CERTAIN CREDITS TO RECLAMATION FUND 5. Construction charges The Great Northern Railway Co. paid the United States the estimated construction charges on a small acreage of land on the Teton Division of the Sun River project, over which land the company proposed to construct a railway line under the act of March 3, 1875 (18 Stat. 482). Neither the Teton Division nor the line of road was constructed, and the grant to the company was forfeited by court decree. The railway company made an application for refund of the construction charges paid. The Comptroller General in decision of October 7, 1932 (A-43217) refused to make the refund on the ground that such refund was prohibited by section 1 of the act of Congress of March 26, 1908 (35 Stat. 48), as amended by the act of December 11, 1919, 41 Statute 366, permitting the return of filing fees and commissions in connection with public land entries, etc., only when the entry is rejected, not when it is allowed. 6. Erroneous deposit in Treasury When moneys appropriated by Congress for a particular purpose have been erroneously covered into the Treasury to the credit 103 of the unappropriated surplus, the error may be corrected by withdrawing the moneys from the Treasury and re-covering them into the credit of the appropriation to which Congress directed they should belong. The proceeds of sales of property belonging to the Reclamation Service required by this act to be covered into the Treasury to the credit of the reclamation fund form a part of the appropriation for the Reclamation Service, and those erroneously covered into the Treasury as "proceeds of Government property" may be withdrawn from the Treasury and re-covered into the credit of the reclamation fund. 12 Comp. Dec. 733 (1906). 7. Mineral leases Lands withdrawn for a reservoir site or similar reclamation purposes which are essential to the project, and lands acquired by purchase or condemnation for the exclusive use of the project, may be developed for their mineral resources only by temporary leases for periods not inconsistent with the needs of the project, and the proceeds therefrom must be placed in the reclamation fund to the credit of that project. J. D. Mell, et al., 50 L.D. 308 (1924). 102 CREDIT CERTAIN PROCEEDS AND REFUNDS TO RECLAMATION FUND An act to provide for the covering into the reclamation fund certain proceeds of sales of property purchased by the reclamation fund. (Act of March 3, 1905, ch. 1459, 33 Stat. 1032) [Proceeds from certain sales and refunds to be covered into the reclamation fund.]-There shall be covered into the reclamation fund established under the act of June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the reclamation act, the proceeds of the sales of material utilized for temporary work and structures in connection with the operations under the said act, as well as of the sales of all other condemned property which had been purchased under the provisions thereof, and also any moneys refunded in connection with the operations under said reclamation act. (33 Stat. 1032; 43 U.S.C. § 393) EXPLANATORY NOTES Cross Reference, Funds Collected from Defaulting Contractors. The Act of June 6, 1930, 46 Stat. 522, provides that amounts collected from defaulting contractors or their sureties shall be covered into the reclamation fund and credited to the project or operation for or on account of which the contract was made. The 1930 Act appears herein in chronological order. Legislative History. H.R. 18528, Public Law 192 in the 58th Congress. H.R. Rept. No. 4833. S. Rept. No. 4383. NOTES OF OPINIONS This act only relates to and affects such moneys as have been and shall be derived from the specified sources after the passage of the act and moneys so derived prior to its passage but which had not been deposited in the Treasury to the credit of some other fund. It does not operate retrospectively. 12 Comp. Dec. 297 (1905). 2. Not credited to appropriations Moneys received by the Reclamation Service both as refunds and as proceeds of sales of material and property that have served their purpose in connection with reclamation projects must be credited to the reclamation fund generally and not to the particular appropriation made therefrom for the project from which the refunds or sales arose. Such application will not work to the detriment of the water users on any particular project, since the matter of the net cost of any such project and hence the amount to be paid by the water users as reimbursement of the Government for such cost is to be determined by the Interior Department quite independently of the question as to what particular public fund is to be credited with refunds or sales arising in connection with the project. 22 Comp. Dec. 54 (1915). 3. Commissary supplies Where funds paid to the Reclamation Service pursuant to contract by an irrigation company to cover the cost of work being done by that service for the benefit of said company are expended for commissary and other supplies, which are resold during the progress of the work, the receipts from such resales are to be applied to the completion of the work and are not to be covered into the reclamation fund. 22 Comp. Dec. 289 (1916). 4. Moneys forfeited by bidders Moneys forfeited by successful bidders for work under the Reclamation Service because of failure to perform the award should, under the provisions of this act, be covered into the Treasury to the credit of the reclamation fund. 12 Comp. Dec. 297 (1905). CERTAIN CREDITS TO RECLAMATION FUND 5. Construction charges The Great Northern Railway Co. paid the United States the estimated construction charges on a small acreage of land on the Teton Division of the Sun River project, over which land the company proposed to construct a railway line under the act of March 3, 1875 (18 Stat. 482). Neither the Teton Division nor the line of road was constructed, and the grant to the company was forfeited by court decree. The railway company made an application for refund of the construction charges paid. The Comptroller General in decision of October 7, 1932 (A-43217) refused to make the refund on the ground that such refund was prohibited by section 1 of the act of Congress of March 26, 1908 (35 Stat. 48), as amended by the act of December 11, 1919, 41 Statute 366, permitting the return of filing fees and commissions in connection with public land entries, etc., only when the entry is rejected, not when it is allowed. 6. Erroneous deposit in Treasury When moneys appropriated by Congress for a particular purpose have been erroneously covered into the Treasury to the credit 103 of the unappropriated surplus, the error may be corrected by withdrawing the moneys from the Treasury and re-covering them into the credit of the appropriation to which Congress directed they should belong. The proceeds of sales of property belonging to the Reclamation Service required by this act to be covered into the Treasury to the credit of the reclamation fund form a part of the appropriation for the Reclamation Service, and those erroneously covered into the Treasury as "proceeds of Government property" may be withdrawn from the Treasury and re-covered into the credit of the reclamation fund. 12 Comp. Dec. 733 (1906). 7. Mineral leases Lands withdrawn for a reservoir site or similar reclamation purposes which are essential to the project, and lands acquired by purchase or condemnation for the exclusive use of the project, may be developed for their mineral resources only by temporary leases for periods not inconsistent with the needs of the project, and the proceeds therefrom must be placed in the reclamation fund to the credit of that project. J. D. Mell, et al., 50 L.D. 308 (1924). 104 DAMS ACROSS YELLOWSTONE RIVER An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct dams across the Yellowstone River at Montana in connection with irrigation works. (Act of March 3, 1905, ch. 1476, 33 Stat. 1045) [Construction of dams authorized.]—Where, in carrying out projects under the provisions of the national reclamation act, it shall be necessary to construct dams in or across the Yellowstone River in the State of Montana, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to construct and use and operate the same in the manner and for the purposes contemplated by said reclamation act. (33 Stat. 1045; 43 U.S.C. § 422) EXPLANATORY NOTE Legislative History. H.R. 19118, Public Law 209 in the 58th Congress. H.R. Rept. No. 4834. S. Rept. No. 4384. 105 YAKIMA INDIAN LANDS SUBJECTED TO RECLAMATION LAW An act authorizing the disposition of surplus and allotted lands on the Yakima Indian Reservation, in the State of Washington, which can be irrigated under the act of Congress approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the reclamation act, and for other purposes. (Act of March 6, 1906, ch. 518, 34 Stat. 53) [Sec. 1. Withdrawal of irrigable lands for reclamation.]-If within the limits of the Yakima Indian Reservation, in the State of Washington, as described in the act approved December twenty-first, nineteen hundred and four, entitled "An act to authorize the sale and disposition of surplus or unallotted lands of the Yakima Indian Reservation, in the State of Washington," there shall be found surplus or unallotted lands under irrigation projects deemed practicable and undertaken under the provisions of the act of Congress approved June seventeenth, nineteen hundred and two, known as the reclamation act, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to exclude from the provisions of said act of December twenty-first, nineteen hundred and four, such surplus or unallotted lands which can be irrigated under such projects and to dispose of the same in the manner hereinafter provided, and he is further authorized to make withdrawals of such lands for the purposes provided in said reclamation act. (34Stat. 53) EXPLANATORY NOTE Reference in the Text. The Act of December twenty-first, nineteen hundred and four, referred to in the text, is found at page 595, volume 33, United States Statutes-at-Large. Sec. 2. [Lands subject to homestead entries-Payments-Forfeitures-Canceled entries.]-The irrigable surplus and unallotted lands in any such projects shall be subject to homestead entry under all the provisions of the reclamation act at such time as may be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior and at a price determined by appraisal, as provided in said act of December twenty-first, nineteen hundred and four. Payments for the land shall be made in annual installments, the number and time of beginning being fixed by the Secretary of the Interior, and shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States and credited to the Yakima Indian fund, and disposed of as provided by section four of the said act of December twenty-first, nineteen hundred and four. Such payments: shall be in addition to the charges for construction and maintenance of the irrigation system made payable into the reclamation fund by the provisions of the reclamation act. In case of failure to make any payment for such lands when due the Secretary of the Interior shall have power to cancel the entry and the corresponding water right and declare forfeited to the said Yakima Indian fund and the reclamation fund, respectively, the amounts paid on such entry and water right. The lands embraced within such canceled entry shall be subject to further entry under the reclamation act at the appraised value until otherwise directed by the President, who may by proclamation, as provided by said act of December twenty-first, nineteen hundred and four, from time to time, fix such 267-067-72-vol. I-10 |