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<br />002983 <br /> <br />LEGAL COMMITTEE <br />WORK PLAN <br />2002 <br /> <br />1. GENERAL ADJUDICATIONS/FEDERAL FEES/FEDERAL RESERVED RIGHTS <br /> <br />Work to date: Most Council member states have pending general adjudication proceedings. These large, <br />complicated lawsuits typically involve thousands of water rights holders. Several issues of importance to <br />the region have arisen in these proceedings, including how to finance them. In 1994, a General <br />Adjudication Fee Subcommittee was established under the Legal Committee of the Council, to explore <br />ways to finance general adjudications, inclUding compensation for processing federal claims. <br /> <br />One key issue is who should pay the filing fees for general adjudications. The U.S. Supreme Court has <br />held that the United States is not subject to filing fees in state general adjudications proceedings. United <br />States v. Idaho, 508 U.S. I (1993). The State of Idaho in 1994 published a comprehensive reforrn of its <br />water code attempting to require federal claimants to file directly with the court, give notice to other <br />parties, and prove the validity of any water rights they claim, averting the hardship of the Supreme Court's <br />ruling. A subsequent state supreme court ruling on the amendments specifically avoided deciding whether <br />the comprehensive amendments removed the adjudication from the McCarran Amendment. An attempt <br />by Oregon to require the United States to pay filing fees in the state's general adjudication was defeated <br />by a Ninth Circuit ruling that the McCarran Amendment prohibited assessing such costs to the United <br />States. United Scates v. Oregon, 44 F.3d 758 (9th Cir. 1994). The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari. <br />In response to these rulings, the Council in 1995 adopted a resolution (Position No. 208) supporting the <br />United States' payment of fees incurred in general adjudications proceedings. <br /> <br />Congressman Robert Smith of Oregon prepared a bill concerning the payment of general adjudication fees <br />by the federal government in 1998. This draft bill was picked up by Congressman Bob Schaffer of <br />Colorado in 1999 and a number of conference calls were held with his legislative aides in an effort to refme <br />the language of the proposed legislation. H.R. 4196 was subsequently introduced. In the Senate, Mike <br />Crapo of Idaho has taken up sponsorship of the bill (S. 2363). Efforts of Council members to meet with <br />Senator Wyden of Oregon have failed. Karl Dreher has been working with Senator Crapo in an effort to <br />access Senator Wyden since bipartisan suppori is essential to the passage of the bill. Members of the <br />Subcommittee met with a few key members of Congress during March of 2000 to communicate their <br />support. The Committee sponsored a meeting of the Western Water Caucus to help educate western <br />representatives about this and other issues of importance to the Council. <br /> <br />2002: The Committee will seek to find additional sources of support necessary to the passage of desired <br />legislation through Congress. To this end, further dialogue with Senator Crapo's staff members as well <br />as WGA staff to develop and implement an effective strategy to legislatively require federal payment of <br />fees and other appropriate costs associated with general adjudications will be pursued. The Committee will <br />also receive reports on federal participation in general adjudications and consider recommendations as to <br />what action may be appropriate to encourage federal deference to state law based adjudications. <br /> <br />Estimated work days: 10 <br /> <br />Time frame: Ongoing <br />