United States HR 3415: Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyance Act

Bill Text

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118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 3415
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the Midvale Irrigation
District the Pilot Butte Power Plant in the State of Wyoming, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 17, 2023
Ms. HAGEMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the
Midvale Irrigation District the Pilot Butte Power Plant
in the State of Wyoming, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pilot Butte Power 4
Plant Conveyance Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
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(1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Agreement’’ 1
means the agreement entered into under section 2
3(a). 3
(2) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the 4
Midvale Irrigation District located in Pavillion, Wyo-5
ming. 6
(3) POWER PLANT.—The term ‘‘Power Plant’’ 7
means the Pilot Butte Power Plant and other appur-8
tenant facilities in the State of Wyoming authorized 9
under the Act of March 2, 1917 (39 Stat. 969, 10
chapter 146), transferred to the jurisdiction of the 11
Bureau of Reclamation under the Act of June 5, 12
1920 (41 Stat. 874, chapter 235), and incorporated 13
into the Riverton Unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri 14
Basin Program under Public Law 91–409 (84 Stat. 15
861), including the underlying land. 16
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 18
Commissioner of Reclamation. 19
SEC. 3. AGREEMENT, CONVEYANCE, AND REPORT. 20
(a) AGREEMENT.—Not later than 2 years after the 21
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter 22
into good faith negotiations with the District to enter into 23
an agreement to determine the legal, institutional, and fi-24
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nancial terms for the conveyance of the Power Plant from 1
the Secretary to the District. 2
(b) CONVEYANCE.— 3
(1) IN GENERAL.—In consideration for the Dis-4
trict assuming from the United States all liability 5
for the administration, operation, maintenance, and 6
replacement of the Power Plant, the Secretary shall 7
offer to convey and assign to the District all right, 8
title, and interest of the United States in and to the 9
Power Plant— 10
(A) subject to valid leases, permits, rights- 11
of-way, easements, and other existing rights; 12
and 13
(B) in accordance with— 14
(i) the terms and conditions described 15
in the Agreement; and 16
(ii) this Act. 17
(2) STATUS OF LAND.—Effective on the date of 18
the conveyance of the Power Plant to the District 19
under paragraph (1), the Power Plant shall not be 20
considered to be a part of a Federal reclamation 21
project. 22
(c) REPORT.—If the conveyance authorized under 23
subsection (b)(1) is not completed by the date that is 1 24
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 25
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shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re-1
sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re-2
sources of the House of Representatives a report that de-3
scribes— 4
(1) the status of the conveyance under that 5
subsection; 6
(2) any obstacles to completing the conveyance 7
under that subsection; and 8
(3) an anticipated date for the completion of 9
the conveyance under that subsection. 10
SEC. 4. LIABILITY. 11
(a) DAMAGES.—Except as otherwise provided by law 12
and for damages caused by acts of negligence committed 13
by the United States or by employees or agents of the 14
United States, effective on the date of the conveyance of 15
the Power Plant to the District under section 3(b)(1), the 16
United States shall not be held liable by any court for 17
damages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or 18
occurrence relating to the Power Plant. 19
(b) TORTS CLAIMS.—Nothing in this section in-20
creases the liability of the United States beyond that pro-21
vided in chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code (com-22
monly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort Claims Act’’). 23
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SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER LAWS. 1
(a) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND HIS-2
TORIC PRESERVATION LAWS.—Before making the convey-3
ance authorized under section 3(b)(1), the Secretary shall 4
complete all actions required under— 5
(1) the National Environmental Policy Act of