USC Subchapter XI

USC Subchapter XI
in effect

43 U.S.C. § 491 Authority of Secretary to operate works

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to use the reclamation fund for the operation and maintenance of all reservoirs and irrigation works constructed under the provisions of this Act.

43 U.S.C. § 492 Operation and maintenance charges generally

In addition to the construction charge, every water-right applicant, entryman, or landowner under or upon a reclamation project shall also pay, whenever water service is available for the irrigation of his land, an operation and maintenance charge based upon the total cost of operation and maintenance of the project, or each separate unit thereof, and such charge shall be made for each acre-foot of water delivered; but each acre of irrigable land, whether irrigated or not, shall be charged with a minimum operation and maintenance charge based upon the charge for delivery of not less than one acre-foot of water. If the total amount of operation and maintenance charges and penalties collected for any one irrigation season on any project shall exceed the cost of operation and maintenance of the project during that irrigation season, the balance shall be applied to a reduction of the charge on the project for the next irrigation season, and any deficit incurred may likewise be added to the charge for the next irrigation season.

43 U.S.C. § 493 Operation charges; date of payment; discount; advance payment

All operation and maintenance charges upon projects existing prior to December 5, 1924, shall become due and payable on the date fixed for each project by the Secretary of the Interior, and if such charge is paid on or before the date when due there shall be a discount of 5 per centum of such charge. All contracts providing for new projects and new divisions of projects approved after December 5, 1924, shall require that all operation and maintenance charges shall be payable in advance. In each case where the care, operation, and maintenance of a project or division of a project are transferred to the water users the contract shall require the payment of operation and maintenance charges in advance. Whenever an adjustment of water charges is made under sections 371, 376, 377, 412, 417, 433, 438,11 See References in Text note below. 462, 463,1 466, 467,1 473,1 474,1 478, 493, 494, 500, 501 and 526 of this title the adjustment contract shall provide that thereafter all operation and maintenance charges shall be payable in advance.

43 U.S.C. § 494 Pecuniary penalty for nonpayment of operation charge

If any operation or maintenance charge is unpaid on the 1st day of the third calendar month after it became due a penalty of 1 per centum of the amount unpaid shall be added thereto, and thereafter an additional penalty of one-half of 1 per centum of the amount unpaid shall be added on the 1st day of each calendar month if such charge and penalties shall remain unpaid.

43 U.S.C. § 495 Shutting off water for nonpayment of operation charge

No water shall be delivered to the lands of any water-right applicant or entryman who shall be in arrears for more than one calendar year for the payment of any charge for operation and maintenance.

43 U.S.C. § 496 Cancellation of entry or water right for nonpayment of operation charge

If any water-right applicant or entryman shall be one year in arrears in the payment of any charge for operation and maintenance and penalties, or any part thereof, his water-right application, and if he be a homestead entryman his entry also, shall be subject to cancellation, and all payments made by him forfeited to the reclamation fund, but no homestead entry shall be subject to contest because of such arrears.

43 U.S.C. § 497 Action to recover operation charge and penalty

In the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior suit or action may be brought for the amounts of operation or maintenance charges in default and penalties in like manner as provided in section 481 of this title.

43 U.S.C. § 498 Transfer of management and operation of works to water users generally

When the payments required by this Act are made for the major portion of the lands irrigated from the waters of any of the works herein provided for, then the management and operation of such irrigation works shall pass to the owners of the lands irrigated thereby, to be maintained at their expense under such form of organization and under such rules and regulations as may be acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior; Provided, That the title to and the management and operation of the reservoirs and the works necessary for their protection and operation shall remain in the Government until otherwise provided by Congress.

43 U.S.C. § 499 Discretionary power to transfer management

Whenever any legally organized water-users’ association or irrigation district shall so request, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to transfer to such water-users’ association or irrigation district the care, operation, and maintenance of all or any part of the project works, subject to such rules and regulations as he may prescribe.

43 U.S.C. § 499a Transfer of title to movable property; use of appropriations

Whenever an irrigation district, municipality, or water users’ organization assumes operation and maintenance of works constructed to furnish or distribute a water supply pursuant to a contract entered into with the United States in accordance with the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto), the Secretary of the Interior may transfer to said district, municipality, or organization title to movable property which has been purchased with funds advanced by the district, municipality, or organization or which, in the case of property purchased with appropriated funds, is necessary to the operation and maintenance of such works and the value of which is to be repaid under a contract with the district, municipality, or organization. In order to encourage the assumption by irrigation districts, municipalities, and water users’ organizations of the operation and maintenance of works constructed to furnish or distribute a water supply, the Secretary is authorized to use appropriated funds available for the project involved to acquire movable property for transfer under the terms and conditions hereinbefore provided, at the time operation and maintenance is assumed.

43 U.S.C. § 499b Transfer to municipal corporations or other organizations of care, operation, and maintenance of works supplying water for municipal, domestic, or industrial use

Whenever a municipal corporation or other organization to which water for municipal, domestic, or industrial use is furnished or distributed under a contract entered into with the United States pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws so requests, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to transfer to it or its nominee the care, operation, and maintenance of the works by which such water supply is made available or such part of those works as, in his judgment, is appropriate in the circumstances, subject to such terms and conditions as he may prescribe.

43 U.S.C. § 500 Duty of association or district to take over management

Whenever two-thirds of the irrigable area of any project, or division of a project, shall be covered by water-right contracts between the water users and the United States, said project shall be required, as a condition precedent to receiving the benefits of sections 371, 376, 377, 412, 417, 433, 438,11 See References in Text note below. 462, 463,1 466, 467,1 473,1 474,1 478, 493, 494, 500, 501, and 526 of this title to take over, through a legally organized water-users’ association or irrigation district, the care, operation, and maintenance of all or any part of the project works, subject to such rules and regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, and thereafter the United States, in its relation to said project, shall deal with a water users’ association or irrigation district, and when the water users assume control of a project, the operation and maintenance charges for the year then current shall be covered into the construction account to be repaid as part of the construction repayments.

43 U.S.C. § 501 Disposition of profits of project taken over by water users

Whenever the water users take over the care, operation, and maintenance of a project, or a division of a project, the total accumulated net profits, as determined by the Secretary, derived from the operation of project power plants, leasing of project grazing and farm lands, and the sale or use of town sites shall be credited to the construction charge of the project, or a division thereof, and thereafter the net profits from such sources may be used by the water users to be credited annually, first, on account of project construction charge, second, on account of project operation and maintenance charge, and third, as the water users may direct. No distribution to individual water users shall be made out of any such profits before all obligations to the Government shall have been fully paid.

43 U.S.C. § 502 Emergency fund to assure continuous operation of projects and project facilities governed by Federal reclamation law

In order to assure continuous operation of all projects and project facilities governed by the Federal reclamation law (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto), including any project and facilities constructed with funds provided by the Small Reclamation Projects Act (Act of August 6, 1956, 70 Stat. 1044, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto) [43 U.S.C. 422a et seq.] or with funds provided by the Distribution System Loans Act (Act of May 14, 1956, 69 Stat. 244, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto), there is hereby authorized to be appropriated from the reclamation fund an emergency fund which shall be available for defraying expenses which the Commissioner of Reclamation determines are required to be incurred because of unusual or emergency conditions.

43 U.S.C. § 503 “Unusual or emergency conditions” defined

The term “unusual or emergency conditions”, as used in section 502 of this title, shall be construed to mean canal bank failures, generator failures, damage to transmission lines; or other physical failures or damage, or acts of God, or of the public enemy, fires, floods, drought, epidemics, strikes, or freight embargoes, or conditions, causing or threatening to cause interruption in water or power service.

43 U.S.C. § 504 Rehabilitation and betterment of Federal reclamation projects, including small reclamation proj­ects; return of costs; interest; definitions; performance of work

Expenditures of funds hereafter specifically appropriated for rehabilitation and betterment of any project constructed under authority of the Small Reclamation Projects Act (Act of August 6, 1956, 70 Stat. 1044, and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto) [43 U.S.C. 422a et seq.] and of irrigation systems on projects governed by the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto), shall be made only after the organizations concerned shall have obligated themselves for the return thereof, in installments fixed in accordance with their ability to pay, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior in the light of their outstanding repayment obligations, and which shall, to the fullest practicable extent, be scheduled for return with their construction charge installments or otherwise scheduled as he shall determine: Provided, That repayment of such loans made for small reclamation projects shall include interest in accordance with the provisions of said Small Reclamation Projects Act. No such determination of the Secretary of the Interior shall become effective until the expiration of sixty days after it has been submitted to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; except that, any such determination may become effective prior to the expiration of such sixty days in any case in which each such committee approves an earlier date and notifies the Secretary in writing, of such approval: Provided, That when Congress is not in session the Secretary’s determination, if accompanied by a finding by the Secretary that substantial hardship to the water users concerned or substantial further injury to the project works will result, shall become effective when the chairman and ranking minority member of each such committee shall file with the Secretary their written approval of said findings. The term “rehabilitation and betterment”, as used in this section, shall mean maintenance, including replacements, which cannot be financed currently, as otherwise contemplated by the Federal reclamation laws in the case of operation and maintenance costs, but shall not include construction, the costs of which are returnable, in whole or in part, through “construction charges” as that term is defined in section 485a(d) of this title. Such rehabilitation and betterment work may be performed by contract, by force-account, or, notwithstanding any other law and subject to such reasonable terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior shall deem appropriate for the protection of the United States, by contract entered into with the organization concerned whereby such organization shall perform such work.

43 U.S.C. § 505 Drainage facilities and minor construction in irrigation works; contracts with repayment organizations; limitation on costs; submission of contract to Congress

Funds appropriated for the construction of irrigation works authorized to be undertaken pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto), the Act of August 11, 1939 (53 Stat. 1418), as amended [16 U.S.C. 590y et seq.], or other Acts of Congress may, insofar as such funds are available for the construction of drainage facilities and other minor items, be utilized by the Secretary of the Interior to accomplish such work by contract, by force account or, notwithstanding any other law and subject only to such reasonable terms and conditions as the Secretary shall deem appropriate for the protection of the United States, by contract entered into with the repayment organization concerned whereby said organization shall perform such work: Provided, That in the event construction work to be accomplished by any one repayment organization, pursuant to contract with the United States, exceeds a total cost of $200,000, such contract shall not be executed by the Secretary prior to the expiration of sixty calendar days (which sixty days, however, shall not include days on which either the House of Representatives or the Senate is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain) from the date on which it has been submitted to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate for reference to the appropriate Committees, except that such contract may be executed prior to expiration of such sixty days in any case in which both such Committees approve said contract and notify the Secretary in writing of such approval.

43 U.S.C. § 505a Definitions

In sections 505a to 505a–2 of this title: (1) Asset(A) In generalThe term “asset” means any of the following assets that are used to achieve the mission of the Bureau to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the people of the United States:(i) Capitalized facilities, buildings, structures, project features, power production equipment, recreation facilities, or quarters. (ii) Capitalized and noncapitalized heavy equipment and other installed equipment. (B) InclusionsThe term “asset” includes assets described in subparagraph (A) that are considered to be mission critical. (2) Asset Management ReportThe term “Asset Management Report” means—(A) the annual plan prepared by the Bureau known as the “Asset Management Plan”; and (B) any publicly available information relating to the plan described in subparagraph (A) that summarizes the efforts of the Bureau to evaluate and manage infrastructure assets of the Bureau. (3) Major repair and rehabilitation needThe term “major repair and rehabilitation need” means major nonrecurring maintenance at a Reclamation facility, including maintenance related to the safety of dams, extraordinary maintenance of dams, deferred major maintenance activities, and all other significant repairs and extraordinary maintenance.

43 U.S.C. § 505a–1 Asset Management Report enhancements for reserved works

(a) In generalNot later than 2 years after March 12, 2019, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an Asset Management Report that—(1) describes the efforts of the Bureau—(A) to maintain in a reliable manner all reserved works at Reclamation facilities; and (B) to standardize and streamline data reporting and processes across regions and areas for the purpose of maintaining reserved works at Reclamation facilities; and (2) expands on the information otherwise provided in an Asset Management Report, in accordance with subsection (b). (b) Infrastructure maintenance needs assessment(1) In generalThe Asset Management Report submitted under subsection (a) shall include—(A) a detailed assessment of major repair and rehabilitation needs for all reserved works at all Reclamation projects; and (B) to the maximum extent practicable, an itemized list of major repair and rehabilitation needs of individual Reclamation facilities at each Reclamation project. (2) InclusionsTo the maximum extent practicable, the itemized list of major repair and rehabilitation needs under paragraph (1)(B) shall include—(A) a budget level cost estimate of the appropriations needed to complete each item; and (B) an assignment of a categorical rating for each item, consistent with paragraph (3). (3) Rating requirements(A) In generalThe system for assigning ratings under paragraph (2)(B) shall be—(i) consistent with existing uniform categorization systems to inform the annual budget process and agency requirements; and (ii) subject to the guidance and instructions issued under subparagraph (B). (B) GuidanceAs soon as practicable after March 12, 2019, the Secretary shall issue guidance that describes the applicability of the rating system applicable under paragraph (2)(B) to Reclamation facilities. (4) Public availabilityExcept as provided in paragraph (5), the Secretary shall make publicly available, including on the internet, the Asset Management Report required under subsection (a). (5) ConfidentialityThe Secretary may exclude from the public version of the Asset Management Report made available under paragraph (4) any information that the Secretary identifies as sensitive or classified, but shall make available to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a version of the report containing the sensitive or classified information. (c) UpdatesNot later than 2 years after the date on which the Asset Management Report is submitted under subsection (a) and biennially thereafter, the Secretary shall update the Asset Management Report, subject to the requirements of section 505a–2(b)(2) of this title. (d) ConsultationTo the extent that such consultation would assist the Secretary in preparing the Asset Management Report under subsection (a) and updates to the Asset Management Report under subsection (c), the Secretary shall consult with—(1) the Secretary of the Army (acting through the Chief of Engineers); and (2) water and power contractors.

43 U.S.C. § 505a–2 Asset Management Report enhancements for transferred works

(a) In generalThe Secretary shall coordinate with the non-Federal entities responsible for the operation and maintenance of transferred works in developing reporting requirements for Asset Management Reports with respect to major repair and rehabilitation needs for transferred works that are similar to the reporting requirements described in section 505a–1(b) of this title. (b) Guidance(1) In generalAfter considering input from water and power contractors of the Bureau, the Secretary shall develop and implement a rating system for transferred works that incorporates, to the maximum extent practicable, the rating system for major repair and rehabilitation needs for reserved works developed under section 505a–1(b)(3) of this title. (2) UpdatesThe ratings system developed under paragraph (1) shall be included in the updated Asset Management Reports under section 505a–1(c) of this title.

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