[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 170 (Tuesday, December 3, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7421-H7423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BUREAU OF RECLAMATION CONDUIT HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT EQUITY AND JOBS 
                                  ACT

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1963) to amend the Water Conservation and Utilization Act to 
authorize the development of non-Federal hydropower and issuance of 
leases of power privileges at projects constructed pursuant to the 
authority of the Water Conservation and Utilization Act, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1963

       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 ``Bureau of Reclamation 
     Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act''.

     SEC. 2. AMENDMENT.

       Section 9 of the Act entitled ``An Act authorizing 
     construction of water conservation and utilization projects 
     in the Great Plains and arid semiarid areas of the United 
     States'', approved August 11, 1939 (16 U.S.C. 590z-7; 
     commonly known as the ``Water Conservation and Utilization 
     Act''), is amended--
       (1) by striking ``In connection with'' and inserting ``(a) 
     In connection with''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the Secretary is 
     authorized to enter into leases of power privileges for 
     electric power generation in connection with any project 
     constructed under this Act, and shall have authority in 
     addition to and alternative to any authority in existing laws 
     relating to particular projects, including small conduit 
     hydropower development.
       ``(c) When entering into leases of power privileges under 
     subsection (b), the Secretary shall use the processes 
     applicable to such leases under section 9(c) of the 
     Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)).
       ``(d) Lease of power privilege contracts shall be at such 
     rates as, in the Secretary's judgment, will produce revenues 
     at least sufficient to cover the appropriate share of the 
     annual operation and maintenance cost of the project and such 
     fixed charges, including interest, as the Secretary deems 
     proper. Lease of power privilege contracts shall be for 
     periods not to exceed 40 years.
       ``(e) No findings under section 3 shall be required for a 
     lease under subsection (b).
       ``(f) All right, title, and interest to installed power 
     facilities constructed by non-Federal entities pursuant to a 
     lease of power privilege, and direct revenues derived 
     therefrom, shall remain with the lessee unless otherwise 
     required under subsection (g).
       ``(g) Notwithstanding section 8, lease revenues and fixed 
     charges, if any, shall be covered into the Reclamation Fund 
     to be credited to the project from which those revenues or 
     charges were derived.

[[Page H7422]]

       ``(h) When carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 
     first offer the lease of power privilege to an irrigation 
     district or water users association operating the applicable 
     transferred conduit, or to the irrigation district or water 
     users association receiving water from the applicable 
     reserved conduit. The Secretary shall determine a reasonable 
     timeframe for the irrigation district or water users 
     association to accept or reject a lease of power privilege 
     offer. If the irrigation district or water users association 
     elects not to accept a lease of power privilege offer under 
     subsection (b), the Secretary shall offer the lease of power 
     privilege to other parties using the processes applicable to 
     such leases under section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act 
     of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)).
       ``(i) The Bureau of Reclamation shall apply its categorical 
     exclusion process under the National Environmental Policy Act 
     of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to small conduit hydropower 
     development under this section, excluding siting of 
     associated transmission facilities on Federal lands.
       ``(j) Nothing in this section shall obligate the Western 
     Area Power Administration or the Bonneville Power 
     Administration to purchase or market any of the power 
     produced by the facilities covered under this section and 
     none of the costs associated with production or delivery of 
     such power shall be assigned to project purposes for 
     inclusion in project rates.
       ``(k) Nothing in this section shall alter or impede the 
     delivery and management of water by Bureau of Reclamation 
     facilities, as water used for conduit hydropower generation 
     shall be deemed incidental to use of water for the original 
     project purposes. Lease of power privilege shall be made only 
     when, in the judgment of the Secretary, the exercise of the 
     lease will not be incompatible with the purposes of the 
     project or division involved and shall not create any 
     unmitigated financial or physical impacts to the project or 
     division involved. The Secretary shall notify and consult 
     with the irrigation district or legally organized water users 
     association operating the transferred conduit in advance of 
     offering the lease of power privilege and shall prescribe 
     such terms and conditions necessary to adequately protect the 
     planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and 
     other interests of the United States and the project or 
     division involved.
       ``(l) Nothing in this section shall alter or affect any 
     agreements in effect on the date of the enactment of the 
     Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity 
     and Jobs Act for the development of conduit hydropower 
     projects or disposition of revenues.
       ``(m) In this section:
       ``(1) The term `conduit' means any Bureau of Reclamation 
     tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar 
     manmade water conveyance that is operated for the 
     distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or 
     industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation 
     of electricity.
       ``(2) The term `irrigation district' means any irrigation, 
     water conservation or conservancy, multi-county water 
     conservation or conservancy district, or any separate public 
     entity composed of two or more such districts and jointly 
     exercising powers of its member districts.
       ``(3) The term `reserved conduit' means any conduit that is 
     included in project works the care, operation, and 
     maintenance of which has been reserved by the Secretary, 
     through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
       ``(4) The term `transferred conduit' means any conduit that 
     is included in project works the care, operation, and 
     maintenance of which has been transferred to a legally 
     organized water users association or irrigation district.
       ``(5) The term `small conduit hydropower' means a facility 
     capable of producing 5 megawatts or less of electric 
     capacity.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Grijalva) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 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 California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  H.R. 1963 by Congressman Daines of Montana seeks to jump-start 
conduit hydropower development at 11 Bureau of Reclamation projects. 
The bill specifically removes statutory impediments by authorizing non-
Federal hydropower development at these conduits and provides 
administrative and regulatory reforms necessary to foster such 
development.
  Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 678 by Congressman Tipton 
and Congressman Costa by a 416-7 vote to promote conduit hydropower 
development at reclamation facilities. H.R. 678 applied to hundreds of 
reclamation facilities that are covered under the authorities of the 
Reclamation Project Act of 1939. This measure applies to the remaining 
reclamation facilities, all of which are governed under the different 
and more complex authorities of the Water Conservation and Utilization 
Act of 1939.
  The Tipton bill provided for a streamlined regulatory process in part 
by providing a categorical exemption for redundant environmental 
reviews. The WCUA actually forbids the installation of small 
hydroelectric generators in the projects regulated under this act, and 
thus the need for this separate legislation.
  The arguments in favor of getting the Federal Government out of the 
way so that private contractors can lease existing Federal pipelines 
and canals for the purpose of installing small hydroelectric generators 
are well known to the House, as evidenced by the overwhelming 
bipartisan vote accorded the Tipton bill earlier this year. That bill 
was signed into law a few months ago, and I am told it has already 
produced a flood of new applications for clean and cheap small 
hydroelectric generators.
  Not only has a new source of absolutely clean and inexpensive 
hydroelectricity been made available, the Federal Treasury benefits 
from the revenues that these leases produce in addition to the added 
economic activity that they enable. Mr. Daines' measure completes that 
work by applying the same policy to the remaining reclamation 
facilities that fell under the WCUA.
  I commend the gentleman from Montana for his leadership on this 
issue, and I reserve the balance of my time
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  We concur with Mr. McClintock's description of the legislation, and 
we have no objections to H.R. 1963.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield as much time 
as he may consume to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Daines), the 
author of this measure,
  Mr. DAINES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
1963, the Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity 
and Jobs Act.
  In Congress, one of our top priorities is to secure American energy 
independence, and as we all see in this institution, we don't always 
agree on how best to meet that goal. However, hydropower is a clean, 
renewable source of energy, and finding innovative ways to develop this 
resource is an area where most of us can agree. I am grateful that 
Chairman McClintock and Ranking Member Grijalva support this bill, and 
I was pleased to see the bipartisan spirit behind this legislation.
  Bureau of Reclamation projects, such as canals, pipelines, and dams, 
play an important role in supplying water for our communities. 
Agriculture is the primary economic driver in my home State of Montana, 
and having a sound and strong irrigation system is critically important 
to us back home.
  H.R. 1963 will amend the Water Conservation and Utilization Act to 
allow for conduit hydropower development on 11 Bureau of Reclamation 
projects governed under this act. That includes some in my home State 
of Montana, including the Buffalo Rapids near Miles City, the intake 
project by Glendive, the Milk River Project, as well as the Missoula 
Valley Project. With this legislation, our irrigation systems can also 
power our homes and our businesses. Additionally, this bill will help 
provide revenues to improve critical infrastructure for farmers and 
ranchers who rely on these systems.
  In Montana, balancing energy development with responsible stewardship 
of our resources is the way we do business in Montana. Our livelihoods, 
our access to recreation, and the future of our State for our kids rely 
on a robust, balanced energy plan that also protects our unique 
landscapes, and that is what keeps us Montanans loving the place we 
call home. A diverse energy portfolio helps keep electric prices low 
for Montana families and creates jobs. Hydropower is an important part 
of that puzzle, and my bill will help us get there.

[[Page H7423]]

  H.R. 1963 has received strong bipartisan support in committee, and I 
urge the same here today.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. I have no further speakers, Mr. Speaker, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I again commend the gentleman from 
Montana for his work on this issue. It is one of the most important 
achievements in power development that we have had recently, the jump-
starting of these small hydropower generators.
  I thank the gentleman from the other side of the aisle for his 
support of the measure and urge its adoption.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1963, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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