[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1373 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1373

   To amend the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to reform irrigation 
 assistance repayments and to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
redetermine the ability of irrigators to repay construction charges at 
                          least every 5 years.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 5 (legislative day, June 30), 1993

 Mr. Wofford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
        referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to reform irrigation 
 assistance repayments and to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
redetermine the ability of irrigators to repay construction charges at 
                          least every 5 years.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Irrigation Assistance Repayment 
Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. IRRIGATION ASSISTANCE REPAYMENT REFORM.

    Section 9 of the Act of August 4, 1939 (known as the Reclamation 
Project Act of 1939) (53 Stat. 1993; chapter 418; 43 U.S.C. 485h), is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, any costs of construction that meet the 
requirements of paragraph (2) shall be repaid not later than 40 years 
after the date on which irrigation service begins for such irrigation 
project, division, or development unit, upon terms no less favorable to 
the Federal Government than payment in equal annual installments.
    ``(2) This subsection shall apply to costs of construction incurred 
after September 30, 1992, that--
            ``(A) are allocated to irrigation;
            ``(B) are beyond the ability of the water user to repay; 
        and
            ``(C) may be repaid by revenues from power marketed by the 
        Western Area Power Administration.
    ``(3) An increase in wholesale power rates, if any, charged as a 
result of the operation of paragraph (1) may not exceed one mil per 
kilowatt-hour per year.''.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS OF ABILITY TO PAY.

    Section 9 of the Act of August 4, 1939 (known as the Reclamation 
Project Act of 1939) (53 Stat. 1993; chapter 418; 43 U.S.C. 485h) is 
further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h)(1) Except where expressly precluded by contract, the 
Secretary shall make a determination of the ability of an irrigator to 
pay construction charges allocated to irrigation no less frequently 
than every 5 years, and shall adjust the amount of the charges to be 
recovered from the irrigator accordingly.
    ``(2) Each new or renewed contract entered into by the Secretary 
after the date of enactment of this subsection shall provide for the 
recomputation of the ability of an irrigator to pay, pursuant to the 
provisions of paragraph (1), and the repayment of any unpaid additional 
charges resulting from prior adjustments.
    ``(3) Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the Secretary from 
recovering full cost where such recovery is otherwise authorized under 
the reclamation laws.''.

                                 <all>