CHAPTER 32B —COLORADO RIVER FLOODWAY
§1600. Findings and purposes
(a) Findings
The Congress finds that—
(1) there are multiple purposes established by law for the dams and other control structures administered by the Secretary of the Interior on the Colorado River;
(2) the maintenance of the Colorado River Floodway established in this chapter is essential to accomplish these multiple purposes;
(3) developments within the Floodway are and will continue to be vulnerable to damaging flows such as the property damage which occurred in 1983 and may occur in the future;
(4) certain Federal programs which subsidize or permit development within the Floodway threaten human life, health, property, and natural resources; and
(5) there is a need for coordinated Federal, State, and local action to limit Floodway development.
(b) Purpose
The Congress declares that the purposes of this chapter are to—
(1) establish the Colorado River Floodway, as designated and described further in this chapter, so as to provide benefits to river users and to minimize the loss of human life, protect health and safety, and minimize damage to property and natural resources by restricting future Federal expenditures and financial assistance, except public health funds, which have the effect of encouraging development within the Colorado River Floodway; and
(2) establish a task force to advise the Secretary of the Interior and the Congress on establishment of the Floodway and on managing existing and future development within the Floodway, including the appropriateness of compensation in specified cases of extraordinary hardship.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original "this Act", meaning
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Short Title
§1600a. Definitions
(a) The term "Committees" refers to the Committee on Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate.
(b) The term "financial assistance" means any form of loan, grant, guaranty, insurance, payment, rebate, subsidy, or any other form of direct or indirect Federal assistance other than—
(1) general revenue-sharing grants made under section 6702 1 of title 31;
(2) deposit or account insurance for customers of banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, or similar institutions;
(3) the purchase of mortgages or loans by the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation;
(4) assistance for environmental studies, plans, and assessments that are required incident to the issuance of permits or other authorizations under Federal law; and
(5) assistance pursuant to programs entirely unrelated to development, such as any Federal or federally assisted public assistance program or any Federal old-age, survivors, or disability insurance program.
Such term also includes flood insurance described in sections 2 4029(a) and (b) of title 42 on and after the dates on which the provisions of those sections 2 become effective.
(c) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior.
(d) The term "water district" means any public agency providing water service, including water districts, county water districts, public utility districts, and irrigation districts.
(e) The term "Floodway" means the Colorado River Floodway established in
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The dates on which the provisions of sections 4029(a) and (b) of title 42 become effective, referred to in subsec. (b), is Oct. 8, 1986, the date of enactment of
Codification
In subsec. (b)(1), "
Amendments
1994—Subsec. (a).
1 See References in Text note below.
2 So in original. Probably should be in the singular.
§1600b. Colorado River Floodway Task Force
(a) Establishment and membership
To advise the Secretary and the Congress there shall be a Colorado River Floodway Task Force, which shall include one representative of—
(1) each State (appointed by the Governor) and Indian reservation in which the Floodway is located;
(2) each county in which the Floodway is located;
(3) a law enforcement agency from each county in which the Floodway is located;
(4) each water district in which the Floodway is located;
(5) the cities of Needles, Parker, Blythe, Bullhead City, Yuma, Laughlin, Lake Havasu City, Nevada (if and when incorporated), and Mojave County, Arizona Supervisor District No. 2 (chosen by, but not a member of the Board of Supervisors);
(6) of the Chamber of Commerce from each county in which the Floodway is located;
(7) the Colorado River Wildlife Council;
(8) the Army Corps of Engineers;
(9) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);
(10) the Department of Agriculture;
(11) the Department of the Interior; and
(12) the Department of State.
(b) Charter and operation; reports and recommendations
The task force shall be chartered and operate under the provisions of
(1) the means to restore and maintain the Floodway specified in
(2) the necessity for additional Floodway management legislation at local, tribal, State, and Federal levels;
(3) the development of specific design criteria for the creation of the Floodway boundaries;
(4) the review of mapping procedures for Floodway boundaries;
(5) whether compensation should be recommended in specific cases of economic hardship resulting from impacts of the 1983 flood on property outside the Floodway which could not reasonably have been foreseen; and
(6) the potential application of the Floodway on Indian lands and recommended legislation or regulations that might be needed to achieve the purposes of the Floodway taking into consideration the special Federal status of Indian lands.
(c) Termination of task force; report to Secretary and Congressional Committees
The task force shall exist for at least one year after October 8, 1986, or until such time as the Secretary has filed with the Committees the maps described in section 1600c(b)(2) 1 of this title. The task force shall file its report with the Secretary and the Committees within nine months after October 8, 1986.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Amendments
2022—Subsec. (b).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of all functions, personnel, assets, components, authorities, grant programs, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Under Secretary for Federal Emergency Management relating thereto, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, see
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see former section 313(1) and
1 See References in Text note below.
§1600c. Colorado River Floodway
(a) Establishment
There is established the Colorado River Floodway as identified and generally depicted on maps that are to be submitted by the Secretary.
(b) Study of tributary floodflows; determination of Floodway boundary
Within eighteen months after October 8, 1986, the Secretary, in consultation with the seven Colorado River Basin States, represented by persons designated by the Governors of those States, the Colorado River Floodway Task Force, and any other interested parties shall:
(1) complete a study of the tributary floodflows downstream of Davis Dam;
(2) define the specific boundaries of the Colorado River Floodway so that the Floodway can accommodate either a one-in-one hundred year river flow consisting of controlled releases and tributary inflow, or a flow of forty thousand cubic feet per second (cfs), whichever is greater, from below Davis Dam to the Southerly International Boundary between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico.
(c) Review and modification of boundaries; notice and comment; written justification for decision of Secretary
(1) The Secretary shall conduct, at least once every five years, a review of the Colorado River Floodway and make, after notice to and in consultation with appropriate chief executive officers of States, counties, municipalities, water districts, Indian tribes, or equivalent jurisdictions in which the Floodway is located, and others, such minor and technical modifications to the boundaries of the Floodway as are necessary solely to reflect changes that have occurred in the size or location of any portion of the floodplain as a result of natural forces, and as necessary pursuant to subsection (c) of
(2) If, in the case of any minor and technical modification to the boundaries of the Floodway made under the authority of this subsection, an appropriate chief executive officer of a State, county, municipality, water district, Indian tribe, or equivalent jurisdiction, to which notice was given in accordance with this subsection files comments disagreeing with all or part of the modification and the Secretary makes a modification which is in conflict with such comments, the Secretary shall submit to the chief executive officer a written justification for his failure to make modifications consistent with such comments or proposals.
(
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1998—Subsec. (b).
Subsec. (c)(1).
§1600d. Limitations on Federal expenditures affecting Floodway
(a) Except as provided in
(b) An expenditure or financial assistance made available under authority of Federal law shall, for purposes of this chapter, be a new expenditure or new financial assistance if—
(1) in any case with respect to which specific appropriations are required, no money for construction or purchase purposes was appropriated before October 8, 1986; or
(2) no legally binding commitment for the expenditure or financial assistance was made before October 8, 1986.
(
§1600e. Exceptions
Notwithstanding
(a) any dam, channel or levee construction, operation or maintenance for the purpose of flood control, water conservation, power or water quality;
(b) other remedial or corrective actions, including but not limited to drainage facilities essential to assist in controlling adjacent high ground water conditions caused by flood flows;
(c) the maintenance, replacement, reconstruction, repair, and expansion, of publicly or tribally owned or operated roads, structures (including bridges), or facilities: Provided, That, no such expansion shall be permitted unless—
(1) the expansion is designed and built in accordance with the procedures and standards established in section 650.101 of title 23, Code of Federal Regulations, and the following as they may be amended from time to time; and
(2) the boundaries of the Floodway are adjusted to account for changes in flows caused, directly or indirectly, by the expansion;
(d) military activities essential to national security;
(e) any of the following actions or projects, but only if the Secretary finds that the making available of expenditures or assistance therefor is consistent with the purposes of this chapter:
(1) projects for the study, management, protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife resources and habitats, including, but not limited to, acquisition of fish and wildlife habitats and related lands, stabilization projects for fish and wildlife habitats, and recreational projects;
(2) the establishment, operation, and maintenance of air and water navigation aids and devices, and for access thereto;
(3) projects eligible for funding under
(4) scientific research, including but not limited to aeronautical, atmospheric, space, geologic, marine, fish and wildlife and other research, development, and applications;
(5) assistance for emergency actions essential to the saving of lives and the protection of property and the public health and safety, if such actions are performed pursuant to sections 305 and 306 of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 1 (
(6) other assistance for public health purposes, such as mosquito abatement programs;
(7) nonstructural projects for riverbank stabilization that are designed to enhance or restore natural stabilization systems;
(8) publicly or tribally financed, owned and operated compatible recreational developments such as regional parks, golf courses, docks, boat launching ramps (including steamboat and ferry landings), including compatible recreation uses and accompanying utility or interpretive improvements which are essential or closely related to the purpose of restoring the accuracy of a National Historical Landmark and which meet best engineering practices considering the nature of Floodway conditions;
(9) compatible agricultural uses that do not involve permanent crops and include only a minimal amount of permanent facilities in the Floodway.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Disaster Relief Act of 1974, referred to in subsec. (e)(5), is
Amendments
2014—Subsec. (e)(3).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
"Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency" substituted for "Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency" in subsec. (e)(5) on authority of section 612(c) of
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of all functions, personnel, assets, components, authorities, grant programs, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Under Secretary for Federal Emergency Management relating thereto, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, see
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see former section 313(1) and
1 See References in Text note below.
§1600f. Certification of compliance
The Secretary of the Interior shall, on behalf of each Federal agency concerned, make written certification that each agency has complied with the provisions of this chapter during each fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1985. Such certification shall be submitted on an annual basis to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate on or before January 15 of each fiscal year.
(
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Termination of Reporting Requirements
For termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in this section relating to the requirement that the Secretary submit written certifications on an annual basis to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, see section 3003 of
§1600g. Priority of laws
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to alter, amend, repeal, modify, interpret, or be in conflict with the provisions of the Colorado River Compact (
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Colorado River Compact (
The Flood Control Act of 1944, referred to in text, is act Dec. 22, 1944, ch. 665,
The Boulder Canyon Project Act, referred to in text, is act Dec. 21, 1928, ch. 42,
The Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act, referred to in text, is act July 19, 1940, ch. 643,
The Colorado River Storage Project Act, referred to in text, is act Apr. 11, 1956, ch. 203,
The Colorado River Basin Project Act, referred to in text, is
§1600h. Separability
If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
(
§1600i. Reports to Congress
Within one year after October 8, 1986, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the Committees a report regarding the Colorado River Floodway, the task force's report, and the Secretary's recommendations with respect to the objectives outlined in
(
§1600j. Federal leases
(a) Lease of lands owned in whole or in part by United States within Floodway; determination of consistency with operation and maintenance
No lease of lands owned in whole or in part by the United States and within the Colorado River Floodway shall be granted after October 8, 1986, unless the Secretary determines that such lease would be consistent with the operation and maintenance of the Colorado River Floodway.
(b) Extension of existing leases; minimization of inconsistency with operation and maintenance of Floodway
No existing lease of lands owned in whole or in part by the United States and within the Colorado River Floodway shall be extended beyond October 8, 1986, or the stated expiration date of its current term, whichever is later, unless the lessee agrees to take reasonable and prudent steps determined to be necessary by the Secretary to minimize the inconsistency of operation under such lease with the operation and maintenance of the Colorado River Floodway.
(c) Lease of lands owned in whole or in part by United States between Hoover Dam and Davis Dam
No lease of lands owned in whole or part by the United States between Hoover Dam and Davis Dam below elevation 655.0 feet on Lake Mohave shall be granted unless the Secretary determines that such lease would be consistent with the operation of Lake Mohave.
(d) Lease operations on Indian lands
The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to lease operations on Indian lands pursuant to a lease providing for activities which are exempted under
(e) Lands held in trust by United States for benefit of Indian tribes or individuals
Subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to lands held in trust by the United States for the benefit of any Indian tribe or individual with respect to any lease where capital improvements, and operation and maintenance costs are not provided for by Federal financial assistance if the lessee, tribe, or individual has provided insurance or other security for the benefit of the Secretary sufficient to insure against all reasonably forseeable,1 direct, and consequential damages to the property of the tribe, private persons, and the United States, which may result from the proposed lease.
(
1 So in original. Probably should be "foreseeable,".
§1600k. Notices and existing laws
(a) Provisions relating to construction work, liability for damage, etc., on Mississippi River; notice to lessees
(1) Nothing in this chapter shall alter or affect in any way the provisions of
(2) The Secretary shall provide notice of the provisions of
(b) National Flood Insurance Act and National Flood Insurance Program; continuation
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, all provisions of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended [
(c) National Flood Insurance Act provisions relating directly to Floodway; notice to communities affected
The Secretary shall publish notice on three successive occasions in newspapers of general circulation in communities affected by the provisions of
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, referred to in subsec. (b), is title XIII of
§1600l. Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of the Interior $600,000, through the end of fiscal year 1990, in addition to any other funds now available to the Department to discharge its duties to implement
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of all functions, personnel, assets, components, authorities, grant programs, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Under Secretary for Federal Emergency Management relating thereto, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, see
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the functions of the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see former section 313(1) and