OCR Text |
Show 302 contract payments are required to be sufficient to cover costs of operation and maintenance and replacements, an amount equal to 100% of the principal of the Government's invest- ment, plus 3% interest on all but $25,000,000 allocated to flood control, plus an amount in lieu of taxes to the states wherein the project is located, as well as sums for annual transfer to the Colorado River Development Fund.251 From this fund, pro- vided for by the 1940 Act, appropriations were authorized dur- ing an initial period for studies and investigations for the for- mulation of a "comprehensive plan," later appropriations being authorized in the same Act for investigation and construction of projects in the Colorado River Basin.252 It is also important to note that, under the 1940 Act, the Secretary was authorized to contract for the termination of the existing lease of the power plant and to operate it either di- rectly or through agents.253 Pursuant to this provision, a con- tract was consummated in 1941 whereby the lease was ter- minated and the then lessees became the operating agents of the power plant.254 Fort Peck Project.-Another special act dealing with the role of power in a multiple-purpose project is that relating to the Fort Peck Project, the completion of which was authorized in 1938.255 Constructed primarily for improving navigation on the Missouri River, and for "other purposes incidental thereto," the project is maintained and operated by the Army Engineers, but surplus energy is marketed by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Reclamation.258 Rate schedules prepared by the Bureau shall be fixed "with a view to encouraging the widest possible diversified use of 251 Act of July 19,1940, 54 Stat. 774, as amended, 43 U. S. C. 6I8-6I80 (and Supp. III). See also Sen. Rep. No. 1784, 76th Cong., 3d sess., p. 9 (1940). 282 § 2(d), 54 Stat. 775, as amended, 43 U. S. C. 618a(d) (Supp. III). 203 § 9,54 Stat. 777, 43 U. S. C. 618h. 284 See Hoover Dam Power and Water Contracts and Related Data, De- partment of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, pp. 787-813 (1950). 255 Act of May 18,1938, 52 Stat. 403,16 U. S. C. 833-833p. 259 § 1, 52 Stat. 403, 16 U. S. C. 833; Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1950, effective May 24, 1950, 15 F. R. 3174; Department of the Interior Order No. 2563, May 2, 1950. See also Sen. Doc. No. 247, 78th Cong., 2d sess., p. 2 (1944). |