PRIA Logo™
Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102

§485b Amendment of Existing Repayment Contracts

Title 43 › CHAPTER 12 — RECLAMATION AND IRRIGATION OF LANDS BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT › SUBCHAPTER X — PAYMENT OF CONSTRUCTION CHARGES › § 485b

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

For contracts in effect on August 4, 1939 that repay construction charges over a fixed time, the Secretary may, if the water users ask and the change is practical and fits the law, amend the contract. Unpaid construction charges on the amendment date (or another agreed date) can be spread into annual payments over a longer period set by the Secretary. That longer period cannot exceed 40 years (excluding 1931 and later years if Congress allowed moratoria or deferments) from when the first payment was originally due, and it cannot be more than twice the number of years remaining under the original contract at the time of amendment.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §485b

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In connection with any repayment contract or other form of obligation, existing on August 4, 1939, to pay construction charges, providing for repayment on the basis of a definite period, the Secretary is authorized, upon request by the water users involved or their duly authorized representatives for amendment under this section of said contract or other form of obligation, and if in the Secretary’s judgement such amendment is both practicable and in keeping with the general purpose of this subchapter, to amend said contract or other form of obligation so as to provide that the construction charges remaining unaccrued on the date of the amendment, or any later date agreed upon, shall be spread in definite annual installments on the basis of a longer definite period fixed in each case by the Secretary: Provided, That for any construction charges said longer period shall not exceed forty years, exclusive of 1931 and subsequent years to the extent of moratoria or deferments of construction charges due and payable for such years effected pursuant to Acts of Congress, from the date when the first installment of said construction charges become due and payable under the original obligation to pay said construction charges and in no event shall the unexpired part of said longer period exceed double the number of remaining years, as of the date of the amendment made pursuant to this subchapter, in which installments of said construction charges would become due and payable under said existing repayment contract or other form of obligation to pay construction charges.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Extension of Date of Modification of Repayment ContractsAct Mar. 6, 1952, ch. 94, 66 Stat. 16, as amended by acts Aug. 31, 1954, ch. 1168, 68 Stat. 1044; Pub. L. 85–156, Aug. 21, 1957, 71 Stat. 390; Pub. L. 85–611, § 3, Aug. 8, 1958, 72 Stat. 543; Pub. L. 86–308, § 2, Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat. 585, provided that the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior by section 485b and 485f of this title should be extended through Dec. 31, 1960.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 485b

Title 43, Public Lands

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102