§ 99-3-2407 — General conditions for Level III construction projects – dams and reservoirs

(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided, each Level
III dam and reservoir construction project identified in this
article shall be subject to the following general conditions:
(i) Each sponsor shall offer security for the project
loan as deemed adequate and acceptable to the attorney general;
(ii) The commission shall establish repayment
schedules for project loans in accordance with the conditions
prescribed in this section;
(iii) Each sponsor shall supervise design and
construction of the project and submit all requests for payment
to the commission for approval;
(iv) A sponsor shall not make construction funding
commitments until after the commission has reviewed and approved
construction budgets and construction plans;
(v) The commission shall make payments directly to
the sponsor;
(vi) The sponsor shall be responsible for operation
and maintenance of the project;
(vii) The sponsor is responsible for all project
expenditures in excess of the total project appropriation;
(viii) If the commission determines that any sponsor
has, without good cause, abandoned completion of the project,
that sponsor, in addition to being required to repay the loan,
shall be obligated to immediately repay the full amount of all
grant funds actually expended plus interest as established by
the state treasurer in an amount equal to the interest that
would have accrued on the expended grant funds in the water
development account from the date of expenditure;
(ix) Principal and interest payments made in
repayment of loans shall be deposited in water development
account III;
(x) There shall be no lease, sale, assignment or
transfer of ownership of water from the project for purposes
other than the designated project purpose without prior written
approval of the commission and the state engineer or board of
control. If such a transaction is approved, the revenues
generated by the lease, sale, assignment or transfer of
ownership of water from the project shall be utilized to retire
principal on the project loan. After that loan is paid in full,
the sponsor shall receive a proportionate share of the revenues
generated by the lease, sale, assignment or transfer of
ownership of water from the project equal to the percentage of
the project paid by the project loan and the state of Wyoming
shall receive a proportionate share of the revenues generated by
the lease, sale, assignment or transfer of ownership of water
from the project equal to the percentage of the project paid by
the project grant;
(xi) There shall be no lease, sale, assignment or
transfer of ownership of any project until the project loan is
paid in full, and until prior written approval is obtained from
the commission. If these conditions are met, the sponsor shall
receive a proportionate share of the revenues generated by the
lease, sale, assignment or transfer of ownership of the project
equal to the percentage of the project paid by the project loan
and the state of Wyoming shall receive a proportionate share of
the revenues generated by the lease, sale, assignment or
transfer of ownership of the project equal to the percentage of
the project paid by the project grant. Before the sponsor may
lease, sell, assign or transfer ownership of the project, the
state of Wyoming shall be given a one (1) year first right of
refusal option to purchase the sponsor's interest in the project
for an amount equal to the principal, interest, maintenance and
replacement costs incurred by the sponsor at the date the option
is exercised;
(xii) After the project loan is paid in full, the
sponsor may purchase the position of the state of Wyoming, as
described in paragraphs (x) and (xi) of this subsection, for the
amount of the project grant plus the interest that would have
accrued on the grant amount in the water development account
from the date the project was substantially completed as defined
by the commission. The interest that would have accrued on the
grant amount shall be established by the state treasurer;
(xiii) Any funds generated by the state from the
lease, sale, assignment or transfer of ownership of any project
or project water shall be deposited in water development account
III. Source notes for subsection (a): (Laws 2019,
Ch. 55, § 1.)