PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Put all money the project gets into the Colorado River Dam Fund. That money can be used without asking Congress again to pay: the project’s operating costs (including buying extra power the Secretary of Energy must supply by contract), maintenance, replacements, and emergency repairs; the Treasury for repayment with interest of any advances made to build the project (after setting aside the amounts below); yearly payments to Arizona and Nevada; and yearly transfers to a special Colorado River Development Fund, plus certain transfers to the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund. Each State of Arizona and Nevada is to get $300,000 for each year the project operates, starting with the year ending May 31, 1938 and continuing through the year ending May 31, 1987. Any unpaid amounts for past years must be paid right away without interest, and future yearly payments must be made on or before July 31 after the year ends. These State payments come from revenues received on or after July 19, 1940, but they are reduced if the State collects taxes on the project, the power from Hoover Dam, the right to generate or transmit that power, or similar charges. Also, $500,000 must be moved each year into the Colorado River Development Fund for the years ending May 31, 1938 through May 31, 1987; early and later receipts from that fund are limited to certain Bureau of Reclamation studies and project investigations and construction for the upper and lower division States as described, and all transfers are subject to the rules in section 618b.

Title 43, §618a

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

All receipts from the project shall be paid into the Colorado River Dam Fund and shall be available, without further appropriation, for: (a) Defraying operating expenses

(b)Repayment of cost of construction

Repayment to the Treasury, with interest (after making provision for the payments and transfers provided in subdivisions (c) and (d) hereof), of advances to the Colorado River Dam Fund for the construction of the project (excluding the amount allocated to flood control by section 2(b) of the Project Act [43 U.S.C. 617a(b)]), and any readvances made to said fund under section 618d of this title; and

(c)Commutation payments to Arizona and Nevada

Payment subject to the provisions of section 618b of this title, in commutation of the payments now provided for the States of Arizona and Nevada in section 4(b) of the Project Act [43 U.S.C. 617c(b)] to each of said States of the sum of $300,000 for each year of operation, beginning with the year of operation ending May 31, 1938, and continuing annually thereafter until and including the year of operation ending May 31, 1987, and such payments for any year of operation which shall have expired at the time when this subdivision shall become effective shall be due immediately, and be paid, without interest, as expeditiously as administration of this subchapter will permit, and each such payment for subsequent years of operation shall be made on or before July 31, following the close of the year of operation for which it is made. All such payments shall be made from revenues received on and after July 19, 1940 in the Colorado River Dam Fund. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, in the event that there are levied and collected by or under authority of Arizona or Nevada or by any lawful taxing political subdivision thereof, taxes upon—

(i)the project as herein defined;

(ii)the electrical energy generated at Hoover Dam by means of facilities, machinery, or equipment both owned and operated by the United States, or owned by the United States and operated under contract with the United States;

(iii)the privilege of generating or transforming such electrical energy or of use of such facilities, machinery, or equipment or of falling water for such generation or transforming; or

(iv)the transmission or control of such electrical energy so generated or transformed (as distinguished from the transmission lines and other physical properties used for such transmission or control) or the use of such transmission lines or other physical properties for such transmission or control,

payments made hereunder to the State by or under the authority of which such taxes are collected shall be reduced by an amount equivalent to such taxes. Nothing herein shall in anywise impair the right of either the State of Arizona or the State of Nevada, or any lawful taxing political subdivision of either of them, to collect non-discriminatory taxes upon that portion of the transmission lines and all other physical properties, situated within such State and such political subdivision, respectively, and belonging to any of the lessees and/or allottees under the Project Act [43 U.S.C. 617 et seq.] and/or under this subchapter, and nothing herein shall exempt or be construed so as to exempt any such property from nondiscriminatory taxation, all in the manner provided by the constitution and laws of such State. Sums, if any, received by each State under the provisions of the Project Act [43 U.S.C. 617 et seq.] shall be deducted from the first payment or payments to said State authorized by this subchapter. Payments under this subsection shall be deemed contractual obligations of the United States, subject to the provisions of section 618b of this title.

(d)Transfer of sums to Colorado River Development Fund; expenditure of fund

Transfer, subject to the provisions of section 618b of this title, from the Colorado River Dam Fund to a special fund in the Treasury, established and designated the “Colorado River Development Fund”, of the sum of $500,000 for the year of operation ending May 31, 1938, and the like sum of $500,000 for each year of operation thereafter, until and including the year of operation ending May 31, 1987. The transfer of the said sum of $500,000 for each year of operation shall be made on or before July 31 next following the close of the year of operation for which it is made: Provided, That any such transfer for any year of operation which shall have ended at the time this subsection shall become effective, shall be made, without interest, from revenues received in the Colorado River Dam Fund, as expeditiously as administration of this subchapter will permit, and without readvances from the general funds of the Treasury. Receipts of the Colorado River Development Fund for the years of operation ending in 1938, 1939, and 1940 (or in the event of reduced receipts during any of said years, due to adjustments under section 618b of this title, then the first receipts of said fund up to $1,500,000), are authorized to be appropriated only for the continuation and extension, under the direction of the Secretary, of studies and investigations by the Bureau of Reclamation for the formulation of a comprehensive plan for the utilization of waters of the Colorado River system for irrigation, electrical power, and other purposes, in the States of the upper division and the States of the lower division, including studies of quantity and quality of water and all other relevant factors. The next such receipts up to and including the receipts for the year of operation ending in 1955 are authorized to be appropriated only for the investigation and construction of projects for such utilization in and equitably distributed among the four States of the upper division: Provided, however, That in view of distributions heretofore made, and in order to expedite the development and utilization of water projects within all of the States of the upper division, the distribution of such funds for use in the fiscal years 1949 to 1955, shall be on a basis which is as nearly equal as practicable. Such receipts for the years of operation ending in 1956 to 1987, inclusive, are authorized to be appropriated for the investigation and construction of projects for such utilization in and equitably distributed among the States of the upper division and the States of the lower division. The terms “Colorado River system”, “States of the upper division”, and “States of the lower division” as so used shall have the respective meanings defined in the Colorado River compact mentioned in the Project Act [43 U.S.C. 617 et seq.]. Such projects shall be only such as are found by the Secretary to be physically feasible, economically justified, and consistent with such formulation of a comprehensive plan. Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed so as to prevent the authorization and construction of any such projects prior to the completion of said plan of comprehensive development; nor shall this subchapter be construed as affecting the right of any State to proceed independently of this subchapter or its provisions with the investigation or construction of any project or projects. Transfers under this subsection shall be deemed contractual obligations of the United States, subject to the provisions of section 618b of this title.

(e)Transfer to Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund

Transfer to the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund established by title IV of the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968, as amended and supplemented [43 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.], of the revenues referred to in section 618(e) of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Project Act, referred to in text, is defined in section 618k of this title. The Colorado River Basin Project Act, referred to in subd. (e), is Pub. L. 90–537, Sept. 30, 1968, 82 Stat. 885, which is classified principally to chapter 32 (§ 1501 et seq.) of this title. Title IV of the Act is classified to subchapter IV (§ 1541 et seq.) of chapter 32 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1501 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1984—Pub. L. 98–381, § 104(a)(4)(i), amended introductory provisions generally, inserting “, without further appropriation,” after “available”. Subd. (a). Pub. L. 98–381, § 104(a)(4)(i), substituted “Defraying the costs of operation (including purchase of supplemental energy to meet temporary deficiencies in firm energy which the Secretary of Energy is obligated by contract to supply), maintenance and replacements of, and emergency expenditures for, all facilities of the project, within such separate limitations as may be included in annual appropriations Acts;” for “Annual appropriation for the operation, maintenance, and replacements of the project, including emergency replacements necessary to insure continuous operations;”. Subd. (e). Pub. L. 98–381, § 104(a)(4)(ii), substituted provisions relating to the transfer of funds to the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund for provisions which had made available receipts from the project paid into the Colorado River Dam Fund, for annual appropriation for fiscal years 1948 to 1951 for payment to Boulder City School District as reimbursement for pupil instructions not exceeding $65 per semester per pupil. 1948—Subd. (d). Act

June 1, 1948, inserted proviso to fourth sentence to provide for distribution of receipts for fiscal years 1949 to 1955, inclusive. Subd. (e). Act

May 14, 1948, added subd. (e).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Act Apr. 30, 1947, changed name of Boulder Dam back to Hoover Dam.

§618a Receipts From Project; Disposition