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<br />0405 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Commissioner Higginson requested Solicitor Leo Krulitz to issue <br />an opinion on this question, and in the above-mentioned <br />December 2, 1980 memorandum, Acting Assistant Secretary Beard <br />informed Inspector General Brown that such an opinion had been <br />requested. <br /> <br />On December 17, 1980 Associati Solicitor for Energy and <br />Resources John R. Little, Jr. determined that the method of <br />revenue apportionment BuRec adopted in 1979 "does comply with <br />the requirements of the CRSP Act." On January 3, 1981 Acting <br />Assistant Secretary Beard informed Inspector General Brown of <br />the Associate Solicitor's opinion and of BuRec's intention to <br />continue using this apportionment method. <br /> <br />Repayment of Irrigation Costs <br /> <br />In the above-mentioned August 12', 1980 comments, Acting <br />Assistant Secretary Beard reaffirmed BuRec's position limiting <br />periodic rate adjustments only to water service contracts. <br />BuRec excluded repayment contracts because of "possible legal <br />constraints contained in Reclamation law, varying State <br />requirements limiting potential debt ceilings for a given <br />contracting entity, and the practical uncertainties created by <br />voter approval and State endorsements." Beard added, though, <br />that DuRec "recognized that in some instances a dramatic <br />increase in irrigators' ability to pay demonstrates possible <br />inequities to other project beneficiaries such as power <br />users." Beard said that BuRec either had instituted or was <br />currently reviewing several options for reducing these possible <br />inequities, and listed the fOllowing items: <br /> <br />"(1) using a water service and fixed repayment <br />combination contracting form which would allow <br />periodic review and adjustment of the water service <br />charges; (2) utilizing 100% of irrigators' ability to <br />pay in new or amendatory contracting actions by <br />excluding contingency allowances in payment capacity <br />determinations for all irrigation contracting <br />programs; and (3) requiring repayment terms to be <br />renegotiated at every feasible opportunity." <br /> <br />In the above-mentioned December 2, 1980 memorandum to Inspector <br />General Brown, Beard reported that BuRec anticipated <br />publication of its instructions entitled "Water Service, <br />Repayment, and Related Contracts" during 1981, which would set <br />forth procedures for implementing the policies expressed in his <br />August 12 memorandum. <br /> <br />As of March 1984, more than three years later, these <br />instructions still were not final and publication was not <br />anticipated until July 1984. <br /> <br />90 <br />