595 SHOSHONE POWER PLANT REVENUES An act providing for the allocation of net revenues of the Shoshone power plant of the Shoshone reclamation project in Wyoming. (Act of April 9, 1938, ch. 132, 52 Stat. 210) [Sec. 1. Distribution of net revenues.]—The net revenues from the Shoshone power plant of the Shoshone irrigation project, properly and equitably allocable to the unconstructed portions of the Shoshone project from the operation of the Shoshone power plant, shall be applied, first, to the repayment of the proportionate construction cost of the power system; second, to the repayment of the proportionate construction cost of the Shoshone Dam; and, third, thereafter such net revenues shall be paid into the reclamation fund, and that the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to apply the net revenues properly and equitably apportioned or to be apportioned to the Garland and Frannie Divisions of said project, in accord with the terms and provisions of existing contracts with the water users on said project. (52 Stat. 210) Sec. 2. [Conflicting acts repealed.]—All acts or parts of Acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. (52 Stat. 210) 596 AMEND TUCUMCARI PROJECT ACT An act to amend an act entitled "An Act to authorize the construction of a Federal reclamation project to furnish a water supply for the lands of the Arch Hurley Conservancy District in New Mexico", approved August 2, 1937, ch. 134, 50 Stat. 557. (Act of April 9, 1938, ch. 134, 52 Stat. 211) The Act entitled "An Act to authorize the construction of a Federal reclamation project to furnish a water supply for the lands of the Arch Hurley Conservancy District in New Mexico", approved August 2, 1937 (Public, Numbered 241), is amended to read as follows: "[Project to be found feasible if district can repay amount expended from Reclamation Fund, and if such money plus other money equals construction cost-Repayment contract to be executed-Landowners to sell excess acreage-All owners to contract, if land sold above appraised prices, that one-half such excess be paid United States.]-The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to construct a Federal reclamation project for the irrigation of the lands of the Arch Hurley Conservancy District in New Mexico under the Federal reclamation laws: Provided, That construction work is not to be initiated on said irrigation project until (a) the project shall have been found to be feasible under subsection B of section 4 of the Act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 702), but the project may be found to be financially feasible if the Secretary of the Interior finds that the amount to be expended from the reclamation fund can be repaid by the District, and further that the amount of money to be expended from the reclamation fund, plus the amount of money which has been made available from other sources (for the estimated period of construction), equals the estimated cost of construction; (b) a contract shall have been executed with an irrigation or conservation district embracing the land to be irrigated under said project, which contract shall obligate the contracting district to repay the cost of construction of said project met by expenditure of moneys from the reclamation fund in forty equal annual installments, without interest; (c) contracts shall have been made with each owner of more than one hundred and sixty irrigable acres under said project, by which he, his successors, and assigns shall be obligated to sell all of his land in excess of one hundred and sixty irrigable acres at or below prices fixed by the Secretary of the Interior and within the time to be fixed by said Secretary, no water to be furnished to the land of any such large landowner refusing or failing to execute such contract; and (d) contracts shall have been made with all owners of lands to be irrigated under the project by which they will agree that if their land is sold at prices above the appraised value thereof, approved by said Secretary, one-half of such excess shall be paid to the United States to be applied in the inverse order of the due dates upon the construction charge installments coming due thereafter from the owners of said land." (52 Stat. 211; 43 U.S.C. § 600) AMEND TUCUMCARI PROJECT ACT EXPLANATORY NOTES Reference in the Text. Subsection B of section 4 of the Act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 702), referred to in the text, requires a finding of feasibility before a new project or new division of a project is approved. The Act is the Fact Finders' Act, which appears herein in chronological order. 597 Editor's Note, Annotations. Annotations of opinions, if any, are found under the Act of August 2, 1937. Legislative History. H.R. 8817, Public Law 477 in the 75th Congress. H.R. Rept. No. 1808. S. Rept. No. 1415. 598 INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION ACT, 1939 [Extracts from] An act making appropriations for the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1939, and for other purposes. (Act of May 9, 1938, ch. 187, 52 Stat. 291) BUREAU OF RECLAMATION [Gila project-Water for Arizona State Experiment Farm.]—The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to furnish water for the use of the Arizona State Experiment Farm, embracing the west half southwest quarter of Section 28, Township 9 south, Range 23 west, Gila and Salt River meridian, together with such areas as may be added thereto, the cost, not exceeding $750 annually, to be paid from the appropriations for the Gila project. (52 Stat. 321) [Increase in Reclamation Fund-Hayden-O'Mahoney Amendment.]— Increase in the Reclamation Fund: The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to transfer to the credit of the reclamation fund, created by the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), a sum equal to the difference between (1) 522 per centum of the moneys which the Secretary of the Treasury shall determine to have accrued to the United States from lands within the naval petroleum reserves, except those in Alaska, from February 25, 1920, to June 30, 1938, inclusive, and (2) the total of all sums advanced to the reclamation fund under the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize advances to the reclamation fund, and for the issue and disposal of certificates of indebtedness in reimbursement therefor, and for other purposes", approved June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 835), as amended, and under the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize advances to the reclamation fund, and for other purposes", approved March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1507), as amended, and not reimbursed by transfer from the reclamation fund to the general funds in the Treasury. The transaction provided for in this section shall be deemed to have effected a complete reimbursement of the general funds in the Treasury of all sums advanced to the reclamation fund under the provisions of such Acts of June 25, 1910, and March 3, 1931, as amended. All moneys received by the United States in connection with any irrigation projects, including the incidental power features thereof, constructed by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Reclamation, and financed in whole or in part with moneys heretofore or hereafter appropriated or allocated therefor by the Federal Government, shall be covered into the reclamation fund, except in cases where provision has been made by law or contract for the use of such revenues for the benefit of users of water from such project: Provided, That after the net revenues derived from the sale of power developed in connection with any of said projects shall have repaid those construction costs of such project INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION ACT, 1939 599 allocated to power to be repaid by power revenues therefrom and shall no longer be required to meet the contractual obligations of the United States, then said net revenues derived from the sale of power developed in connection with such project shall, after the close of each fiscal year, be transferred to and covered into the General Treasury as "miscellaneous receipts": Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed to amend the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057), as amended, or to apply to irrigation projects of the Office of Indian Affairs. (52 Stat. 322; 43 U.S.C. §§ 391a-1, 392a) EXPLANATORY NOTES Codification. The first paragraph is codified as 43 U.S.C. § 391a-1. The second paragraph is codified as 43 U.S.C. § 392a. Popular Name. The above paragraphs are popularly known as the "Hayden-O'Mahoney amendment." References in the Text. Each of the Acts referred to in the Hayden-O'Mahoney amendment appears herein in chronological order. The Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057), which is referred to by title only, is the Act of December 21, 1928. NOTES OF OPINIONS The Hayden-O'Mahoney amendment deals with the cash distribution of revenues in the Treasury as between the reclamation fund and the general fund. Its purpose was to assure that the reclamation fund would receive as to each reclamation project an amount of dollars equal to that required to amortize the power investment plus the irrigation assistance. It does not, however, purport to deal with payout requirements of reclamation projects. These, except for special requirements applicable to given projects, are governed by Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. Statement furnished by Assistant Secretary Holum for Hearings on H.R. 2337, to Provide for the Construction of the Lower Teton Division, Teton Basin Federal Reclamation Project, Before the Irrigation and Reclamation Subcommittee of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. 38 (1964). The Hayden-O'Mahoney amendment of 1938 amends section 5 of the Act of April 16, 1906, by providing that after net power revenues have repaid project construction costs allocated to be repaid by such revenues, they shall then be covered into the General Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. Solicitor Harper Opinion, M-33504 (September 26, 1944), in re disposition of power revenues from Grand Valley project. 2. Power revenues The availability of power revenues to aid irrigation has, in one form or another, been a part of general reclamation law almost since its beginning. This is evident from section 5 of the Act of April 16, 1906, 34 Stat. 116, 117, 43 U.S.C. § 522; the Act of February 24, 1911, 36 Stat. 930, 43 U.S.C. 522; and subsection I, section 4, of the Act of December 5, 1924, 43 Stat. 703, 43 U.S.C. § 501. This general trend has been reinforced by the Hayden-O'Mahoney amendment to the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1939, the Act of May 9, 1938, 52 Stat. 322, 43 U.S.C. § 392a, and a provision in the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1947, Act of July 1, 1946, 60 Stat 366, as well as section 9 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, Act of August 4, 1939, 53 Stat. 1193, 43 U.S.C. § 485h. Memorandum of Chief Counsel Fisher, September 12, 1952, in re procedure on use of surplus power revenues for assistance in financing irrigation distribution systems. Neither the Hayden-O'Mahoney amendment nor the power marketing statutes involved in the power operations of the Bonneville Power Administration (section 7 of the Bonneville Project Act, section 9 (c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, and section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944) require that the costs of each project to be met from power revenues have to be amortized on the basis of a fixed annual obligation. The legal requirements are satisfied if such costs are returned within a reasonable period of years whatever accounting procedure is applied. Statement furnished by Assistant Secretary Holum in |