Removing Certain Restrictions on Mammoth Community Water District's Ability to Use Certain Property Acquired from the United States

REMOVING CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON MAMMOTH COMMUNITY WATER DISTRICT'S ABILITY TO USE CERTAIN PROPERTY ACQUIRED FROM THE UNITED STATES

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Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my strong support for HR 356, legislation I introduced earlier this year to remove restrictions on 25 acres of land patented to the Mammoth County Water District.

Prior to 1987, the District occupied this land through a special use permit with the Forest Service. Of these 25 acres, 12 acres were used for the storage of materials, and prior to 1987, for oxidation ponds, which had become obsolete by that year.

After that time, Congress passed Public Law 97-465 that allowed these lands to be transferred directly to the District. While the law allowed for acquisition of these lands, it also directed that they could only be used for those purposes prior to the time of the conveyance.

Today, however, these 12 acres are no longer needed for the storage of materials and the community would like to utilize this land in a more economically and socially viable manner.

Such restrictions as those currently placed on the aforementioned acreage hinder the Mammoth community's ability to respond to the growing needs of its citizens and visitors.

As such, passage of this legislation would allow the town to accommodate for the growing economic and social needs of the region. In particular I am pleased to inform my colleagues of plans to use these acres for enhanced emergency services availability for the people of Mammoth Lakes.

I would like to express my deep appreciation to Chairman Rahall for bringing this legislation to the floor and ask my colleagues to support its passage here today.

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