The law in que6tlon In Seotlon 178 thereof

thur dlreotly plaoes upon the Attorney Oeneral the ro- spoaslblllty OS deoldlng whether or not 8 grant, loan or l dvanoement has been reoelvrd by the Authorltt in thr manner presorlbed by law. In opinion, suoh srotlon plaOO8 upon the Attoraer General the responsl- blllty of determlnlng whether or not suoh grant, loan l dvaaoemeat oonstltutar a "legally binding oommltmeat* wlthb the meanlag of the statutes. Xe bellrte it would be premature and improper ror the Attomcr Ceneral at this time to give an 0pInlon upon what woulb oonstltute a t:rlly binding oonmltmeat within the meaning of the

. To attempt to gJve suoh 8a oplnloa at thla time would ueos66arIly Involve passing upon the arttot a law whioh has not a6 yet been naoted by Congress of the United States. The determlnatloa of tha qU66tiOn of whether or not the adoption of th6 Tlood Control ProJeot tu quertloa by the United Stat.6 Congress would oonstl- tute a *legally bladlng OOE&ttieDtn within the meaalng of S. B, 30. 21, would neoessarllp ln~a large measure de- pend upon the oharaotsr of ~rovlslone and the wordlng ooai talnrd in the bill adoptIng the projeot. u'e believe S.B. No. 21 oontemplates that the opinion of the Attorney Con- era1 should br given subsequent to the pareage of Leglsla- tioa tbe bitea st6t@6 Cqllgress and aot prior to suoh passage, WI mwt, therufore, d4ollar to,render a flaal opinion at thls time on the question of what will soon6tl- tute a legally bladlng oommltmeat on the part Of the Walt- ad States Covenmeat with referrnor to the Flood Control ?rojoot on the North Coaoho Elvor.

Howevar, oonstruing Saotloa 17A of S. B. No. 21, we belleve the partloular quostlon with whloh you are ooaoemed at this War oaa be answered, We oonstrue ~that bill In the following manner:

(1) .Beglnnlng with the ri6Oal year of Septem- ber 1, 1937, the State of Texas donated and granted to the Upper Colorado River Authority the ad valorsm taxes specified In the bill.

(2) The tares so don ted’cnd giantid shall not \ be made svatlable to 6aId Autho lty, however,.untll a

legally bindln oommitment 18 reorlved by the Authority rrom the Ualte states Covernmeat of sufflolent site to reo6ooabl~. W3iixo the oompletioa such eo-ordlnated and ampleted syotem Of Improveeeat and oontrol Of th6 COlOradO *3 Hon. J. C. Deal, February 18, 1939, Page 3 River as may be approved by the Board of Water Engineers the State 0r Texas. Suoh legally binding conualtzent for the entire projeot, however, 1s not required to be made January 1, 1940, the statute having no time limit ooverlng the r6oelpt of a legal commitment for the entire projeot,

(3) If a legal17 binding commitment for at leaat the sum of ~2,000,~00,00 1s not received by the Authority by January 1, 1940, then the grant and donatlgn of taxes provided for la the bill rhall be entirely null and void. Any taxes whloh have accrued since the beginning of the fi6Oal year 1937 ehall be placed in the General Revenue Fund.

(4) If a legally binding oommltment in at least 6um of $2 OOO,OGO.OO 16 received by January 1, 1940, by the Authority fmm the United State6 Government, the do- nation and grant of taxes by the State of Texas shall not be null and void, but euoh taxerr shall not be made avail- able to the Authorlt]r until a legally binding oommitment received a eufflolent size to reasonably insure a completion of the entire project a6 6peoified by the eta- tutes, The comltment for thd entire pr6ject, however, 16 not required to be received by January 1, 1940.

We believe that the oonetruotioa Of the etatutes as set forth la paragraph6 one to four next above will fully comply with your request for an opinion. If when the United States Coagreas passe6 a bill adopting tbi6 Flood Control Projeot aad making a grant, loan or advancement to the Authority la oonneotlon therewith, the Attorney General will then be authorized the statute to pa66 upon the sufrloleaoy of such grant, loan or advaaoement a6 a "leg- all7 binding oommltment*.

Your8 very truly ATTORNEY GENTSAL OF TEXAS A6sistEtAt REK:LM

APPROVED:

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ATTORNEY QWERAL F TEXAS