To clarify the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 489, a bill that will permanently end the bureaucratic wrangling that has occurred between the Departments of Interior and Agriculture-- a jurisdictional dispute that compromises the routine maintenance of critical water infrastructure in the State of Arizona, the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir.

The Federal Government employs over 2.1 million civilian employees. There are hundreds of agencies, and within each agency there are divisions, departments, and subgroups. Sometimes, especially with respect to land management, more than one agency has jurisdiction; and when that occurs, bureaucratic disputes arise and government no longer serves the people.

This is the exact circumstance that has necessitated my legislation.

The C.C. Cragin project consists of a number of facilities, including a dam and reservoir, diversion tunnel and pump shaft, pumping plant, priming reservoir, pipeline, electrical transmission line, and a generating plant.

The majority of the project is located on Federal lands in the Coconino and Tonto National Forests. This critical water infrastructure project is an important aspect of the Salt River Project's Federal Reclamation Project. It is integral to providing a water supply for Phoenix and is instrumental in making 3,500 acre-feet of water a year available to Gila County. The town of Payson and the neighboring communities rely on the pipeline to supply municipal drinking water to my constituents.

In 2004, at the request of the Salt River Project--or SRP as it is commonly referred to--and with the support of the Bureau of Reclamation and the former owner of the project, the Arizona Water Settlements Act authorized the title transfer of the C.C. Cragin project from SRP to the Bureau of Reclamation. Under this language, the Federal Government would own the project, but SRP would still operate and maintain it.

Once a transfer was implemented, it became clear that there was a disagreement between the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Reclamation over who had the responsibility for approving requested operation maintenance and repairs. Specifically, the Bureau of Reclamation argued that it should approve SRP's work plans, environmental compliance, and other regulatory permitting requirements. The U.S. Forest

Service asserted that the reclamation was required to obtain a special use permit to operate, maintain, and repair the water project.

While the SRP project was able to overcome the issues with the Forest Service to complete repairs, it was with the Bureau of Reclamation's approval and occasionally over Forest Service objections. Concurrently, the added permit requirement delayed much needed repairs, wasting precious Arizona water resources, increased repair costs, and placed the economic development of the town of Payson at risk.

Looking forward, this is a long-lived asset that will be relied upon to provide reliable municipal water supply to Gila County and the valley. Just a few weeks ago, a $34 million, 15-mile pipeline expansion project, which will double Payson's long-term, sustainable water supply, was finally approved by the Forest Service after a year-long delay. If Congress allows the jurisdictional dispute to continue, future operations and maintenance activities related to the C.C. Cragin project could face costly delays and could possibly interrupt water delivery to these Arizona communities.

This simply is not a tenable situation. I am pleased the House is taking up legislation that will permanently resolve this ridiculous jurisdictional battle.

My legislation reflects a compromise reached by the relevant parties. It grants the Department of the Interior exclusive jurisdiction to manage the C.C. Cragin project and grants the Department of Agriculture administrative jurisdiction over land management activities that do not conflict or adversely affect the operation, maintenance, replacement, or repair of the project.

It is important to note that H.R. 489 will still require compliance with all requirements under Federal law, including the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. In addition, the implementation of this legislation has no cost to the taxpayer.

Having a single agency overseeing the project remains important--if not more important now that the project is operational. The United States Bureau of Reclamation has the expertise to conduct oversight on water supply projects and does so on many of the projects that are within national forests. This commonsense legislation meets the needs of SRP and Reclamation to ensure the infrastructure can be maintained while accommodating the Forest Service, ensuring they continue to manage the lands underlying the utility corridor with respect to recreation, wildfire, law enforcement, and other activities consistent with its authorities, responsibilities, and expertise.

It is important to note that when the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on my bill on May 12, all parties--including the Bureau of Reclamation and the Forest Service--agreed that H.R. 489 is vital to the long-term management of the C.C. Cragin dam and reservoir project and would bring about necessary economic certainty for the town of Payson and other impacted communities.

It is not often that Congress gets the opportunity to take up noncontroversial legislation like H.R. 489. I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 489) to clarify the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the C.C. Cragin Dam and Reservoir, and for other purposes.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and also to include any extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 489 is sponsored by our colleague, Representative Gosar of Arizona, and it seeks to resolve bureaucratic dysfunction and streamline regulatory processes for the purposes of creating jobs in northern Arizona.

This is a no-cost bill, and it eliminates duplicative permitting requirements--which we often, in this body, commonly refer to as ``red tape''--by putting just one Federal agency in charge of the C.C. Cragin project's pipeline, part of a Federal water project.

Prior to this bill, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Forest Service could not reconcile their responsibilities over who would actually manage the pipeline. These dueling regulatory requirements ultimately increased the costs that were passed on to the water consumers. They also created enough confusion to keep one community from going forward with a locally financed project that would have been connected to the Federal pipeline.

This bill clarifies these Federal management responsibilities, and it mirrors other permitting and approval precedents on similar Federal projects. It also creates a regulatory environment for that local water project--and the jobs that will go with it--to proceed.

I thank Congressman Gosar for sponsoring this jobs bill, and I urge the adoption of this particular measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Phelps Dodge, just to give you some background of this particular legislation, is a large mining company that built what is now the Cragin project in the 1960s to supply water to its mine complex. Phelps Dodge transferred ownership of the project to the Salt River Project, that's known as the SRP, after the former realized it was not necessary for mining operations. At the request of the SRP and with the support of Phelps Dodge and the Bureau of Reclamation, the Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act authorized transfer of the title of the project and the associated lands from SRP to Reclamation in 2005. Even though the Federal Government owns the project, SRP stills operates and maintains it pursuant to the 1917 contract between SRP and the United States.

The project consists of a number of facilities, including a 147-foot- high dam, a 15,000-acre-foot reservoir, a diversion tunnel and pump shaft, pumping plant, priming reservoir, a 10-mile-long pipeline, electrical transmission line, and a small generating plant which supplies power to the project's pumping plant. The project helps SRP to supply water to the Phoenix metropolitan area and to the town of Payson and neighboring communities in northern Gila County.

Implementation of the title transfer under Public Law 108-45 has been controversial due to misunderstandings between the U.S. Forest Service, Reclamation, and SRP. The operation of the project is like that of all other Salt River Project-managed Reclamation facilities located on U.S. Forest Service lands. And for those projects, Reclamation approves SRP's work plan, their environmental compliance, and other regulatory permitting requirements associated with the project.

Mr. Speaker, that is some background to the issue and why this particular bill is there.

With that, it is my pleasure to now yield such time as he may consume to the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 489 would specify that the Bureau of Reclamation is authorized to approve necessary operation and maintenance activity for the C.C. Cragin project on National Forest System land.

H.R. 489 was introduced this Congress with language that reflects negotiations between the Bureau of Reclamation, the Forest Service, and the Salt River Project and the Congress. This legislation is not meant to serve as precedent for the management of utility corridors on Forest Service land. Instead, the legislation allows for the management of C.C. Cragin consistent with all the other Salt River Project facilities on Forest Service land where the Bureau of Reclamation oversees the operation and management of the facilities.

I have no requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Energy Subcommittee be discharged from further consideration of S. 925 and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc: Calendar No. 129, S. 270; Calendar No. 132, S. 292; Calendar No. 133, S. 333; Calendar No. 134, S. 334; Calendar No. 136, S. 404; Calendar No. 184, H.R. 489; Calendar No. 185, H.R. 470; Calendar No. 186, H.R. 765; and S. 925.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendments, where applicable, be agreed to, the bills, as amended, if amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table.