[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 9, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H1841-H1843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BONNEVILLE UNIT CLEAN HYDROPOWER FACILITATION ACT
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 254) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
facilitate the development of hydroelectric power on the Diamond Fork
System of the Central Utah Project.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 254
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 ``Bonneville Unit Clean
Hydropower Facilitation Act''.
SEC. 2. DIAMOND FORK SYSTEM DEFINED.
For the purposes of this Act, the term ``Diamond Fork
System'' means the facilities described in chapter 4 of the
October 2004 Supplement to the 1988 Definite Plan Report for
the Bonneville Unit.
SEC. 3. COST ALLOCATIONS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in order to
facilitate hydropower development on the Diamond Fork System,
the amount of reimbursable costs allocated to project power
in Chapter 6 of the Power Appendix in the October 2004
Supplement to the 1988 Bonneville Unit Definite Plan Report,
with regard to power development upstream of the Diamond Fork
System, shall be considered final costs as well as costs in
excess of the total maximum repayment obligation as defined
in section 211 of the Central Utah Project Completion Act of
1992 (Public Law 102-575), and shall be subject to the same
terms and conditions.
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SEC. 4. NO PURCHASE OR MARKET OBLIGATION; NO COSTS ASSIGNED
TO POWER.
Nothing in this Act shall obligate the Western Area Power
Administration to purchase or market any of the power
produced by the Diamond Fork power plant and none of the
costs associated with development of transmission facilities
to transmit power from the Diamond Fork power plant shall be
assigned to power for the purpose of Colorado River Storage
Project ratemaking.
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON TAX-EXEMPT FINANCING.
No facility for the generation or transmission of
hydroelectric power on the Diamond Fork System may be
financed or refinanced, in whole or in part, with proceeds of
any obligation--
(1) the interest on which is exempt from the tax imposed
under chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or
(2) with respect to which credit is allowable under subpart
I or J of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code.
SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
If, 24 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
hydropower production on the Diamond Fork System has not
commenced, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit a
report to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate stating this fact, the reasons such
production has not yet commenced, and a detailed timeline for
future hydropower production.
SEC. 7. PAYGO.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS.
The authority under the provisions of section 301 of the
Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-381; 42 U.S.C.
16421a) shall not be used to fund any study or construction
of transmission facilities developed as a result of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Wittman) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H.R. 254, introduced by Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah,
facilitates the development of 50 megawatts of clean and renewable
hydroelectric power at existing Interior Department facilities in the
Diamond Fork System in Utah. That is enough electricity to power over
50,000 homes.
The bill removes an administrative impediment to make this happen. As
part of the Interior Department's current rules, the developer must
first pay $106 million even before investing in the capital cost to
install hydropower generators. As Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman
Tom McClintock said, this requirement is akin to a family renting out a
room but first requiring the renter to pay off their mortgage. The
family is then shocked that nobody wants to rent from them and the
family is not further along in paying off its mortgage and has denied
itself rental income. The Congressional Budget Office concurred by
stating:
The Federal Government is unlikely, under current law, to
develop the hydropower resources of the Diamond Fork project
for at least the next 10 years.
Therefore, this bill removes the requirement of paying for the sunk
cost and encourages non-Federal entities to pursue hydropower
development at Diamond Fork. As a result, this legislation will
generate $4 million in revenue over a 10-year period. The House has
passed this legislation twice in as many Congresses, and I urge my
colleagues to support it again.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HOLT. H.R. 254, introduced by my friend Mr. Chaffetz of Utah,
would allow for the production of hydropower at existing facilities by
deferring the debt associated with hydropower development on the
Diamond Fork System, as you have heard.
This would facilitate the development of 50 megawatts of clean
hydroelectric power while generating revenue for the government for the
use of its water facilities. This is what we should want to see.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support its passage, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Chaffetz).
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the bipartisan support
that we've had in the passage of this legislation and urge its support.
H.R. 254 is a win for Federal taxpayers, the environment, and energy
users. This bill allows for the development of 50 megawatts of clean,
renewable hydropower on the Diamond Fork System in Utah and will
generate $600,000 per year for the Federal Government. In Utah, we are
one of the fastest-growing areas in the Nation and we need this power.
Under current law, hydropower will not be developed on the Diamond
Fork System due to a requirement that energy developers pay $106
million to recover sunk costs that were incurred several years ago.
This $106 million payment requirement renders the hydropower project
economically unfeasible. According to the Congressional Budget Office
doing an assessment on H.R. 254:
Among the reasons that CBO expects the site will probably
not be developed over the next 10 years under current law is
a requirement that project sponsors pay the Treasury for a
portion of the Federal Government's previous investments in
the water project.
H.R. 254 would waive the repayment requirement, making the project
economically feasible. In addition, the developer would pay the Federal
Government a $600,000 per year fee, unrelated to the sunk cost, once
the project is completed.
Massive amounts of energy are generated in the Diamond Fork unit as
water flows downhill from Strawberry Reservoir to the Utah and Salt
Lake Valleys. Energy dissipators are scattered throughout the pipeline
to slow the flow and disperse the energy. Under H.R. 254, the operators
would be able to replace those dissipators with turbines, allowing the
currently wasted energy to be converted into electricity.
With or without this bill, the Federal Government will not recover
the $106 million under any realistic scenario, and developers will not
create 50 megawatts of renewable hydropower unless the sunk cost
repayment requirement is waived. Additionally, the Federal Government
will receive $600,000 per year once the project is completed if the
repayment requirement is waived.
This has had a number of hearings within the Natural Resources
Committee. We appreciate the bipartisan support and spirit of this
moving forward. I would urge passage by my colleagues. We need the
energy. This is the best, clean way we can do it.
Mr. HOLT. Does the gentleman from Virginia have further speakers?
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.
Mr. HOLT. With that, I will repeat my advice to my colleagues that we
support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1710
Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I concur with the gentleman from New Jersey
in that this bill should pass, and I appreciate the bipartisan support.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 254.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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