[Senate Report 113-24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 55
113th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 113-24
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AMERICAN FALLS RESERVOIR
_______
April 22, 2013.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Wyden, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany S. 276]
The Committee in Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 276) to reinstate and extend the deadline
for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project
involving the American Falls Reservoir, having considered the
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 276 is to reinstate and extend the
deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric
project at the American Falls Reservoir in Idaho.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The Lateral 993 Project was licensed to the American Falls
Reservoir District No. 2/Big Wood Canal Company in Idaho as
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 12423
in 2003, and subsequently received the maximum, two-year
extension in 2005. After project construction did not commence
by the extended deadline (September 26, 2007), the license was
terminated by FERC order in 2009. Legislation is required to
reinstate the terminated license and extend the construction
commencement deadline.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senator Risch introduced S. 276 on February 11, 2013. The
bill is co-sponsored by Senator Crapo. At its business meeting
on March 14, 2013, the Committee ordered S. 276 favorably
reported.
In the 112th Congress, the Subcommittee on Water and Power
held a hearing on similar legislation, S. 334, on May 19, 2011
(S. Hrg. 112-63). The Committee ordered S. 334 favorably
reported without amendment at its business meeting on July 14,
2011 (S. Rpt. 112-54). The Senate passed S. 334 by unanimous
consent on October 18, 2011.
During the 111th Congress, the Committee considered similar
legislation, S. 3099, sponsored by Senator Risch. The
Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on S. 3099 on
April 27, 2010 (S. Hrg. 111-619) and the Committee ordered S.
3099 favorably reported without amendment on May 6, 2010 (S.
Rpt. 111-195).
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on March 14, 2013, by voice vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 276.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 requires FERC, at the request of the licensee for
the project and after reasonable notice and in accordance with
FERC procedures, to reinstate the license issued for FERC
project number 12423 and to extend the time period during which
the licensee is required to commence the construction of
project works to September 25, 2013.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 276--A bill to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement of
construction of a hydroelectric project involving the American
Falls Reservoir
CBO estimates that implementing S. 276 would have no net
effect on the federal budget. The bill would authorize the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reinstate the
license and extend the deadline for beginning construction of a
hydroelectric project (number 12423) at the American Falls
Reservoir in Idaho. The proposed extension could have a minor
impact on FERC's workload. Because FERC recovers 100 percent of
its costs through user fees, any change in its administrative
costs would be offset by an equal change in fees that the
commission charges. Therefore, the legislation's provisions
would have no net budgetary impact.
Because FERC's administrative costs are controlled through
annual appropriation acts, enacting S. 276 would not affect
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures do not apply.
S. 276 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 276.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 276, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 276, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
Executive Communications were not requested by the
Committee in the 113th Congress. The following Administration
testimony references similar legislation introduced in the
112th Congress.
The testimony provided by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission at the May 19, 2011, Subcommittee hearing on S. 334
follows:
Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC, May 18, 2011.
Re: S. 334
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Bingaman: This letter is in response to your
request for my views on S.334. That bill would require the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate the license
for the proposed 1.5-megawatt Lateral 993 Hydroelectric Project
No. 12423, to be located at the juncture of the 993 Lateral
Canal and the North Gooding Main Canal, northwest of the town
of Shoshone, in Lincoln County, Idaho. The bill also would
require the Commission to extend the commencement of
construction deadline for the project to September 25, 2013.
The Commission issued an original license for this project,
to American Falls Reservoir District No. 2 and Big Wood Canal,
on September 26, 2003. The license provided that the company
was required to commence project construction within two years
of the date of the license, the maximum period permitted by
section 13 of the Federal Power Act. The Commission
subsequently granted a two-year extension of the commencement
of construction deadline, again the maximum authorized by
section 13. Construction had not commenced when that deadline
expired, on September 26, 2007. Section 13 provides that, when
construction has not timely commenced, the Commission must
terminate the license. The Commission terminated the license by
order dated August 3, 2009.
I and the last several Commission Chairmen have taken the
position of not opposing legislation that would extend the
commencement of construction deadline no further than 10 years
from the date that the license in question was issued. Where
proposed extensions would run beyond that time, there has been
a sense that the public interest is better served by releasing
the site for other public uses. Because S. 334 requires the
Commission to an extension to September 25, 2013, thus
extending the commencement of construction deadline to 10 years
from when the license was issued, I do not oppose the bill.
If I can be of further assistance to you on this or any
other Commission matter, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Jon Wellinghoff,
Chairman.
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
Although the Committee has previously reported similar
legislation in each of the two previous Congresses, both of
those bills would have required the licensee to have commenced
construction of the project within 10 years after the issuance
of the original license in 2003.
Requiring that the licensee to commence construction under
the reinstated license within 10 years after the date the
original license was issued was in keeping with the position
first adopted by Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission with regard to another license in 1995, consistently
followed in similar cases by subsequent FERC Chairmen, and
generally honored by the Committee ever since.
S. 276 departs from this policy by giving the licensee 3
years from the date of enactment of the bill to commence
construction, which will extend the commencement of
construction deadline well beyond 10-year benchmark of
September 25, 2013.
Although I continue to support adherence to the 10-year
policy, I am willing to make an exception to the policy in this
case. Legislation to reinstate and extend the license was first
introduced in the Senate more than 3 years ago, in March 2010,
and it was first reported from the Committee in May 2011.
Action on the bill has been diligently pursued ever since, and
the Senate has failed to pass it, through no fault of the
licensee. Under these circumstances, I am willing to extend the
deadline for a period of time commensurate with the time the
legislation has been under consideration. I do not regard the
Committee's willingness to make an exception to the 10-year
policy in this case as setting a precedent for future cases or
as diminishing in any way the importance and utility of the 10-
year policy.
Ron Wyden.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by S. 276, as ordered
reported.