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AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL WATER POWER ACT

601

SEC. 208. Section 17 of the Federal Water Power Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 17. (a) All proceeds from any Indian reservation shall be placed to the credit of the Indians of such reservation. All other charges arising from licenses hereunder, except charges fixed by the Commission for the purpose of reimbursing the United States for the costs of administration of this Part, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, subject to the following distribution: 1212 per centum thereof is hereby appropriated to be paid into the Treasury of the United States and credited to 'Miscellaneous receipts'; 50 per centum of the charges arising from licenses hereunder for the occupancy and use of public lands and national forests shall be paid into, reserved, and appropriated as a part of the reclamation fund created by the Act of Congress known as the Reclamation Act, approved June 17, 1902; and 372 per centum of the charges arising from licenses hereunder for the occupancy and use of national forests and public lands from development within the boundaries of any State shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to such State; and 50 per centum of the charges arising from all other licenses hereunder is hereby reserved and appropriated as a special fund in the Treasury to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War in the maintenance and operation of dams and other navigation structures owned by the United States or in the construction, maintenance, or operation of headwater or other improvements of navigable waters of the United States. The proceeds of charges made by the Commission for the purpose of reimbursing the United States for the costs of the administration of this Part shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States and credited to miscellaneous receipts. (49 Stat. 845.)

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"SECTION 301. [Records of the generation, transmission, distribution, delivery or sale of energy, receipts and expenditures, to be kept-Commission may prescribe system of accounts.]—(a) Every licensee and public utility shall make, keep, and preserve for such periods, such accounts, records of cost-accounting procedures, correspondence, memoranda, papers, books, and other records as the Commission may by rules and regulations prescribe as necessary or appropriate for purposes of the administration of this Act, including accounts, records, and memoranda of the generation, transmission, distribution, delivery, or sale of electric energy, the furnishing of services or facilities in connection therewith, and receipts and expenditures with respect to any of the foregoing: Provided, however, That nothing in this Act shall relieve any public utility from keeping any accounts, memoranda, or records which such public utility may be required to keep by or under authority of the laws of any State. The Commission may prescribe a system of accounts to be kept by licensees and public utilities and may classify such licensees and public utilities. and prescribe a system of accounts for each class. The Commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing may determine by order the accounts in which particular outlays and receipts shall

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602

AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL WATER POWER ACT

be entered, charged, or credited. The burden of proof to justify every accounting entry questioned by the Commission shall be on the person making, authorizing, or requiring such entry, and the Commission may suspend a charge or credit pending submission of satisfactory. proof in support thereof. (49 Stat. 854.)

"(b) Licensees to furnish any information and grant access to property and accounts-Commission shall not divulge information.]-The Commission shall at all times have access to and the right to inspect and examine all accounts, records, and memoranda of licensees and public utilities, and it shall be the duty of such licensees and public utilities to furnish to the Commission, within such reasonable time as the Commission may order, any information with respect thereto which the Commission may by order require, including copies of maps, contracts, reports of engineers, and other data, records, and papers, and to grant to all agents of the Commission free access to its property and its accounts, records, and memoranda when requested so to do. No member, officer, or employee of the Commission shall divulge any fact or information which may come to his knowledge during the course of examination of books or other accounts, as hereinbefore provided, except insofar as he may be directed by the Commission or by a court. (49 Stat. 854.)

"(c) [Records subject to examination.]-The books, accounts, memoranda, and records of any person who controls, directly or indirectly, a licensee or public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, and of any other company controlled by such person, insofar as they relate to transactions with or the business of such licensee or public utility, shall be subject to examination on the order of the Commission. (49 Stat. 854.)

"SEC. 302. [Commission may fix rates of depreciation.]—(a) The Commission may, after hearing, require licensees and public utilities to carry a proper and adequate depreciation account in accordance with such rules, regulations, and forins of account as the Commission may prescribe. The Commission may, from time to time, ascertain and determine, and by order fix, the proper and adequate rates of depreciation of the several classes of property of each licensee and public utility. Each licensee and public utility shall conform its depreciation accounts to the rates so asce tained, determined, and fixed. The licensees and public utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission shall not charge to operating expenses any depreciation charges on classes of property other than those prescribed by the Commission, or charge with respect to any class of property a percentage of depreciation other than that prescribed therefor by the Commission. No such licensee or public utility shall in any case include in any form under its operating or other expenses any depreciation or other charge or expenditure included elsewhere as a depreciation charge or otherwise under its operating or other expenses. Nothing in this section shall limit the power of a State Commission to determine in the exercise of its jurisdiction, with respect to any public utility, the percentage rate of depreciation to be allowed, as to any class of property of such public utility, or the

AMENDMENTS TO FEDERAL WATER POWER ACT

603

composite depreciation rate, for the purpose of determining rates or charges. (49 Stat. 855.)

"(b) [State Commission to be notified.]-The Commission, before prescribing any rules or requirements as to accounts, records, or memoranda, or as to depreciation rates, shall notify each State commission having jurisdiction with respect to any public utility involved, and shall give reasonable opportunity to each such commission to present its views, and shall receive and consider such views and recommendations.

"SEC. 303. [Requirements applicable to agencies of the United States.]All agencies of the United States engaged in the generation and sale of electric energy for ultimate distribution to the public shall be subject, as to all facilities used for such generation and sale, and as to the electric energy sold by such agency, to the provisions of sections 301 and 302 hereof, so far as may be practicable, and shall comply with the provisions of such sections and with the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder to the same extent as may be required in the case of a public utility. (49 Stat. 855.)

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"SEC. 311. [Investigations relative to electric energy authorized-Commission to secure and keep current information and report investigations to Congress.]-In order to secure information necessary or appropriate as a basis for recommending legislation, the Commission is authorized and directed to conduct investigations regarding the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy, however produced, throughout the United States and its possessions, whether or not otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, including the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy by any agency, authority, or instrumentality of the United States, or of any State or municipality or other political subdivision of a State. It shall, so far as practicable, secure and keep current information regarding the ownership, operation, management, and control of all facilities for such generation, transmission, distribution, and sale; the capacity and output thereof and the relationship between the two; the cost of generation, transmission, and distribution; the rates, charges, and contracts in respect of the sale of electric energy and its service to residential, rural, commercial, and industrial consumers and other purchasers by private and public agencies; and the relation of any or all such facts to the development of navigation, industry, commerce, and the national defense. The Commission shall report to Congress the results of investigations made under authority of this section. (49 Stat. 859.)

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REHABILITATION OF BITTER ROOT IRRIGATION PROJECT

An act to amend section 3 and 4 of the act of July 3, 1930, entitled "An act for the rehabilitation of the Bitter Root irrigation project, Montana." (Act of Aug. 26, 1935, 49 Stat. 799)

[SEC. 1. Amendatory contract authorized.]-That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to negotiate and execute a contract with the Bitter Root Irrigation District, amending as provided herein articles 3 and 6 of the contract dated August 24, 1931, between the United States of America and said irrigation district. The amended contract shall segregate the district's obligation into two components: (1) All money advanced to the district under section 2, subsection (1) of the Act of July 3, 1930, for liquidating bonded and other outstanding indebtedness of said district and (2) all money advanced or used under section 2, subsections (2) and (3) of said Act for construction, betterment, and repair work. All money advanced under component (1) shall be repaid to the United States within the period fixed in said contract, with interest at 4 per centum per annum until paid: Provided, That all interest now due and unpaid on component (1) shall be added to and merged with the principal sum advanced under that component. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as authorizing a modification in said amendatory contract of the interest charges heretofore paid by the district under the contract of August 24, 1931.

SEC. 2. [Penalty if default in payment.]-The amended contract shall provide also that all money advanced or used under section 2, subsections (2) and (3) of the Act of July 3, 1930, shall be repaid to the United States without interest within the period fixed in said. contract, and in the case of default in the payment when due of any installment fixed by the Secretary for repayment of money advanced or used under said section 2, subsections (2) and (3), there shall be added to the payment unpaid a penalty of one-half of 1 per centum of the amount unpaid on the 1st day of each month thereafter so long

as such default shall continue.

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LEASE OR ACQUISITION OF LANDS

An act to authorize the Secretary of State to lease to citizens of the United States any land heretofore or hereafter acquired under any act, Executive order, or treaty in connection with projects, in whole or in part constructed or administered by the Secretary of State through the International Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico, American section. (Act of Aug. 27, 1935, c. 763, 49 Stat. 906)

[SEC. 1. Lease or disposal of lands; subject to reservation of rightsof-way for irrigation; lands not needed by United States may be conveyed to State.]-That the Secretary of State be, and he is hereby authorized to lease to citizens of the United States any land heretofore or hereafter acquired under any Act, Executive order, or treaty in connection with projects, in whole or in part, constructed or administered by the Secretary of State through the said American Commissioner, or to dispose of such lands to American citizens when no longer needed, by sale at public auction, after thirty days advertisement, at price not less than that which may be fixed by three disinterested appraisers, to be designated by the Secretary of State, or by private sale, or otherwise, at not less than such appraised value: Provided, That any of such land as shall have been donated to the United States and which is no longer needed may be reconveyed, without cost, to the grantor or his heirs: Provided further, That the lease or disposal of any land pursuant hereto may, in the discretion of the Secretary of State, be subject to reservations in favor of the United States for rights-of-way for irrigation, drainage, river work, and other purposes, and any such disposal may be conditioned upon and made subject to inclusion of such lands in any existing irrigation district in the vicinity of such lands, the proceeds of any such lease or sale to be covered into the Treasury of the United States: And provided further, That, in the discretion of the Secretary of State, and subject to such conditions as he may deem appropriate, conveyances of any other of such lands not needed by the United States may be made to the State to which they lie adjacent or to any similarly situated county, city, or other governmental subdivision of such State, without cost, for use for public purposes.

[Licenses to be issued for irrigation, etc.]-The Secretary of State is further authorized to issue revokable licenses for public or private use for irrigation or other structures or uses not inconsistent with the use of such lands made, or to be made, by the United States, across any lands retained by the United States, and to execute all necessary leases, title instruments, and conveyances, in order to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Whenever the construction of any project or works undertaken or administered by the Secretary of State through the International Boundary Commission, United States, and Mexico, results in the interference with or necessitates the alteration or restoration of con

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