republic-os/legal/us/code/title-43/chapter-22/section-959.md

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LegalText	43 U.S.C. § 959	Rights of way for electrical plants, etc.	us	united_states_code	code_section	43	PUBLIC LANDS	22	RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND OTHER EASEMENTS IN PUBLIC LANDS	959	43 U.S.C. § 959	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc43@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t43/s959	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-43/usc43.xml	0967c8d2836fa3ccfe3d3e25936c3a640b60c0b99e969e5320b9c2c747367de4	d46a16361aa9d10bbc4b27ea0561882d240801c965a2700a4b7cf5f02f552a5f	362e5312cf13035e2489c6565505ce6631a8d12db040deb1138e590000702740	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

43 U.S.C. § 959 - Rights of way for electrical plants, etc.

Text

That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, authorized and empowered, under general regulations to be fixed by him, to permit the use of rights of way through the public lands, forest and other reservations of the United States, and the Yosemite, Sequoia, and General Grant national parks, California, for electrical plants, poles, and lines for the generation and distribution of electrical power, and for telephone and telegraph purposes, and for canals, ditches, pipes and pipe lines, flumes, tunnels, or other water conduits, and for water plants, dams, and reservoirs used to promote irrigation or mining or quarrying, or the manufacturing or cutting of timber or lumber, or the supplying of water for domestic, public, or any other beneficial uses to the extent of the ground occupied by such canals, ditches, flumes, tunnels, reservoirs, or other water conduits or water plants, or electrical or other works permitted hereunder, and not to exceed fifty feet on each side of the marginal limits thereof, or not to exceed fifty feet on each side of the center line of such pipes and pipe lines, electrical, telegraph, and telephone lines and poles, by any citizen, association, or corporation of the United States, where it is intended by such to exercise the use permitted hereunder or any one or more of the purposes herein named: Provided, That such permits shall be allowed within or through any of said parks or any forest, military, Indian, or other reservation only upon the approval of the chief officer of the Department under whose supervision such park or reservation falls and upon a finding by him that the same is not incompatible with the public interest: Provided further, That all permits given hereunder for telegraph and telephone purposes shall be subject to the provisions of title sixty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and amendments thereto, regulating rights of way for telegraph companies over the public domain: And provided further, That any permission given by the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of this Act may be revoked by him or his successor in his discretion, and shall not be held to confer any right, or easement, or interest in, to, or over any public land, reservation, or park.

(Feb. 15, 1901, ch. 372, 31 Stat. 790; Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 706(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2793; Pub. L. 113–287, § 7, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3272.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

References in TextTitle sixty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and amendments thereto, referred to in text, which consisted of R.S. §§ 5263 to 5269, was classified to sections 1 to 6 and 8 of Title 47, Telecommunications, and was repealed by act July 16, 1947, ch. 256, § 1, 61 Stat. 327. This Act, referred to in text, is act Feb. 15, 1901, ch. 372, 31 Stat. 790. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

Codification Act Feb. 15, 1901, ch. 372, 31 Stat. 790, was also classified to sections 79 and 522 of Title 16, Conservation, which have been omitted from the Code.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

General Grant National Park AbolishedAct Mar. 4, 1940, ch. 40, § 2, 54 Stat. 43, which is classified to section 80a of Title 16, Conservation, abolished the General Grant National Park and added the lands to the Kings Canyon National Park as the General Grant grove section.

RepealsSection repealed by Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 706(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2793, effective on and after Oct. 21, 1976, insofar as applicable to the issuance of rights-of-way over, upon, under, and through the public lands and lands in the National Forest System. For definition of “public lands” for purposes of Pub. L. 94–579, see section 1702(e) of this title. Section repealed by Pub. L. 113–287, § 7, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3272, insofar as applicable to units of the National Park System. See section 100902(a) of Title 54, National Park Service and Related Programs.

Savings ProvisionRepeal by Pub. L. 94–579 insofar as applicable to the issuance of rights-of-way not to be construed as terminating any valid lease, permit, patent, etc., existing on Oct. 21, 1976, see section 701 of Pub. L. 94–579, set out as a note under section 1701 of this title.