§ 835c. Duties of Secretary of the Interior

§ 835c. Duties of Secretary of the Interior

(a) Administer, sell, and exchange lands, dedicate portions for public purposes, etc. For the purposes of assisting in the permanent settlement of farm families, protecting project land, and facilitating project development, the Secretary is authorized to administer public lands of the United States in the project area and lands acquired under this section; to sell, exchange, or lease such lands; to dedicate portions of such lands for public purposes in keeping with sound project development; to acquire in the name of the United States, at prices satisfactory to him, such lands or interests in lands, within or adjacent to the project area, as he deems appropriate for the protection, development, or improvement of the project; and to accept donations of real and personal property for the purposes of this Act. Any moneys realized on account of donations for purposes of this Act shall be covered into the Treasury as trust funds.

(b) Terms of contracts; qualifications of applicants; prohibited disposals Contracts, exchanges, and leases made under this section shall be on terms that, in the Secretary’s judgment, are in keeping with sound project development. In addition, land sale and exchange contracts shall be on a basis that, in the Secretary’s judgment, provides for the return, in a reasonable period of years, of not less than the appraised value of the land and improvements thereon. Qualification of applicants for the purchase of land for irrigation farming shall be prescribed as provided in section 433 of title 43, notwithstanding any other provisions of law. No farm unit shall be sold to, and no contract to sell a farm unit shall be entered into with, any person, corporation, or joint-stock association which has theretofore purchased or entered into a contract to purchase a farm unit from the United States on the Columbia Basin project. The foregoing provisions of this subsection shall apply only to the sale of farm units which are suitable for settlement purposes. Farm units which, in the opinion of the Secretary, are not suitable for settlement purposes may be sold with a preference to resident project landowners as supplemental units, subject to the applicable irrigable acreage limitations on the delivery of water, but the purchasers thereof shall not be entitled to benefits of the Act of August 13, 1953 (67 Stat. 566) [43 U.S.C. 451 et seq.] with respect thereto.

(May 27, 1937, ch. 269, § 4, 50 Stat. 210; Mar. 10, 1943, ch. 14, 57 Stat. 18; Sept. 26, 1950, ch. 1048, § 1(4), 64 Stat. 1037; Pub. L. 85–264, § 1(d), Sept. 2, 1957, 71 Stat. 591; Pub. L. 87–728, § 3, Oct. 1, 1962, 76 Stat. 678.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is act May 27, 1937, ch. 269, as amended generally by act Mar. 10, 1943, ch. 14, 57 Stat. 14, known as The Columbia Basin Project Act, which enacted this section, sections 835, 835a, 835b, and 835c–1 to 835c–5 of this title, and provisions set out as a note under section 835 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 835 of this title and Tables.

Act of August 13, 1953, referred to in text, is act Aug. 13, 1953, ch. 428, 67 Stat. 566, which is classified generally to subchapter VII (§ 451 et seq.) of chapter 12 of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

Amendments

1962—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 87–728 struck out provisions stating as a purpose of this section the prevention of speculation in project lands, and deleted from among the duties of the Secretary, those to establish town sites on such lands, and to disseminate information by appropriate means and methods.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 87–728 authorized farm units which are not suitable for settlement purposes to be sold with a preference to resident project landowners as supplemental units, subject to the applicable irrigable acreage limitations on the delivery of water, and prohibiting purchasers thereof from receiving benefits of the Act of August 13, 1953, with respect thereto, eliminated provisions which required land sale and exchange contracts, in the case of lands to be included in farm units, to provide for the application of provisions similar to those of the recordable contracts provided under section 835a(c) of this title, and each applicant for the purchase of land for irrigation farming to agree that he, his heirs and assigns will not, except with the Secretary’s approval, sell, assign, lease, or otherwise dispose of his land during a period ending five years from the date of his purchase contract, and prohibiting applications for a farm unit from any person who, or a member of whose family, then has outstanding another application for a farm unit on the project or to whom a farm unit could not at the time of application lawfully be sold under sections 835 and 835a to 835c–5 of this title, substituted provisions prohibiting the sale of a farm unit to, and the entering into a contract to sell a farm unit with, any person, corporation, or joint-stock association which has theretofore purchased or entered into a contract to purchase a farm unit from the United States on the Columbia Basin project for provisions which prohibited the sale of a farm unit to, and the entering into a contract to sell a farm unit with, any person, corporation, joint-stock association, or family which has theretofore purchased or entered into a contract to purchase a farm unit under sections 835 and 835a to 835c–5 of this title or which then owns a farm unit within the Columbia Basin project, but not precluding a purchase or contract to purchase by a person, otherwise eligible, whose farm unit has been or is acquired by the United States for exchange purposes or, if he is 18 years of age or older, whose family purchased or entered into a contract to purchase a farm unit at a time when he was under 18 years of age.

1957—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 85–264 inserted provisions to require applicant’s agreement not to dispose of his land for 5 years from the date of his purchase contract except with approval of Secretary, to prohibit receiving application from a person who, or a member of whose family, has outstanding another application, or to whom a unit could not at the time of application be lawfully sold, and to prohibit sale or contracts of sale with those who theretofore purchased or contracted to purchase, a unit under sections 835 and 835a to 835c–5 of this title, or then own a unit within the project.

1950—Subsec. (b). Act Sept. 26, 1950, permitted the Secretary to make recordable contract provisions applicable to lands to be included in farm units.

1943—Act Mar. 10, 1943, amended section generally.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Amendment of Contracts, Instruments, Rules, Regulations, Forms, and Procedures

Pub. L. 87–728, § 4, Oct. 1, 1962, 76 Stat. 679, provided that: “The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to amend or modify all existing contracts, instruments, rules, regulations, forms, and procedures entered into or issued under the Columbia Basin Project Act, as amended (16 U.S.C., chap. 12D) [sections 835 and 835a to 835c–5 of this title] prior to the date of enactment of this act [Oct. 1, 1962] to conform to the provisions of this Act [enacting section 835–1 of this title, amending sections 835c, 835c–1, 835–2, 835c–4 of this title, repealing sections 835a, 835b, 835c–3, and 835c–5 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 835a and 835b of this title].”

Amendment of Contracts, Deeds or Documents by Secretary

Pub. L. 85–264, § 2, Sept. 2, 1957, 71 Stat. 591, provided that: “The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to amend any contract, which has been entered into prior to the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 2, 1957], or any existing deed or other document to conform with the provisions of the first section of this Act [amending this section and section 835a of this title]. The consent of the United States is hereby given to the recording, at the expense of the party benefited thereby, of any such amendment.”

Coulee Dam Community Act of 1957