79TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R.
1824
A BILL
To provide for the creation of conservation authorities, and for other purposes.
By Mr. RANKIN JANUARY 29,1945
79TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
'. R.528
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 3,1945
~fr. O'CONNOR introduced th~ following bill; which was referred to the
Com-mittee on Irrigation and Reclamation
A
BILL
~ro amend sections 4, 7, and 17 of the Reclanlation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187), for the purpose of extending the time in. "rhich amendatory contracts may be made, and for •
other related purposes.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-2 tives of the United States of America in Oongress assembled, ~ That section 4 (d) of the Reclnrnation Project Act of 1939 4 is hereby amended to read as follows:
5 (' (d) For each project contract unit where a repayment 6 contract is entered into pursuant to this section, each year 7 the per centum of the norn1al returns for said year by which 8 the annual returns of said year exceed or are less than said 9 normal returns shall be detennined by the Secretary. For
2
~ each unit or major fraction of a unit of said percentage of
2 said increase or decrease there shall be an increase or 3 decrease, respectively, of 2 per centum in the amount or
4 amounts of the installnlent or installments for said year under
5 the organization's obligation or obligations as determined
6 under subsections (b) and (c) of this section. Said latter 7 alTIOunt or amounts as thus increased or decreased shall be 8 the payment Dr payments .of construction charges due and
9 payable for said year, except that in no event shall the 10 amount of the said payment or payments due and payable 11 for any year be less than
15
per centum nor, as determined 12 by the Secretary, nlore than frorn 150 to 200 per centum, 13 inclusive, of the amount or anlounts of the installment or 14 installments for said year under the organization's obligation• 15 or obligations as detennincd under subsections (b) and (e) 16 of this section. The Secretary is hereby authorized to amend 17 any repayment contracts heretofore or hereafter entered 18 into pursuant to the provisions of this section to conform 19 to the proyisions of t his ~Jnrl1(hnent."
20 SEC. 2. Section 7 (r) of thr B eclanlation Project Act 21 of 1939 is hereby amended to read as follows:
22 a (c) The Secretary ironl tilne to tin1e shall· report to 23 the Congress on any proposed contracts negotiated pursuant
24 to the authority of subsection (a) or (b) (1) of this section,
3
1 States only after appro~al thereof has been given by Act
2 of Oongress. Oontracts so approved, however, may be
3 amended from time to time by mutual agreement and
with-•
4 out further approval by Oongress if such amendments are
5 within the scope of authority heretofore or hereafter granted
6 to the Secretary under any Act, except that amendments 7 providing for repayment of construction charges in a period
8 of years longer than authorized by this Act, as it may be
9 amended, shall be effective only when approved by
10 Oongress."
11 SEC. 3. Section 17 of the Reclamation Project Act of
12 1939 is hereby amended to read as follows:
13 " (a) The authority granted in sections 3 and 4 of this
14 Act for modification of existing repayment contracts or other 15 forms of obligations to pay construction charges snail continue
16 through December 31, 1950, or December 31 of the fifth full
17 calendar year after the cessation of hostilities in the present
18 war, as determined by proclamation of the President or
con-19 current resolution of the Oongress, whichever period is the
20 longer.
21 " (b) The Secretary is hereby authorized, subject to the
22 provisions of this subsection, to defer the time for the
pay-23 ment of such part of any installments of construction charges
24 under any repayment contract or other form of obligation
4
1 are due and unpaid as of the -date of this amendment or 2 which will become due prior to the expiration of the au-3 thority under subsection (a) of this section as he deems
nec-4 essary to adjust such installments to amounts within the
5 probable ability of the water users to pay. Any such
defer-6 n1ent shall be effected only after findjngs by the Secretary 7 that the installments under consideration probably cannot be
8 paid on their due dates vvithout undue burden on the water
9 users, considering the various factors which in the
Secre-10 tary's judgment bear on the ability of the water users so to
11 pay.
12 "The Secretary may effect the deferments hereunder
13 subject to such conditions and provisions relating to the
oper-14 ation and maintenance of the project involved as he deems
15 to be in the interest of the United States. If, however, any
16 deferments would effect installments to accrue more than
17 tvvelve months after the action of deferment, they shall be
18 effected only by a formal suppJemental contract. Such a
19 contract shall provide by its terms that, it being only an 20 interjm solution of the repayment problems dealt with therein,
21 its terms are not, in themselves, to be construed as a criterion
22 of the terms of any amendatory contract that may be nego-23 tiated pursuant to sections 3, 4, or 7 of this Act."
79-rH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 528
A BILL
To amend sections 4, 7, and 17 of the Reclama-tion Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187), for the purpose of extending the time in which amendatory contracts may be made, and for other related purposes.
By Mr. O'CONNOR
JANUARY 3,1945
Referred to the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation
79'J;'H CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H.
R.520
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
c:::tr
JANUARY 3,1945Mr. MURDOOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-mittee on Irrigation and Reclamation
A BILL
To facilitate settlement of returning veterans on farms in projects constructed, operated, and n1aintained by the Bureau' of Reclamation.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representa-2 t'ives of the United States of Arnerica in Congress assel1~bled, 3 That (a) for a period of twenty years following the effective
4 date of thjs Act, veterans shall have a ninety-day preferred
5 right of purchase as provided in this section, with respect to
6 lands when made available by the Secretary of the Interior 7 for purchase on projects constructed, operated, or maintained
8 by the Bureau of Reclamation, l/epartment of the Interior.
9 (1) When the Secretary determines that any tract or
10 tracts of land owned by the United States on projects
2
1 structed, operated, or maintained by the Bureau of
Reclama-2 tion are available for purchase for irrigation farming, he shall 3 announce their availability, and shall immediately furnish
4 copies of the announcement to veteran agencies.
5 ( c) The Secretary shall, in accordance with the pro- .
6 visions of subsection C of section 4 of the Act of December 7 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 672, 702) , determine the qualifications to 8 be required of veterans and other applicants for the purchas-e
9 of acquired or public lands. In determining whether a vet-10 eran applicant possesses funds sufficient to meet the capital 11 requirements prescribed 'pursuant to said Act, moneys ad-12 vanced to veterans as operating capital shall be deemed a, c-13 ceptable as a substitute for all or a portion of the capital 14 requirements so prescribed. I
15 ( d) The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs and the 16 heads of other Federal agencies which are now or hereafter 17 authorized to make provision for the reestablishment of 18 veterans in civil life (herein called veterans' agencies) shall 19 inform veterans of settlement opportunities on projects
con-20 structed, operated, or maintained by the Bureau of Reclama-21 tion. The veterans' agencies are further authorized and di-22 rected to exercise the authority with respect to veterans'
23 assistance now or hereafter conferred upon them by Jaw, to 24 the fullest extent consistent with' the general policies and
3
1 case of other veterans, for the extension of such assistance,
2 subject to the applicable legislative or administrative
restric-3 tions, in furtherance of the following ends:
4 ( 1 ) That qualified veterans desiring to settle on
5 lands within any project constructed, operated, or
main-6 tained by the 'Bureau of Reclamation shall be afforded 7 through such agencies financial assistance for the
pur-8 chase of land, for the acquisition or erection of housing,
9 farm buildings and adjuncts, improvements, equipment,
10 chattels, and operating capital, and for transportation to
11 the project;
12 ( 2) That banks shall be encouraged to make loans
13 on reasonable terms to veterans for the purchase of land
14 within any such project, and the acquisition or erection
15 of housing, farm buildings and adjuncts, improvements,
16 equipment, chattels, and operating capital; and
17 (3) That the Secretary may be enabled to extend
18 guidance and advice to vet~ran settlers on lands within
19 the project in matters of irrigation farming.
20 The veterans' agencies shall, to the fullest extent practicable,
21 cooperate with the Secretary in all activities now or
here-22 after authorized by this Act or other applicable law that 23 are related to the accomplishment of the foregoing ends. 24 Nothing contained in this Act shall be deemed to confer 25 upon the Secretary jurisdiction over the operations of the
4
•
1 veterans' agencies in extending financial or other assistance
2 to veterans.
3 SEC. 2. (a) rrhe Secretary is authorized to administer
4 the public lands of the United States within any such
5 project and the lands acquired under this Act; to sell,
6 exchange, or lease such public or acquired lands; to
ac-7 cept donations of real or personal property for the purpose
8 of .this Act; to acquire by purchase in the name of the
9 United States, at prIces satisfactory to him, such lands or
10 interests in lands within or adjacent to any such projects
11 as he deems appropriate for the protection, development,
12 or improvement of the projects and other purposes in
keep-13 ing with this Act; to improve any such lands or other
14 lands by contract vvith the owners, within the projects by
15 clearing, leveling, and preparing theIll for the handling
16 of' irrigation water; to make provision for domestic water
17 for farms within the projects; to sell, exchange, or lease
18 property being administered under this Act; to extend
19 guidance and advice to settlers on lands. within the projects
20 in matters of irrigation farming, and to dissemi?ate
in-21 formation by appropriate means and methods. Any mon~ys
22 realized on account of donations for the purposes of this
23 Act shall be covered into the Treasury as trust funds.
24 (b) Oontracts, exchanges, and leases made under the
Secre-1 tary's judgment, are in ke"eping with sound project
develop-2 ment and bu~ines~ principles, and shall be subject to the
3 express requirements hereinafter prescribed. Leases of lands
4 shall be for periods not exceeding ten years.
5 ( c) Oontracts for the sale of land shall be on a basis that,
6 In the Secretary's judgment, will provide the return in a
7 reasonable period of years of not less than the appraised
8 value of the land and the improvements thereon. Lands ac-£.) quired by the United States pursuant to this Act and public
10 lands of the United States within the projects may be
dis-11 posed of in farm units of such ~izes as the Secretary
deter-12 mines to be adequate to provide a reasonable level of living,
13 having in mind the character of soil, topography, location
14 with respect to the irrigation system, and such other factors
15 as the Secretary regards as relevant: Provided That the
16 area <.Iisposed of to an individual men1ber of a family shall,
17 so far as practicable, be such that the aggregate of the lands
18 within the project to which the several members of such
19 family have legal or equitable title shall not exceed one 20 hundred and sixty acres .. Sales to any individual shall be of
21 no lllore than one farm unit.
22 ( d) Oontracts for the clearing, leveling, and preparing of 23 lands for the handling of irrigation water and for providing 24 don1estic water supplies may be ll1ade with individual water
6
I" users or water users' organizations satisfactory to the
Secre-2 tary, and shall be on a basis that, in the Secretary's judgment,
3 will provide the return in a reasonable period of years of the
4 costs incurred by the United States for the performance of
5 the work involved.
6 SEC. 3. (a) The Secretary may enter into agreements
7 to pay annual sums in lieu of taxes to the State within which
8 a project is located or to political subdivisions thereof with
9 respect to any real property situated therein after acquisition
10 pursuant to the authority of this Act .and before execution
11 by the United States of a contract of sale covering it, out of
12 funds derived from the leasing of any such real property so
13 acquired. The amount so paid for any year shall not exceed
14 the taxes that were assessed by the State or subdivision, as 15 the case may be, upon the property involved for the year
16 immediately preceding its acquisition under the. authority
17 of this Act. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions
18 of this subsection, rental receipts shall be covered into a
spe-19 cial fund of the Treasury and shall be available for
expendi-20 ture and disposition in accordance with this subsection.
21 (b) Any public lands within the project and any lands
22 or interests in lands acquired by the United States under
23 this Act, be~inning at such date or dates and subject to such
24 provisions and limitations as may be fixed or provided by
be-7
1 (1) subject to the provisions of the laws of the 2 State in which the project is located relating to the ·3 organization, government, and regulation of the
respec-4 tive irrigation, reclamation, conservancy, drainage, or 5 similar district in which the lands are included; and 6 (2) subject to legal assessment or taxation by any 7 such district and to liens for such assessments and taxes 8 and to all proceedings for the enforcement thereof, in 9 the same manner and to the same extent as privately 10 owned lands of like character.
11 The United States does not assume any obligation for 12 amounts so assessed or taxed; and any proceedings to enforce 13 them shall be subject to any title then remaining in the 14 IT nited States, to any prior lien reserved to the United 15 States for unpaid installments under land sale contracts made ] 6 under this Act, and to any lien for any other charges, accrued 17 or unaccrued, under and by virtue of such contracts or any 18 contract between the United States and the district in whjch .. 19 the land is located. Regulations to carry out this subsection 20 shall be effective when duly filed for record in the manner 21 permitted by the laws of the State in which the project is 22 located, or if the laws of such State do not so permit then 23 when promulgated by the Secretary.
24 ( c) In addition to taxation or assessment under subsec-25 tion (b) of this section, upon execution by the United States
H
1 of a contract of sale of -any lands ,vithin the project, the lands
2 under contract may be taxed by the Sta~e in which the project 3 is located or political subdivisions thereof in the same manner
4 and to the same extent as privately owned lands of a like
5 character. All taxes legally so assessed may be enforced in
6 the same manner and under the same proceeding V\Thereby 7 said taxes a::e enforced against privately owned lands, subject 8 to the limitations in favor of the United States that govern
•
9 the enforcement of district assessments or taxes as provided in 10 subsection (b) of this section. If lands under any such
con-11 tract shall at any time revert to the United States before
12 transfer of title under the contract by reason of default
there-13 under, all liens or tax titles. resulting from taxes levied
pur-14 suant to the authority of this subsection upon such lands shall
15 thereupon be extinguished; and the levying of any such tax
16 by the State or a political subdivision thereof shall be deemed
17 to be an agreement on its part, in the event of such reversion,
18 to execute and record a formal release of such lien or tax title. 19 SEC. 4. The Secretary is authorized to perform such acts, 20 to make such rules and regulations, and to include in the
21 contracts hereinbefore authorized such provisions as he deems
22 proper for carrying out the provisions of this Act. In con-23 nection V\Tith sales or exchanges of lands acquired by purchase, 24 he is authorized to effect conveyances without regard to the 25 law governing the patenting of public lands. vVherever in
9
1 this Act functions, po"vers, or duties are conferred upon 2 the Secretary, or the head of any veterans' agency, these
3 functions, powers, or duties may be performed, exercised, or
4 discharged by the duly authorized representatives of the
5 Secretary or the head of such other agency, as the case
6 may be.
7 SEC. 5. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated,
8 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise
appro-9 priated, such moneys as may be necessary to carry out the
10 provisions of this Act, to be reimbursable to the extent herein
11 required. All net revenues, as determined by the Secretary
12 periodically, received in carrying out the provisions of this Act 13 shall be covered into the general fund of the Treasury as
14 miscellaneous receipts.
15 SEC. 6. As used in this
Act-16 (a) The term "Federal reclamation laws" means the
17 Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388) , and Acts amendatory
18 thereof or supplementary thereto.
19 (b) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the
20 Interior.
21 ( c) The term "appraised value" means appraised value -22 as determined by the Secretary.
23 ( d) The term "veteran" means any person who during 24 the' present war was entitled to the benefits afforded by the 25 Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as now or
10
1 hereafter amended, and who has been honorably discharged 2 or otherwise honorably separated from the service entitling 3 him to such benefits. "Veteran" does not include any per-4 son who was entitled tq such benefits solely by reason of being 5 ordered to report for induction under the Selective Training 6 and Service Act of J940, as amended.
7 SEC. 7. If any provision of this Act or the application 8 of such provision to any person or circumstances shall be 9 held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application 10 of such provision to persons or circulnstances other than 11 those ,as to which it is held invalid shall not be affected 12 thereby. This Act shall not be construed as repealing or 13 amending any provision or provisions of the Reclamation 14 Town Site Act of April 16, 1906 ( 34 Stat. 116), as 15 amended, the Acts of February 2,1911 (36 Stat. 895), May 16 20, 1920 (41 Stat. 605) , May 16, 1930 (46 Stat. 367), or 17 Columbia Basin Project Act (57 Stat. 14). Provisions 18 of this Act not in conflict with said Columbia Basin Project 19 Act of 1939 shall be deemed supplementary thereto.
20 SEC. 8. This Act is declared to be a part of the Federal 21 reclamation laws. It mily be cited as the "Reclamation '22 Soldier Settlement Act of 1945".