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Show X. SMALL RECLAMATION PROJECTS RECENTLY ENACTED LEGISLATION OF INTEREST TO STATES OF THE UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956 On August 6, 1956 the President signed into law the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956, Public Law 984, 84th Congress (70 Stat. 1044), which established a program under which certain State and local organizations can obtain loans for the construction of small reclamation projects. This Act also permits grants for those portions of the project that are non-reimbursable as a matter of national policy. This law should be of major importance to the States of the Upper Colorado River Basin, because in each State there are many projects that are too small to be economically constructed by the Federal Government, but which are too large .and too expensive to be constructed and financed privately. The President has stated that Congress shall amend that section of the Act pertaining to the method of approval of the projects before he will approve appropriations of funds for implementing the program. The 85th Congress is currently considering amendatory language to satisfy the President's objection. In the meanwhile, the Bureau of Reclamation is setting up a program under which interested organizations may prepare their plans and make applications for loans. The Bureau is examining plans and processing applications on acceptable projects so that action thereon can be taken relatively quickly after the final amendments have been made by Congress and the funds are made available. Under the terms of the Act, a Small Project may take either of two forms. It may be a complete irrigation undertaking or a distinct unit of such an undertaking, and is similar to what might be constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation under Federal Reclamation Laws, the total cost of which does not exceed five million dollars, or it may be a rehabilitation and betterment program for an existing irrigation development, the cost of each project not to exceed five million dollars. The legislation provides that a project costing up to ten million dollars may qualify providing that the local organization will finance all costs above the amount that -66- |