§833a. Administration of project

(a) Disposal of energy; temporary administration; installation and maintenance of equipment

The electric energy generated in the operation of the said Fort Peck project shall be disposed of by the Bureau as hereinafter provided. The Bureau shall exercise the powers and perform the duties provided for in this chapter under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with section 373a of title 43. The Bureau shall, as hereinafter provided, make all arrangements for the sale and disposition of electric energy generated at the Fort Peck project not required for the operation of the dam at such project and the navigation facilities employed in connection therewith. The form of administration herein established for the Fort Peck project is intended to be provisional pending the establishment of a permanent administration for Fort Peck and other projects in the Missouri River Basin. The Secretary of the Army shall install and maintain additional machinery, equipment, and facilities for the generation of electric energy at the Fort Peck project when in the judgment of the Bureau such additional generating facilities are desirable to meet actual or potential market requirements for such electric energy. The Secretary of the Army shall schedule the operations of the several electrical generating units and appurtenant equipment of the Fort Peck project in accordance with the requirements of the Bureau. The Secretary of the Army shall provide and maintain for the use of the Bureau at said Fort Peck project adequate station space and equipment, including such switches, switchboards, instruments, and dispatching facilities as may be required by the Bureau for proper reception, handling, and dispatching of the electric energy produced at the said project, together with transformers and other equipment required by the Bureau for the transmission of such energy from that place at suitable voltage to the markets which the Bureau desires to serve.

(b) Construction and maintenance of electric transmission lines, substations, and interconnections

In order to encourage the widest possible use of all electric energy that can be generated and marketed and to provide reasonable outlets therefor, and to prevent the monopolization thereof by limited groups, the Bureau is authorized and directed to provide, construct, operate, maintain, and improve such electric transmission lines and substations, and facilities and structures appurtenant thereto, as it finds necessary, desirable, or appropriate for the purpose of transmitting electric energy, available for sale, from the Fort Peck project to existing and potential markets, and, for the purpose of interchange of electric energy, to interconnect the Fort Peck project with either private or with other Federal projects and publicly owned power systems now or hereafter constructed.

(c) Acquisition of real and personal property

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in the name of the United States, to acquire, by purchase, lease, condemnation, or donation, such real and personal property, or any interest therein, including lands, easements, rights-of-way, franchises, electric transmission lines, substations, and facilities and structures appurtenant thereto, as he finds necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Title to all property and property rights acquired by said Secretary shall be taken in the name of the United States.

(d) Acquisition of any property or property rights

The Secretary of the Interior shall have power to acquire any property or property rights, including patent rights, which in his opinion are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, by purchase, lease, donation, or by the exercise of the right of eminent domain and to institute condemnation proceedings therefor in the same manner as is provided by law for the condemnation of real estate.

(e) Disposal of real and personal property

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in the name of the United States, to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of such personal property as in his judgment is not required for the purposes of this chapter and such real property and interests in land acquired in connection with construction or operation of electric transmission lines or substations as in his judgment are not required for the purposes of this chapter.

(f) Contracts by Bureau

Subject to the provisions of this chapter, the Bureau is authorized, in the name of the United States, to negotiate and enter into such contracts, agreements, and arrangements as it shall find necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter.

(May 18, 1938, ch. 250, §2, 52 Stat. 404 ; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, §205(a), 61 Stat. 501 .)

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of act July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501 . Section 205(a) of act July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641 . Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted "Title 10, Armed Forces" which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued military Department of the Army under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army.

Transfer of Functions

Power marketing functions of Bureau of Reclamation, including construction, operation, and maintenance of transmission lines and attendant facilities, transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 7152(a)(1)(E), (3) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and are to be exercised by Secretary through a separate Administration within Department of Energy.

Transfer of Certain Facilities

Act Aug. 31, 1951, ch. 375, title I, §101, 65 Stat. 257 , provided in part: "The Secretary of the Army is hereby authorized to transfer to the Department of the Interior without exchange of funds, all of the right, title, and interest of the Department of the Army in and to the following facilities, including rights-of-way (except that portion of the rights-of-way within the Fort Peck Reservoir area), but there shall be reserved the right to use the power facilities for the purpose of transmitting power to the Fort Peck project during emergency periods when the Fort Peck power plant is not functioning: (a) the Fort Peck-Rainbow (Great Falls) 161 kilovolt transmission line; (b) the Rainbow (Great Falls) terminal facilities; and (c) the Fort Peck-Whatley 50 kilovolt transmission line and substation."

Transfer of Transmission Lines, Substations, etc.; Cost Price; Authority of Secretary

Act Feb. 27, 1948, ch. 75, 62 Stat. 36 , provided: "That, in aid of the administration of the Fort Peck project, there is hereby granted to the United States, for use by the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the 'Bureau'), in the discharge of its duties pursuant to the Act of May 18, 1938 (52 Stat. 403) [this chapter], the electric-transmission lines, substations, rights-of-way, and other property described in section 7 of that certain permit and memorandum of understanding, dated November 2, 1945, between the Bureau and the Office of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the 'Indian Office'): Provided, however, That the Bureau shall continue to furnish electric service for the uses and purposes of the Indian Office on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, pursuant to the terms and conditions of said permit and memorandum of understanding, except as the same may be modified by the Secretary of the Interior.

"Sec. 2. That the amount of money to be paid for said property shall be $58,577.52, or so much thereof as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine to be needed pursuant to the provisions of said permit and memorandum of understanding. Such sum shall be paid, from funds now or hereafter made available to the Department of the Interior for the construction of transmission lines and substations of the Fort Peck project, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who shall deposit such sum in the Treasury of the United States as a credit on expenditures made for irrigation and power construction on the Fort Peck Indian irrigation project.

"Sec. 3. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to perform any and all acts as may be deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act [Act Feb. 27, 1948, ch. 75, 62 Stat. 36 ]."

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.