§ 426.18 - Landholder information requirements.

§ 426.18 Landholder information requirements.

(a) Definition for purposes of this section:

Irrigation season means the period of time between the district's first and last water delivery in any water year.

(b) Who must provide information to Reclamation? All landholders and other parties involved in the ownership or operation of nonexempt land must provide Reclamation, as required by these regulations or upon request, any records or information, in a form suitable to Reclamation, deemed reasonably necessary to implement the RRA or other provisions of Federal reclamation law.

(c) Required form submissions.

(1) Landholders who are subject to the discretionary provisions must annually submit standard certification forms, except as provided in paragraph (l) of this section.

(2) Landholders who make an irrevocable election must submit the standard certification forms with their irrevocable election in the year that they make the election.

(3) Landholders who are subject to prior law must annually submit standard reporting forms, except as provided in paragraph (l) of this section.

(4) Landholders who qualify under an exemption as specified in paragraph (g) of this section need not submit any forms.

(d) Required information. Landholders must declare on the appropriate certification or reporting forms all nonexempt land that they hold directly or indirectly westwide and other information pertinent to their compliance with Federal reclamation law.

(e) District receipt of forms and information. Landholders must submit the appropriate, completed form(s) to each district in which they directly or indirectly hold irrigation land.

(f) Certification or reporting forms for wholly owned subsidiaries. The ultimate parent legal entity of a wholly owned subsidiary or of a series of wholly owned subsidiaries must file the required certification or reporting forms. The ultimate parent legal entity must disclose all direct and indirect landholdings of its subsidiaries as required on such forms.

(g) Exemptions from submitting certification and reporting forms.

(1) A landholder is exempt from submitting the certification and reporting forms only if:

(i) The landholder's district has Category 1 status, as specified in paragraph (h) of this section, and the landholder is a:

(A) Qualified recipient who holds a total of 240 acres westwide or less; or

(B) Limited recipient or a prior law recipient who holds a total of 40 acres westwide or less.

(ii) The landholder's district has Category 2 status, as specified in paragraph (h) of this section, and the landholder is a:

(A) Qualified recipient who holds a total of 80 acres westwide or less; or

(B) Limited recipient or a prior law recipient who holds a total of 40 acres westwide or less.

(2) A wholly owned subsidiary is exempted from submitting certification or reporting forms, if its ultimate parent legal entity has properly filed such forms disclosing the landholdings of each of its subsidiaries.

(3) In determining whether certification or reporting is required for purposes of this section:

(i) Class 1 equivalency factors as determined in § 426.11 shall not be used; and

(ii) Indirect landholders need not count involuntarily acquired acreage designated as excess by the direct landowner.

(h) District categorization.

(1) For purposes of this section each district has Category 2 status, unless the following criteria have been met. If the district has met both criteria, it will be granted Category 1 status.

(i) The district has conformed by contract to the discretionary provisions; and

(ii) The district is current in its financial obligations to Reclamation.

(2) Reclamation considers a district current in its financial obligation if as of September 30, the district is current in its:

(i) Financial obligations specified in its contract(s) with Reclamation; and

(ii) Payment obligations established by the RRA, and these rules.

(i) Application of Category 1 status. Once a district achieves Category 1 status, it will only be withdrawn if the Regional Director determines the district is not current in its financial obligations as specified in paragraph (h)(2) of this section. The withdrawal of Category 1 status will be effective at the end of the current water year and can be restored only as provided under paragraph (h) of this section. With the withdrawal of Category 1 status, the district will have a Category 2 status.

(j) Submissions by landholders holding land in both a Category 1 district and a Category 2 district. If a qualified recipient holds land in a Category 1 district, then the 240-acre forms threshold will be applicable in determining if the landholder must submit a certification form to that Category 1 district. If the same qualified recipient also holds land in a Category 2 district, then the 80-acre forms threshold will be applicable in determining if the landholder must submit a certification form to the Category 2 district.

(k) Notification requirements for landholders whose ownership or leasing arrangements change after submitting forms. If a landholder's ownership or leasing arrangements change in any way:

(1) During the irrigation season, the landholder must:

(i) Notify the district office, either verbally or in writing within 30-calendar days of the change; and

(ii) Submit new forms to all districts in which the landholder holds nonexempt land, within 60-calendar days of the change.

(2) Outside of the irrigation season, then the landholder must submit new standard certification or reporting forms to all districts in which nonexempt land is held prior to any irrigation water deliveries following such changes.

(l) Notification requirements for landholders whose ownership or leasing arrangements have not changed. If a landholder's ownership or leasing arrangements have not changed since last submitting a standard certification or reporting form, the landholder can satisfy the annual certification or reporting requirements by submitting a verification form instead of a standard form. On that form the landholder must verify that the information contained on the last submitted standard certification or reporting form remains accurate and complete.

(m) Actions taken if required submission(s) is not made.

(1) If a landholder does not submit required certification or reporting form(s), then:

(i) The district must not deliver, and the landholder is not eligible to receive and must not accept delivery of, irrigation water in any water year prior to submission of the required certification or reporting form(s) for that water year; and

(ii) Eligibility will be regained only after all required certification or reporting forms are submitted by the landholder to the district.

(2) If one or more part owners of a legal entity do not submit certification or reporting forms as required:

(i) The entire entity will be ineligible to receive irrigation water until such forms are submitted; or

(ii) If the documents forming the entity provide for the part owners' interest to be separable and alienable, then only that portion of the land attributable to the noncomplying part owners will be ineligible to receive irrigation water.

(n) Actions taken by Reclamation if a landholder makes false statements on the appropriate certification or reporting forms. If a landholder makes a false statement on the appropriate certification or reporting form(s) Reclamation can prosecute the landholder pursuant to the following statement which is included in all certification and reporting forms:

Under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1001, it is a crime punishable by 5 years imprisonment or a fine of up to $10,000, or both, for any person knowingly and willfully to submit or cause to be submitted to any agency of the United States any false or fraudulent statement(s) as to any matter within the agency's jurisdiction. False statements by the landowner or lessee will also result in loss of eligibility. Eligibility can only be regained upon the approval of the Commissioner.

(o) Information requirements and Office of Management and Budget approval. The information collection requirements contained in this section have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned control numbers 1006-0005 and 1006-0006. The information is being collected to comply with Sections 206, 224(c), and 228 of the RRA. These sections require that, as a condition to the receipt of irrigation water, each landholder in a district which is subject to the acreage limitation provisions of Federal reclamation law, as amended and supplemented by the RRA, will furnish to his or her district annually a certificate/report which indicates that he or she is in compliance with the provisions of Federal reclamation law. Completion of these forms is required to obtain the benefit of irrigation water. The information collected on each landholding will be summarized by the district and submitted to Reclamation in a form prescribed by Reclamation.

(p) Protection of forms pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552) protects the information submitted in accordance with certification and reporting requirements. As a condition to execution of a contract, Reclamation requires the inclusion of a standard contract article which provides for district compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974 and 43 CFR part 2, subpart D, in maintaining the landholder certification and reporting forms.