Bill Number: OK51RHB 2088 Filed: 01-21-2007
Author:
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1 1st Session of the 51st Legislature (2007)
2 HOUSE BILL 2088 By: Jackson
3 AS INTRODUCED
4 An Act relating to waters and water rights; amending
5 82 O.S. 2001, Section 862, as last amended by Section
6 1, Chapter 524, O.S.L. 2004 (82 O.S. Supp. 2006,
7 Section 862), which relates to the powers, rights and
8 privileges of the Grand River Dam Authority;
9 modifying certain powers, rights and privileges of
10 the Authority to allow use of certain financial
11 instruments; requiring approval of certain actions;
12 and providing an effective date.
13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
14 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 82 O.S. 2001, Section 862, as
15 last amended by Section 1, Chapter 524, O.S.L. 2004 (82 O.S. Supp.
16 2006, Section 862), is amended to read as follows:
17 Section 862. The district shall have and is hereby authorized
18 to exercise the following powers, rights and privileges:
19 (a) To control, store and preserve, within the boundaries of
20 the district, the waters of Grand River and its tributaries, for any
21 useful purpose, and to use, distribute and sell the same within the
22 boundaries of the district; provided, however, that any municipal
23 corporation within the area included within the jurisdiction of the
24 said Grand River Dam Authority shall be entitled to take water from
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1 the Grand River and any of its tributaries in any quantities that
2 may be needed by such municipal corporation;
3 (b) To develop and generate water power, electric power and
4 electric energy, from whatever source, within the boundaries of the
5 district; to acquire coal or other minerals to be used for the
6 purposes of providing energy sources for electrical generating
7 plants; to acquire or lease any and all railroad connections,
8 equipment, rolling stock, trackage and otherwise, necessary to the
9 transporting of coal and other minerals to generating plant sites
10 within the district; and to buy, sell, resell, interchange and
11 distribute electric power and energy in order to carry forward the
12 business and functions of the district now or hereafter authorized
13 by law and may enter into contracts for such purposes, such
14 contracts to run for a period of not to exceed fifty (50) years
15 except those contracts provided for in paragraphs (f) and (g) of
16 this section. All contracts may contain such reasonable provisions,
17 limitations, qualifications, protective clauses and rights and
18 obligations of purchase and sale, and such provisions for the
19 dedication of the use of facilities and the construction of
20 additional facilities to serve the load requirements of all the
21 parties as may be deemed advisable by the district to safeguard the
22 business and properties of all the parties to such contracts, all
23 within the limits of sound business judgment and practice, good
24 conscience, and not contrary to the public policy of the state;
25 (c) To prevent or aid in the prevention of damage to person
26 or property from the waters of the Grand River and its tributaries;
27 (d) To forest and reforest and to aid in the foresting and
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1 reforesting of the watershed area of the Grand River and its
2 tributaries and to prevent and to aid in the prevention of soil
3 erosion and floods within said watershed area;
4 (e) To acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or in any other
5 manner, and to maintain, use and operate or to contract for the
6 maintenance, use and operation of any and all property of any kind,
7 real, personal, or mixed, or any interest therein, including trucks
8 of any size or weight and passenger vehicles and to own, construct,
9 operate and maintain any project or works in conjunction or jointly
10 with, as tenants in common, any public or private corporation duly
11 authorized and qualified to do business within this state including,
12 but not limited to, rural electric cooperatives of the State of
13 Oklahoma or the United States of America, or any department,
14 subdivision or agency of the State of Oklahoma or the United States
15 of America, or with any public agency as defined under the
16 Interlocal Cooperation Act, Sections 1001 through 1008 of Title 74
17 of the Oklahoma Statutes, within or without the boundaries of the
18 district, necessary, incidental or convenient to the exercise of the
19 powers, rights, privileges and functions conferred upon it by this
20 act;
21 (f) In addition to any other powers conferred, the district
22 shall have power and authority to participate and enter into
23 agreements with any public or private corporation duly authorized
24 and qualified to do business within the State of Oklahoma including,
25 but not limited to, rural electric cooperatives, the state or the
26 United States of America or any department, subdivision or agency of
27 the state or the United States of America, or with any public
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1 agency as defined under the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Sections
2 1001 through 1008 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, for the
3 purpose of planning, acquiring, financing, owning, operating and
4 maintaining an undivided ownership of any steam, oil, gas,
5 coal-fired, thermal, geothermal, solar, waste or refuse reclamation
6 powered electric generating plant or plants or any facilities of
7 every kind necessary, incidental or convenient for the production,
8 generation and transmission of electric power and energy including,
9 but not limited to, any and all related transmission facilities,
10 which shall be used as common facilities. The agreements shall
11 provide that the district and any participants therein shall have
12 the incidents of tenant in common to any plant or facility. It
13 shall also be provided in the agreements that the district and any
14 participant in the project shall own a percentage of any common
15 facility equal to the percentage of the money furnished or the value
16 of property supplied by it for the acquisition and construction
17 thereof and shall own and control a like percentage of the
18 electrical output thereof.
19 Each participant shall defray its own interest payments and
20 other payments required to be made or deposited in connection with
21 any financing undertaken by it to pay its percentage of the money
22 furnished or value of property supplied by it for the planning,
23 acquisition and construction of any common facility, or any
24 additions or betterments thereto. The agreement shall further
25 provide a uniform method of determining and allocating operation and
26 maintenance expenses of the common facility.
27 In carrying out the powers granted in this section, the
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1 district and each participant shall be severally liable only for its
2 own acts and not jointly or severally liable for the acts, omissions
3 or obligations of others. No money or property supplied by the
4 district or any participant for the planning, financing, acquiring,
5 constructing, operating or maintaining of any common plant or
6 facility shall be credited or otherwise applied to the account of
7 any other participant therein, nor shall the undivided share of the
8 district or any participant therein be charged, directly or
9 indirectly, with any debt or obligation of any other participant or
10 be subject to any lien as a result thereof. No action in connection
11 with a common facility shall be binding upon the district except as
12 expressly authorized and provided for in the participation
13 agreement;
14 (g) In addition to the powers conferred in paragraph (f) of
15 this section, the district shall have power and authority to
16 participate and enter into agreements with any public or private
17 corporation duly authorized and qualified to do business within this
18 state including, but not limited to, rural electric cooperatives,
19 the State of Oklahoma or the United States of America or any
20 department, subdivision or agency of the State of Oklahoma or the
21 United States of America, or with any public agency as defined
22 under the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Sections 1001 through 1008 of
23 Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, for the purpose of planning,
24 acquiring, financing, owning, operating and maintaining undivided
25 ownership interests in any steam, oil, gas, coal-fired, thermal,
26 geothermal, solar, waste or refuse reclamation powered electric
27 generating plant or plants or any other facilities of every kind
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1 necessary, incidental or convenient for the production, generation
2 and transmission of electric power and energy including, but not
3 limited to, any and all related transmission or other facilities
4 which are to be used as common facilities and to cooperate with
5 other state agencies and public trusts to promote economic
6 development in the state and to assist in attracting industry to the
7 state. Such undivided ownership interests may be created by an
8 agreement entered into with respect to property to be acquired by
9 the district. Any such agreement may be a sale agreement, with the
10 purchase price payable at one time or in installments at such time
11 and over such period as shall be agreed to by the parties thereto, a
12 lease agreement, with a nominal purchase option, or any other type
13 of agreement. In addition to the purchase price, the district shall
14 be fully indemnified as to operation, maintenance, administrative
15 and other expenses incurred with respect to such undivided interest.
16 Any payment received in respect to any such agreement shall be
17 deemed revenues of the Authority. The district is hereby authorized
18 to enter into any such agreement in order to sell, lease or
19 otherwise convey undivided ownership interests in any such property.
20 Any such agreement shall specify the undivided interest to be owned
21 or acquired by each of the participants, provide for a waiver of
22 partition, prescribe the time of vesting of such interest and the
23 amount of electrical output to be owned and controlled by any
24 participant.
25 Each participant shall defray its own interest and other
26 payments required to be made or deposited in connection with any
27 financing undertaken by it to pay its percentage of the money
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1 furnished or value of property supplied by it for the planning,
2 acquisition and construction of any common facility, or any
3 additions or betterments thereto. The agreement shall provide a
4 uniform method of determining and allocating operation and
5 maintenance expenses of the common facility.
6 In carrying out the powers granted in this section, the
7 district and each participant shall be severally liable only for its
8 own acts and not jointly or severally liable for the acts, omissions
9 or obligations of others. No money or property supplied by the
10 district or any participant for the planning, financing, acquiring,
11 constructing, operating or maintaining of any common plant or
12 facility shall be credited or otherwise applied to the account of
13 any other participant therein, nor shall the undivided share of the
14 district or any participant therein be charged, directly or
15 indirectly, with any debt or obligation of any other participant or
16 be subject to any lien as a result thereof. No action in connection
17 with a common facility shall be binding upon the district except as
18 expressly authorized and provided for in the participation
19 agreement;
20 (h) To acquire by condemnation any and all property of any
21 kind, real, personal, or mixed, or any interest therein, within or
22 without the boundaries of the district, necessary, incidental or
23 convenient to the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges and
24 functions conferred upon it by this act, in the manner provided by
25 general law with respect to condemnation; provided that nothing in
26 this act shall ever be construed to authorize the district to
27 acquire by condemnation any privately, municipally or publicly owned
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1 electric public utility system or any part thereof outside of the
2 high-water mark of a reservoir area or outside a properly located
3 damsite, except the districts may require the relocation of
4 transmission lines and substations so owned where such relocation is
5 necessary for the construction and maintenance of dams, reservoirs,
6 levees, spillways and floodways, and in such event just compensation
7 shall be paid. Provided that the Grand River Dam Authority shall
8 have the right to cross transmission lines of other electric utility
9 companies under proper engineering standards of construction as
10 approved by the Corporation Commission;
11 (i) Subject to the provisions of this act, from time to time
12 sell, which shall include, but not be limited to, an installment
13 sale agreement, lease with nominal purchase options, or otherwise
14 dispose of any property of any kind, real, personal or mixed, or any
15 interest therein, which shall not be necessary to the carrying on of
16 the business of the district;
17 (j) To overflow and inundate any public lands and public
18 property and to require the relocation of roads and highways in the
19 manner and to the extent necessary to carry out the purposes of this
20 act; provided, that said district shall be liable in damages to the
21 State of Oklahoma or any subdivision thereof for any injury
22 occasioned or expense incurred by reason thereof;
23 (k) To construct, extend, improve, maintain and reconstruct,
24 to cause to be constructed, extended, improved, maintained and
25 reconstructed, and to use and operate any and all facilities of any
26 kind necessary, incidental or convenient to the exercise of such
27 powers, rights, privileges and functions;
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1 (l) To sue and be sued in its corporate name in contracts,
2 reverse condemnation, tort, equity, mandamus and similar actions and
3 in its own name plead and be impleaded, provided, however, that any
4 and all actions of law or in an equity against the district shall be
5 brought in the county in which the principal office of the district
6 shall be located or in the county where the cause of action arose;
7 (m) To adopt, use and alter a corporate seal;
8 (n) To make bylaws for the management and regulation of its
9 affairs;
10 (o) To appoint officers, agents and employees, to prescribe
11 their duties and to fix their compensation; and enter into contracts
12 with labor unions, provided, that contracts with labor unions shall
13 not abrogate the rights of the district to cooperate and carry out
14 Veterans on the Job Training;
15 (p) To make contracts and to execute instruments necessary,
16 incidental or convenient to the exercise of the powers, rights,
17 privileges and functions conferred upon it by this act, including
18 the use of derivatives or other instruments intended to hedge fuel
19 cost risk associated with any projects or power purchases or supply
20 arrangements of the Grand River Dam Authority, or to hedge fixed or
21 variable interest rate exposure associated with permitted
22 investments, including any option to enter into or terminate any of
23 them, that the Authority deems to be necessary or desirable, and
24 containing terms and provisions, and may be with any parties, as
25 determined by the Authority;
26 (q) To borrow money for its corporate purposes and, without
27 limitation of the generality of the foregoing, to borrow money and
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1 accept grants from the United States of America, or from any
2 corporation or agency created or designated by the United States of
3 America, and, in connection with any such loan or grant, to enter
4 into such agreements as the United States of America or such
5 corporation or agency may require; and to make and issue its
6 negotiable bonds for money borrowed, in the manner provided in this
7 act, and may enter into interest rate swaps and other derivative
8 products, and other financial instruments intended to hedge interest
9 rate risk or manage interest rate costs, including any option to
10 enter into or terminate any of them, that the Grand River Dam
11 Authority deems to be necessary or desirable in connection with any
12 bonds issued prior to, at the same time as, or after entering into
13 the arrangement, and containing terms and provisions, and may be
14 with any parties, as determined by the Authority. Any action taken
15 by the Authority pursuant to this subsection shall first be approved
16 by the Office of the State Bond Advisor and the Council of Bond
17 Oversight pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Bond Oversight
18 and Reform Act. Nothing in this act shall authorize the issuance
19 of any bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the
20 district, except as specifically provided in this act;
21 (r) To prescribe and enforce rules for the use for
22 recreational and commercial purposes of the lakes created by the
23 district by impounding the waters of said lakes, and the shorelands
24 of the district bordering thereon, including the use of firearms,
25 the inspection of all boats of every character proposing to operate
26 or operating on said lakes, the issuance of permits for the
27 operation of boats, surfboards, aquaplanes, sea-skis or similar
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1 devices on said lakes for hire; the charging and collection of fees
2 for the inspection or operation of such boats, surfboards,
3 aquaplanes, sea-skis or other similar devices on said lakes for
4 hire; preventing the launching or operation of any commercial or
5 for-hire boat, surfboard, aquaplane, sea-ski or similar device for
6 hire, on the waters of said lakes, without a certificate of
7 inspection and a permit for such use; prescribing the type, style,
8 location and equipment of all wharves, docks and anchorages along
9 the shores and upon the water of said lakes; the issuance of permits
10 for wharfage, dock or anchorage privileges and charging fees for
11 such commercial or private permits; and the establishment and
12 maintenance of public wharves, docks or anchorages and the charging
13 and collection of fees for the use thereof by the public; to appoint
14 or employ such persons as the district may deem proper and suitable
15 for the purpose of enforcing such rules and regulations as may be
16 issued hereunder, or as may be issued pursuant to the provisions of
17 Sections 4200 et seq. of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and for
18 the enforcing of the provisions of this act, and all violations of
19 criminal laws occurring within the boundaries of the counties where
20 real property owned or leased by the Grand River Dam Authority is
21 located, which employees shall have the power of peace officers
22 during the performance of those duties, except in the serving or
23 execution of civil process;
24 (s) To do any and all other acts or things necessary,
25 incidental or convenient to the exercise of the powers, rights,
26 privileges or functions conferred upon it by this act or any other
27 act or law. Provided said district shall be liable for damage
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1 caused by said district, its agents, servants and employees in
2 creating, constructing, maintaining or operating said district to
3 any corporation, partnership, person or individual whose property,
4 either real or personal, within or without said district, has been
5 damaged and said damages may be determined by appropriate action as
6 provided by law. Nothing in this act shall be construed as
7 rendering the district liable for damage where it is not liable on
8 general principles of law or statute or Constitutional provision.
9 Provided, however, that in the course of exercising its powers
10 as herein enumerated, the said district shall at all times consider
11 the rights and needs of the people living within and upon the land
12 lying within the watershed of the rivers or streams developed by the
13 district; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prevent the
14 district from selling for irrigation purposes within the boundaries
15 of the district any water impounded by it under authority of law,
16 provided that nothing herein contained shall authorize the state to
17 engage in agriculture except for educational and scientific purposes
18 and for the support of its penal, charitable, and educational
19 institutions; and
20 (t) To support and assist the efforts of state, regional and
21 local development organizations, political subdivisions, industrial
22 committees, chambers of commerce, tourism organizations,
23 agricultural organizations, environmental organizations and other
24 similar public and private agencies to obtain new and foster
25 expansion of existing service, industrial and manufacturing
26 facilities, businesses and enterprises to enhance the quality of
27 life for the citizens of the district and the state. Provided,
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1 support and assistance shall be limited to an amount not to exceed a
2 total of Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) per year for one or
3 more projects or efforts that are for the benefit of or impact the
4 quality of life for each city or community located within the
5 boundaries of the district.
6 (u) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the General
7 Manager, department heads and other essential employees of the
8 district, as designated by the General Manager, may be permitted to
9 use a district owned vehicle to provide transportation between the
10 employees residence and the assigned place of employment and
11 between the residence and any location other than the assigned place
12 of employment to which the employee travels in the performance of
13 the employees official duty.
14 SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2007.
15 51-1-5328 KB 01/07/07
16 Page 1
17 Req. No. 5328
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