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WATER POWER

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Cross references: See subtitle "Lease or Sale of Surplus Power," p. 533, and "Boulder Canyon Project Act," p. 557, under Reclamation; "Reservoir Sites," p. 615; Rights of Way," p. 626; subtitle "School Land Grants," under "State Grants," pp. 646, 664.

FEDERAL WATER POWER ACT1

An Act To create a Federal Power Commission; to provide for the improvement of navigation; the development of water power; the use of the public lands in relation thereto, and to repeal section 18 of the river and harbor appropriation Act, approved August 8, 1917, and for other purposes

amended.

Commission.

Chairman of, ap

dent.

Proviso. Election of succeeding chair

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assem- Federal Water bled, That a commission is hereby created and established, Power Act. to be known as the Federal Power Commission (herein- Vol. 41, p. 1063, after referred to as the "commission ") which shall be Federal Power composed of five commissioners who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Creation and Senate, one of whom shall be designated by the President composition of. as chairman and shall be the principal executive officer of pointed by Presi the commission: Provided, That after the expiration of the original term of the commissioner so designated as chairman by the President, chairmen shall be elected by men. the commission itself, each chairman when so elected to act as such until the expiration of his term of office. The commissioners first appointed under this section, Terms of comas amended, shall continue in office for terms of one, two, three, four, and five years, respectively, from the date of successors. this section, as amended, takes effect, the term of each to Exception. be designated by the President at the time of nomination. Their successors shall be appointed each for a term of five years from the date of the expiration of the term for

1 This is the Federal power act of June 10, 1920 (41 Stat. 1063), as amended by the act of June 23, 1930 (46 Stat. 797), entitled "An Act to reorganize the Federal Power Commission."

Provision for the functioning of the present Federal Power Commission until the reorganization of the new commission and the effective date of the reorganization was contained in sec. 3 of the 1930 act as follows:

"SEC. 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1 of this Act the Federal Power Commission as constituted upon the date of the approval of this Act shall continue to function until the date of the reorganization of the commission pursuant to the provisions of such section. The commission shall be deemed to be reorganized upon such date as three of the commissioners appointed as provided in such section 1 have taken office, and no such commissioner shall be paid salary for any period prior to such date."

The Federal water power act, as amended by the act of June 23, 1930, was declared to remain effective by sec. 4 of the latter act in the following language:

"SEC. 4. This Act shall be held to reorganize the Federal Power Commission created by the Federal Water Power Act, and said Federal Water Power Act shall remain in full force and effect, as herein amended, and no regulations, actions, investigations, or other proceedings under the Federal Water Power Act existing or pending at the time of the approval of this Act shall abate or otherwise be affected by reasons of the provisions of this Act."

Tenure.

missioners.

appointment be

etc., affiliations.

Other business, etc., by commis

sioners, prohibited.

Right to func

tion, if vacancy

exists.

Quorum and seal.
Election of vice

chairman.

Restriction on which his predecessor was appointed, except that any cause of political, person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of such predecessor. Not more than three of the commissioners shall be appointed from the same political party. No person in the employ of or holding any official relation to any licensee or to any person, firm, association, or corporation engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution, or sale of power, or owning stock or bonds thereof, or who is in any manner pecuniarily interested therein, shall enter upon the duties of or hold the office of commissioner. Said commissioners shall not engage in any other business, vocation, or employment. No vacancy in the commission shall impair the right of the remaining commissioners to exercise all the powers of the commission. Three members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and the commission shall have an official seal of which judicial notice shall be taken. The commission shall annually elect a vice chairman to act in case of the absence or disability of the chairman or in case of a vacancy in the office of chairman.

Compensation, traveling, etc., expenses.

Principal office in the District of Columbia for

general sessions.

Each commissioner shall receive an annual salary of $10,000, together with necessary traveling and subsistence expenses, or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, within the limitations prescribed by law, while away from the seat of government upon official business.

The principal office of the commission shall be in the District of Columbia, where its general sessions shall be held; but whenever the convenience of the public or of the parties may be promoted or delay or expense preSpecial sessions. vented thereby, the commission may hold special sessions in any part of the United States. [This is sec. 1 of the Federal Water Power Act as amended by the Act of June 23, 1930, 46 Stat. 797, entitled "An Act to reor

Other personnel. ganize the Federal Power Commission."]

SEC. 2. The commission shall have authority to appoint, Appointment and prescribe the duties, and fix the salaries of, a secretary, a chief engineer, a general counsel, a solicitor, and a chief accountant; and may, subject to the civil service laws, appoint such other officers and employees as are necessary in the execution of its functions and fix their salaries in accordance with the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The commission may request the President to detail an officer or officers from the Corps of Engineers, or other branches of the United States Army, to serve the commission as engineer officer or officers, or in any other capacity, in field work outside the seat of government, their duties to be prescribed by the commission; and such detail is hereby authorized. The President may also, at the request of the commission, detail, assign, or transfer to the commission engineers in or under the

Details of officers from other departments.

Departments of the Interior or Agriculture for field work outside the seat of government under the direction of the commission.

expenses author

The commission may make such expenditures (includ- Contingent ing expenditures for rent and personal services at the ized. seat of government and elsewhere, for law books, periodicals, and books of reference, and for printing and binding) as are necessary to execute its functions. Expenditures by the commission shall be allowed and paid upon the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor, approved by the chairman of the commission or by such other member or officer as may be authorized by the commission for that purpose. [This is sec. 2 of the Federal Water Power Act as amended by the Act of June 23, 1930, 46 Stat. 797, entitled "An Act to reorganize the Federal Power Commission."]

as used.

SEC. 3. That the words defined in this section shall Meaning of terms have the following meanings for the purposes of this Act, to wit:

"Public lands" means such lands and interest in "Public lands." lands owned by the United States as are subject to private appropriation and disposal under public-land laws. It shall not include "reservations," as hereinafter defined.

"Reservations" means national monuments, national "Reservations.” parks, national forests, tribal lands embraced within Indian reservations, military reservations, and other lands and interests in lands owned by the United States, and withdrawn, reserved, or withheld from private appropriation and disposal under the public-land laws; also lands and interests in lands acquired and held for any public purpose.

Corporation" means a corporation organized un- "Corporation." der the laws of any State or of the United States empowered to develop, transmit, distribute, sell, lease, or utilize power in addition to such other powers as it may possess, and authorized to transact in the State or States in which its project is located all business necessary to effect the purposes of a license under this Act. It shall not include "municipalities" as hereinafter defined.

"State" means a State admitted to the Union, the District of Columbia, and any organized Territory of the United States.

"State."

Municipality" means a city, county, irrigation dis- "Municipality." trict, drainage district, or other political subdivision or agency of a State competent under the laws thereof to carry on the business of developing, transmitting, utilizing, or distributing power.

waters."

Navigable waters" means those parts of streams or "Navigable other bodies of water over which Congress has jurisdiction under its authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States, and which either in their natural or improved condition, notwith

"Municipal purposes."

"Government dam."

"Project."

"Project works."

"Net investment."

Items excluded.

"Cost."

standing interruptions between the navigable parts of such streams or waters by falls, shallows, or rapids compelling land carriage, are used or suitable for use for the transportation of persons or property in interstate or foreign commerce, including therein all such interrupting falls, shallows, or rapids; together with such other parts of streams as shall have been authorized by Congress for improvement by the United States or shall have been recommended to Congress for such improvement after investigation under its authority.

"Municipal purposes means and includes all purposes within municipal powers as defined by the constitution or laws of the State or by the charter of the municipality.

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Government dam means a dam or other work, constructed or owned by the United States for Government purposes, with or without contribution from others.

"Project" means complete unit of improvement or development, consisting of a power house, all water conduits, all dams and appurtenant works and structures (including navigation structures) which are a part of said unit, and all storage, diverting, or forebay reservoirs directly connected therewith, the primary line or lines transmitting power therefrom to the point of junction with the distribution system or with the interconnected primary transmission system, all miscellaneous structures used and useful in connection with said unit or any part thereof, and all water rights, rights of way, ditches, dams, reservoirs, lands, or interest in lands, the use and occupancy of which are necessary or appropriate in the maintenance and operation of such unit.

"Project works" means the physical structures of a project.

"Net investment" in a project means the actual legitimate original cost thereof as defined and interpreted in the "classification of investment in road and equipment of steam roads, issue of 1914, Interstate Commerce Commission," plus similar costs of additions thereto and betterments thereof, minus the sum of the following items properly allocated thereto, if and to the extent that such items have been accumulated during the period. of the license from earnings in excess of a fair return on such investment: (a) Unappropriated surplus, (b) aggregate credit balances of current depreciation accounts, and (c) aggregate appropriations of surplus or income held in amortization, sinking fund, or similar reserves, or expended for additions or betterments or used for the purposes for which such reserves were created. The term "cost" shall include, in so far as applicable, the elements thereof prescribed in said classification, but shall not include expenditures from funds obtained through donations by States, municipalities, individuals, or others, and said classification of investment.