 and 2802 of title 10, United States
Code, shall not apply to any new facilities whose construction is accepted as
in-kind consideration under this subsection.
(4)Congressional
notificationIf the in-kind consideration proposed to be provided
under a contract to be entered into under subsection (c) has a value in excess
of $500,000, the contract may not be entered into until the earlier of the
following:
(A)The end of the
30-day period beginning on the date on which a report describing the contract
and the form and quantity of the in-kind consideration is submitted by the
Secretary of the Navy to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the
Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
(B)The end of the
14-day period beginning on the date on which a copy of the report referred to
in subparagraph (A) is provided in an electronic medium pursuant to section 480
of title 10, United States Code.
5.Repayment
obligation of the district
(a)The general repayment obligation of the District shall be
determined by the Secretary of the Interior consistent with sections 9(c)2 and
9(e) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to repay to the United States
equitable and appropriate portions, as determined by the Secretary, of the
actual costs of constructing, operating, and maintaining the Project; provided,
however, that for the purposes of calculating interest and determining the time
when the District’s repayment obligation to the United States commences, the
pumping and treatment of groundwater from the Project shall be deemed
equivalent to the first use of water from a water storage project. There shall
be no repayment obligation under this section for water delivered to the
District under a contract as provided in section 4(c).
(b)Modification of
Rights and Obligation by AgreementThe rights and obligations of
the United States and the District regarding the repayment obligation of the
District may be modified by an agreement between the parties.
6.Transfer of care,
operation, and maintenanceThe
Secretary may transfer to the District, or a mutually agreed upon third party,
the care, operation, and maintenance of the Project under conditions
satisfactory to the Secretary and the District, and with respect to the portion
of the Project that is located within the boundaries of Camp Pendleton,
satisfactory also to the Secretary of the Navy. If such a transfer takes place,
the District shall be entitled to an equitable credit for the costs associated
with the Secretary’s proportionate share of the operation and maintenance of
the Project. The amount of such costs shall be applied against the indebtedness
of the District to the United States.
7.For the purpose of this
Act, the basis, measure, and limit of all rights of the United States
pertaining to the use of water shall be the laws of the State of California.
Provided that nothing in this Act shall be construed—
(1)as a grant or a
relinquishment by the United States of any rights to the use of water that it
acquired according to the laws of the State of California, either as a result
of its acquisition of the lands comprising Camp Joseph H. Pendleton and
adjoining naval installations, and the rights to the use of water as a part of
that acquisition, or through actual use or prescription or both since the date
of that acquisition, if any;
(2)to create any
legal obligation to store any water in the Project, to the use of which the
United States has such rights;
(3)to require the
division under this Act of water to which the United States has such rights;
or
(4)to constitute a
recognition of, or an admission by the United States that, the District has any
rights to the use of water in the Santa Margarita River, which rights, if any,
exist only by virtue of the laws of the State of California.
8.Limitations on
operation and administrationUnless otherwise agreed by the Secretary of
the Navy, the Project—
(1)shall be operated
in a manner which allows the free passage of all of the water to the use of
which the United States is entitled according to the laws of the State of
California either as a result of its acquisition of the lands comprising Camp
Joseph H. Pendleton and adjoining naval installations, and the rights to the
use of water as a part of those acquisitions, or through actual use or
prescription, or both, since the date of that acquisition, if any; and
(2)shall not be
administered or operated in any way which will impair or deplete the quantities
of water the use of which the United States would be entitled under the laws of
the State of California had the Project not been built.
9.Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury of the United
States not otherwise appropriated, the following—
(1)$60,000,000 (the
current estimated construction cost of the Project, plus or minus such amounts
as may be indicated by the engineering cost indices for this type of
construction); and
(2)such sums as may
be required to operate and maintain the said project.
10.Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this Act and periodically thereafter, the
Secretary and the Secretary of the Navy shall each report to the Congress
regarding if the conditions specified in section 2(b) have been met and if so,
the details of how they were met.
11.The authority of the Secretary to complete
construction of the Project shall terminate 10 years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
January 15, 2008
Committee on Armed Services discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be
printed