[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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