TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY

SEC. 4. (a) Except as provided in section 9 of this act all functions heretofore conferred upon any agency of the Federal Government, in respect of flood control and the protection and improvement of navigation (including functions with respect to bridges, dams, dykes, causeways, wharves, and other structures) upon and along the Mississippi River, its tributaries, inlets and outlets, and all property (including equipment), papers, documents, files, records, correspondence, maps, surveys, plans, estimates, proposals, and reports pertaining exclusively to the administration of such functions are hereby transferred to the commission. The Mississippi River Commission is hereby abolished.

(b) The commission shall take over and assume all leases, contracts, and obligations pertaining to the exercise of such functions, and shall take proper means to safeguard the rights and interests of contractors or other parties having any interest in such leases, contracts, or obligations.

SPECIAL POWERS OF COMMISSION

SEC. 5. (a) The commission is authorized to provide for the construction, preservation, and maintenance of flood-control works and works for the protection and improvement of navigation upon and along the Mississippi River, its tributaries, inlets and outlets, having due regard in so doing to a proper development of conservation in such area of timber and of fish and wild birds and animals, and the necessity for promoting reforestation and providing sanctuaries and refuges for birds, game, and fish. For such purpose the commission is hereby authorized

(1) To take over and asume control of all levees and other flood-control works, and works of improvement upon and along the Mississippi River, its tributaries, inlets and outlets, now being maintained by any agency of the Federal Government.

(2) To take over and assume control of all levees and other flood control works and works of improvement under the jurisdiction of any State, county, levee district, or other local agency, if such State, county, levee district, or other local agency so requests the commission, and the commission deems it advisable so to do; and to reimburse any such State, county, levee district, or other local agency for any moneys advanced or funds expended in the construction of any such works, to assume the outstanding indebtedness incurred in the construction thereof, or to make such other arrangement with respect thereto as may be agreed upon by the commission with such State, county, levee district, or other local agency.

(3) To locate, construct, and maintain works for bank and channel stabilization and other improvements in the interests of navigation, and to locate and relocate levees, construct, maintain, and operate spillways, flood ways, and reservoirs, and use any other means necessary to control flood States on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, giving special consideration to the flood problem in the lower reaches of the Mississippi Rover and its outlets to the Gulf of Mexico, to the end that between the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Gulf of Mexico the maximum flood stages along the Mississippi River shall be lowered wherever possible.

(4) To acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, lands, rights of way, and materials necessary in carrying out the provisions of this act.

(5) In its discretion, to advance to any levee district in any area which is subject to overflow from the Mississippi River or any of its tributaries, any funds required by such levee district for the payment of interest and principal or any of its bonded indebtedness which has matured or may mature within a period of five years from the approval of this act, such advances to be made on such terms as to the repayment of amounts so advanced as the commission may deem advisable.

(b) In carrying out the provisios of this act the commission shall give immediate consideration to flood control along the lower reaches of the Mississippi River and its outlets and shall give preference thereto in the use of moneys appropriated under this act.

EXEMPTION FROM EXISTING LAW

SEC. 6. The provisions of existing law requiring the prior approval of Congress for examinations and surveys and prosecution of works of improvement of rivers and harbors shall not apply in respect of examinations and surveys nor in respect of works of improvement prosecuted by the commission; and all examinations and surveys and works of improvement relating to the Mississippi River, its tributaries, inlets, and outlets, heretofore authorized by the Congress, may be modified to such extent as the commission deems advisable in order effectively to carry out the provisions of this act. The appropriations heretofore made or authorized to be made with respect to any such examinations or surveys or works of improvement shall be available for expenditure in respect thereof whether or not such plans are modified by the commission under the provisions of this act.

PENDING PROCEEDINGS NOT AFFECTED

SEC. 7. (a) The transfer to the commission of any function from any agency of the Government shall not affect pending cases or proceedings or invalidate any act done or order made by any such agency in respect of such functions prior to the transfer. All proceedings, hearings, investigations, and other matters pending at the time of transfer before any such agency in respect of functions transferred to the commission under the provisions of this act shall be continued before the commission and determined by it.

(b) All offenses committed and all penalties and liabilities incurred in respect of any such function prior to the time of such transfer may be prosecuted and punished in the same manner and with the same effect as if such transfer had not been made.

(c) All rules, regulations, and orders made in respect of any such function prior to such transfer and in effect at the time thereof, shall, after such time, continue in effect to the same extent as if such transfer had not been made unless modified, superseded, or repealed by action of the commission.

(d) All unexpended appropriations in respect of any such function shall, upon such transfer, become available for expenditure by the commission and shall be treated as if the commission had been originally named in the laws making the appropriation.

APPROPRIATION AND BOND ISSUE

SEC. 8. There is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $1,000,000,000, to be immediately available and to remain available until expended for expenditures authorized in this act; but no expenditures shall be made from such appropriation in excess of $100,000,000 in any one year. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, if he deems it advisable in order to obtain funds to carry out the provisions of this act, to exercise the authority granted by the various Liberty bond acts and the Victory Liberty loan act, as amended and supplemented, to issue bonds, notes, and certificates of indebtedness of the United States; and any bond so issued shall be disregarded in computing the maximum amount of bonds authorized by section 1 of the second Liberty bond act, as amended.

CERTAIN STATUTES NOT AFFECTED

SEC. 9. Nothing in this act shall be construed to amend or repeal, or in any manner interfere with the administration of any of the provisions of sections 201 and 500 of the transportation act, 1920, approved February 28, 1920, as amended, the Federal water power act, approved June 10, 1920, as amended, the Inland Waterways Corporation act, approved June 3, 1924, as amended, or the upper Mississippi River wild life and fish refuge act, approved June 7, 1924, as amended, or any act conferring jurisdiction upon the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior or upon any other Government agency in respect of conservation; and nothing in the act shall be construed to take from the Secretary of War or any other governmental agency any powers or duties granted or imposed by law in the emergency of war or in preparation therefor, or to interfere with any of the provisions of section 124 of the national defense act, approved June 3, 1916, as amended.

SAVING CLAUSE

SEC. 10. If any provision of this act is declared unconstitutional or the applicability thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the act and the applicability of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 11. This act may be cited as the Mississippi Valley waters control act.

TIME OF TAKING EFFECT

SEC. 12. This act shall take effect upon the date of its approval, except that the provisions of the act in respect of transfer of authoirty shall take effect.

[S. 1160, Seventieth Congress, first session]

A BILL Providing for an emergency, and authorizing and directing the chairman of the Committee on Flood Control of the House of Representatives by advertising to procure bids to ascertain the time and the cost for the construction of levees for The lower unit of the initial Riker spillway project for control and utilization of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers," and ramifications, and report to Congress

Whereas, whatever may be the ultimate decision of Congress as to the plans which will be adopted for the control and utilization of the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and ramifications, it is evident that from the many plans that have been and will be advanced for consideration, much time will be consumed before any ultimate decision covering the entire subject can be arrived at; and

Whereas there seem to be an emergency factor in this problem which can be immediately agreed upon by Congress, which is a spillway of sufficient capacity to convey any future flood waters that may reach the vicinity of the junction of the Mississippi and Red Rivers harmlessly to the Gulf of Mexico; and

Whereas, before enacting legislation for the condemnation of the necessary three-mile-wide strip of land which the said spillway and levees will occupy, it is deemed advisable that Congress shall be informed as to the cost and the time necessary to construct a levee on each side of this strip to confine the flood waters to it and the extent of the area which its construction would reclaim, now utterly valueless; and

Whereas whether or not the ultimate decision of Congress shall result in the construction of greater levees for the Mississippi River from material to be taken from the bed of the river itself, or confining the excessive flood waters to a spillway of a specified area by means of great levees on its sides, or by both means, larger and more powerful dredging machinery than anything now constructed will be required; and the construction of the levees requisite for creating the lower unit of the initial Riker spillway project, as provided for in this act, would warrant the designing and construction of such machinery and establish a much lower cost for moving such large quantities of earth to such great elevations, and thereby form a basis for future calculations: Therefore

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in order to prevent all unnecessary delay in providing flood relief the chairman of the Committee on Flood Control of the House of Representatives is hereby authorized and directed to immediately advertise and procure by bid or bids from responsible bidders the cost and the time required for the construction of the proposed levees for the lower unit of the initial Riker spillway project as specified and described and hereinafter set forth.

SEC. 2. The plans and specifications for the construction of said levees are as follows, to wit:

The lower unit of the initial Riker spillway project will embrace and occupy a strip of land three miles wide in the form of a rectangle, the eastern boundary line of which will extend from the center of the Southern Pacific Railroad near Franklin, Louisiana. at a point on a straight line drawn from the shore of the Gulf of Mexico at longitude ninety-one degrees and twenty-seven minutes west; to the intersection of latitude thirty-one degrees with longitude

ninety-one degrees and forty minutes west, which is near the junction of the Red and the Mississippi Rivers.

This strip of land is to be provided with a levee near the boundary line of each of its sides, the outside base of which shall be one thousand two hundred feet inside the outer edge of such strip of land; these levees to extend from end to end; the soil for these levees is to be obtained from an excavation on the outside of such levees but within the aforesaid tract at a distance from the outer edge of the aforesaid levee of not less than two hundred and fifty feet. The two levees to be constructed will each be about eighty-three miles long and together contain about four hundred and sixty-four million cubic yards of earth. The base of these levees will be made and determined by surveys to be made under the direction of the United States.

The width of the base of these levees shall be three hundred and ten feet at the level determined by such survey; the width of its top shall be one hundred feet, the height seventy feet, and the inclination of each side shall be the same and shall be that which those figures shall establish. These levees will contain an average of about five hundred and thirty-two cubic yards per lineal foot above such established base line.

The earth of which this levee is to be built shall be excavated from without the spillway beyond a point at least two hundred and fifty feet from the base of said levee. Such excavation for at least one hundred and twenty feet in width upon its bottom shall have a depth of eighty feet below the level to be established as aforesaid, and will form a much needed drainage canal on each side of the spillway.

The area upon which the levees shall be built shall have removed from it all standing timber, stumps, or other wooden objects; and no wooden object of a dimension which would not pass through a pipe one foot in diameter and twelve feet long will be permitted to be incorporated in said levee.

Lagoons, lakes, or river beds over which the aforesaid levee shall pass shall have all standing or fallen timber, stumps and their roots which arise above the bottom of the water in said lagoons, lakes, or rivers removed therefrom for the width of the levee and that of the increased width of the levee base due to such depression. The width of the base of the levee fill will necessarily depend upon whether that fill be over an elevation or a depression from the base line, but the inclination shall be the same on each side and that shall be not less than the same inclination as the sides which the aforementioned dimensions establish.

SEC. 3. All bids shall be made for a price per cubic yard and shall be based upon an estimated content of five hundred and thirty-two cubic yards per lineal foot of completed levee, but no compensation shall be allowed for any material that may be required in the construction of said levee below the surface level of any body of water that it replaces.

SEC. 4. That in the event that the construction of the levees is completed in less time than forty months, the contractor shall be allowed and paid an additional sum equal to 1 per centum of the contract price for each and every month of the time saved by completing the work sooner than the specific time of forty months; and in the event that the said work shall not be completed within the specified time of forty months, a penalty equal to 1 per centum of the contract price shall be imposed and charged against the contractor for each and every month required to complete said work in excess of forty months.

SEC. 5. That each bid for the construction of the said project shall be accompanied by a certified check for $5,000 made payable to the United States of America, which certified check shall be returned to each unsuccessful bidder. The lowest bidder who has complied with the requirements of the advertisement may be declared as the successful bidder for the construction of said project, but Congress reserves the right to accept any or reject all bids, and within thirty days from the acceptance of said bid by Congress the successful bidder shall furinsh a good and sufficient bond in a sum equal to 2 per centum of such bid, payable to the United States for the faithful performance of the contract.

SEC. 6. That the said certified check for $5,000 so furinshed by such succesful bidder shall remain with the chairman of the Committee on Flood Control of the House of Representatives until such time as a good and sufficient bond is so furnished to the United States for the faithful performance of the work and execution of the contract. If, however, said successful bidder does not furnish a good and sufficient bond within the time specified, the said $5,000 shall be forfeited to the United States as liquidated damages for such failure.

SEC. 7. That the chairman of the Committee on Flood Control of the House of Representatives shall immediately, upon the passage and approval of this act cause, by telegraphic communication, advertisements to be published daily for seven successive days in one or more newspapers of general circulation in each and every city within the United States, having a population, according to the United States census of 1920, 100,000 or more, calling for bids for the construction of the said levees required for the lower unit of the initial Riker spillway project as hereinabove set forth, specified and described, within forty days from the passage and approval of this act.

SEC. 8. That the form of notice for publication shall be as follows: Sealed proposals for the construction of the levees of what is known as the lower unit of the initial Riker spillway project will be received, and publicly opened at the office of the Committee on Flood Control, House of Representatives, House Office Building, Washington, District of Columbia, at 10 a. m., 19. (Here set forth the plans and specifications as set forth in the act of 19.) Congress reserves the right to accept any or reject all bids. Dated at Washington, District of Columbia.

SEC. 9. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage.

SEC. 10. This act may be cited as the "Riker emergency spillway act."

[S. 1677, Seventieth Congress, first session]

A BILL To provide for flood control of the Mississippi River in its alluvial valley, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the project for the flood control of the Mississippi River in its alluvial valley, and for its improvement from the Head of the Passes to the mouth of the Ohio River, as set forth and recommended in the report submitted by Major General Edgar Jadwin, Chief of Engineers, to the Secretary of War, December —, 1927, and printed in Document Numbered

- Seventieth Congress, first session, is hereby adopted and authorized to be prosecuted under the direction of the Secretary of War and the supervision of the Chief of Engineers. The sum of $258,960,000 is hereby authorized to be appropriated for this purpose.

SEC. 2. Except when authorized by the Secretary of War upon the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, no money appropriated under authority of this act shall be expended in the prosecution of flood-control work in any ne State until that State, by appropriate legislation, shall have consented to the maintenance by the United States of the levees at the head of flood ways within the State at the grades and cross sections necessary in the opinion of the Chief of Engineers for the security of the levee system and the lands protected thereby, and shall have assumed the obligation

(a) To contribute its quota of the cost of general levee and control works, and of the cost of special protection works.

(b) To provide, without cost to the United States, such drainage works as may be made necessary by the execution of the project, and the rights of way for all structures as and when the same are required.

(c) To hold and save the United States free from all damage claims resulting from the construction of the project, and to maintain all flood-control works after their completion, except controlling and regulating spillway structures including special relief levees.

SEC. 3. The Chief of Engineers is authorized to establish an hydraulic laboratory for the scientific investigation and study of stream flow and all related questions, and the Secretary of War may allot from annual river and harbor and flood-control appropriations the necessary funds to pay the expenses of such a laboratory, including the publication of the scientific data collected.

SEC. 4. Subject to the approval of the heads of the several executive departments concerned, the Secretary of War, on the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, may engage the services and assistance of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Geological Survey, or other mapping agencies of the Government, in the preparation of maps required in furtherance of this project, and funds to pay for such services may be allotted from appropriations made under authority of this act.