25 U.S.C. § 15
Section 15 · Utility facilities used in administration of Bureau; contracts for sale, operation, maintenance, repair or relocation of facilities; terms and conditions; exception; Congressional approval
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Peter v. Western Newspaper Union (1953)
Most recently applied in 869 F. Supp. 2d 784 - Carter v. McHugh (April 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except for electric utility systems constructed and operated as a part of an irrigation system, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to contract under such terms and conditions as he considers to be in the best interest of the Federal Government for the sale, operation, maintenance, repairs, or relocation of Government-owned utilities and utility systems and appurtenances used in the administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Secretary shall not execute a contract pursuant to this section until he has submitted to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a copy of the contract and a statement of his reasons for proposing the contract, and until such materials have lain before the Committees for sixty days (excluding the time during which either House is in recess for more than three days) unless prior thereto the Secretary is notified that neither committee has any objection to the proposed contract.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives” for “Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives”.
Change of Name
Committee on Natural Resources of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Resources of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Fourth Congress, Jan. 4, 1995.