[Senate Report 107-284]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 604
107th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     107-284
======================================================================
 
    WALLOWA LAKE DAM REHABILITATION AND WATER MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2001

                                _______
                                

               September 17, 2002.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1883]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1883) to authorize the Bureau of 
Reclamation to participate in the rehabilitation of the Wallowa 
Lake Dam in Oregon, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommends that the bill do pass.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 1883 is to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation to 
participate in, and provide funding for: (1) the Wallowa Lake 
Dam Rehabilitation Program; and (2) the Wallowa Valley Water 
Management Plan.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    Wallowa Lake Dam is a privately-owned dam constructed in 
1918 and raised in 1929. It is owned and operated by the 
Associated Ditch Companies, Inc. (ADC). In 1996, the Oregon 
Water Resources Department identified significant dam safety 
deficiencies with Wallowa Lake Dam. Subsequently, ADC in 
conjunction with the Grande Ronde Model Watershed Council, 
Reclamation, and other local, State, and Federal agencies, 
developed the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water 
Management Program to address dam safety deficiencies and to 
tie correction of those deficiencies to the solution of larger 
environmental issues in the Wallowa River and Lostine River 
systems. Successful implementation of the program will address 
State, local, tribal, and Federal objectives by promoting dam 
safety and flood control; restoration of depleted fish 
populations; and the protection of irrigation and municipal 
water supplies.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1883 was introduced by Senators Smith and Wyden on 
December 20, 2001. The Subcommittee on Water and Power held a 
hearing on June 6, 2002. At the business meeting on July 31, 
2002, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 
1883, favorably reported.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on July 31, 2002, by a voice vote of a quorum 
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1883, as described 
herein.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 provides the short title, the ``Wallowa Lake Dam 
Rehabilitation and Water Management Act of 2001''.
    Section 2 defines terms used in the Act.
    Section 3, subsection (a) authorizes the Secretary of the 
Interior to participate in the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation 
Program; and to participate in the planning, design, and 
construction of facilities needed to implement the Wallowa 
Valley Water Management Plan in cooperation with the tribal, 
State, and local governmental entities.
    Subsection (b), paragraph (1) limits the Federal 
contribution under this Act to an amount not to exceed 80 
percent of the cost of the authorized activities.
    Subsection (b), paragraph (2) excludes expenditures made by 
the Bonneville Power Administration in the Wallowa River 
watershed and individual farmers in any Federal farm or 
conservation program, from being credited against the Federal 
share.
    Subsection (c) requires the Secretary to comply with 
otherwise applicable State water law in carrying out this Act.
    Subsection (d) prohibits the Federal Government from 
holding title to any facility rehabilitated or constructed 
under this Act.
    Subsection (e) states that the Federal Government shall not 
be responsible for the operation or maintenance of any 
facilities constructed or rehabilitated under this Act.
    Subsection (f) provides that any facility located at 
Wallowa Lake Dam for trapping and transportation of migratory 
adult salmon may only be owned and operated by the Nez Perce 
Tribe.
    Section 4 states that activities funded under this Act 
shall not be considered a supplemental or additional benefit 
under the Act of June 17, 1902 (82 Stat. 388), and all Acts 
amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.
    Section 5 authorizes $32,000,000 to be appropriated to the 
Secretary for the Federal share of the costs of activities 
authorized under this Act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 10, 2002.
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1883, the Wallowa 
Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Act of 2001.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Julie 
Middleton.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 1883--Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Act of 
        2001

    Summary: S. 1883 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation 
to participate in the rehabilitation of the Wallowa Lake Dam in 
Oregon and the implementation of the Wallowa Valley Water 
Management Plan. The bill would limit the federal share of the 
rehabilitation costs to 80 percent, excluding any funding by 
the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). In addition, we 
estimate that implementing S. 1883 would result in spending by 
BPA of about $5 million over the 2003-2007 period for fish 
mitigation activities. The federal government would not hold 
title to any facility rehabilitated or constructed under this 
act, nor would the federal government be responsible for the 
operation and maintenance of those facilities.
    Assuming appropriation of the authorized amount, CBO 
estimates that implementing S. 1883 would cost about $27 
million over the 2003-2007 period and $32 million over the 
2003-2012 period. Because BPA's spending authority is not 
subject to appropriation, implementing S. 1883 also would 
result in direct spending of about $5 million over the 2003-
2007 period; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply.
    S. 1883 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 1883 is shown in the following table. 
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and environment).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  By fiscal year in millions of dollars--
                                 ---------------------------------------
                                   2003    2004    2005    2006    2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Spending by the Bureau of
 Reclamation:
    Estimated Authorization            6       7       7       6       6
     Level......................
    Estimated Outlays...........       2       5       7       7       6
                       CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING

Net Spending by BPA:
    Estimated Budget Authority..       5       0       0       0       0
    Estimated Outlays...........       2       2       1   (\1\)   (\1\)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Collections of less than $500,000.

Basis of estimate

            Spending subject to appropriation
    For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 1883 will be enacted 
near the start of fiscal year 2003 and that the authorized 
amount will be appropriated in roughly equal increments over 
the next five years.
    Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation, CBO 
estimates the total cost of rehabilitating the Wallowa Lake Dam 
in Oregon and implementing the Wallowa Valley Water Management 
Plan would be about $39 million. S. 1883 would authorize the 
appropriation of $32 million for the Bureau's share of the cost 
of those projects. The remaining $7 million would be paid by 
the BPA and the Bonneville Power Foundation, a nonprofit 
organization, to complete the projects.
    Based on information from the Bureau, we expect that 
rehabilitation of the dam and implementation of the management 
plan would take five years and that funds will be appropriated 
in roughly equal installments over that period to complete the 
projects. Thus, assuming appropriation of the authorized 
amount, we expect that implementing the bill would cost about 
$27 million over the 2003-2007 period and $32 million over the 
2003-2012 period.

Direct spending

    Implementing S. 1883 also would result in additional direct 
spending by BPA of about $5 million over the 2003-2007 period 
for fish mitigation activities related to the Wallowa Lake Dam 
projects authorized in the bill. Such spending is authorized 
under current law, but BPA would not make these investments 
without the Bureau's involvement in the Wallowa Lake projects. 
Because BPA must recover its costs through the sale of 
electricity, any additional spending would be offset by 
slightly higher proceeds from electricity sales over the next 
15 to 20 years. Consequently, BPA's additional spending would 
have a negligible net budgetary impact over that period.
    Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act sets up pay-as-you-go procedures 
for legislation affecting direct spending or receipts. The net 
changes in outlays that are subject to pay-as-you-go procedures 
are shown in the following table. The changes in outlays after 
2005 would be savings of less than $500,000 a year for 10 to 15 
years. For the purpose of enforcing pay-as-you-go procedures, 
only the effects through fiscal year 2006 are counted.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       By fiscal year in millions of dollars--
                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007   2008   2009   2010   2011   2012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in Outlays.................      0      2      2      1      0      0      0      0      0      0      0
Changes in Receipts................                                 Not applicable
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 1883 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Julie Middleton and 
Lisa Cash Driskill; Impact on State, Local, and Tribal 
Governments: Marjorie Miller; and Impact on the Private Sector: 
Lauren Marks.
    Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, 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. 1883. 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. 1883.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The pertinent legislative report received by the Committee 
from the Department of the Interior setting forth Executive 
agency recommendation relating to S. 1883 is set forth below:

                   U.S. Department of the Interior,
                                   Office of the Secretary,
                                    Washington, DC, August 8, 2002.
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter responds to your request for 
the views of the Department of the Interior on S. 1883, a bill 
that would authorize Reclamation to participate in the Wallows 
Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Program in Oregon. 
This confirms testimony of Mark A. Limbaugh, Director, External 
& Intergovernmental Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. 
Department of the Interior on S. 1883 before the Committee on 
June 6, 2002.
    While we believe there are merits to the proposed program, 
the Department does not support S. 1883.
    Wallowa Lake Dam is a privately-owned dam constructed in 
1918 and raised in 1929, and is owned and operated by the 
Associated Ditch Companies, Inc. (ADC). Dam safety deficiencies 
have been identified by the US Army Corps of Engineers and 
Oregon Water Resources Department. ADC, in conjunction with the 
Grande Ronde Model Watershed Council, Reclamation, and other 
local, state, and Federal agencies, developed the Wallowa Lake 
Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Program to address dam 
safety deficiencies and to tie correction of those deficiencies 
to larger environmental issues in the Wallowa River Basin.
    The Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management 
Program is proposed to begin in FY 2002 and continue through FY 
2007, at an estimated total cost of $38,800,000. S. 1883 sets 
out an 80/20 cost share for this Program, under which the 
federal government would pay $32 million funded through the 
Bureau of Reclamation (BOR).
    Reclamation itself has an inventory of aging dams--and the 
responsibility to ensure the safety and reliability of 
Reclamation dams to protect the downstream public. Dam safety 
is one of Reclamation's highest priorities. I would like to 
give you a sense of the scope of our dam safety 
responsibilities: the Bureau has reservoirs impounded by 457 
dams and dikes. Of these structures, 362 dams and dikes, 
located at 252 different project facilities, would likely cause 
loss of life if they were to fail. Approximately 50 percent of 
Reclamation's dams were built between 1900 and 1950, and about 
90 percent of the dams were built before currently-used state 
of the art design and construction practices. Aging 
Reclamation-owned dams, which lack state-of-the-art structural 
reliability features, require Reclamation to conduct extensive 
ongoing risk management activities to assure safe dam 
performance and protect the public from unreasonable risk.
    While we fully understand the importance of ensuring the 
safety of Wallowa Lake Dam, this dam is not a federal project. 
It is privately owned and operated, and falls under a dam 
safety program of the Oregon Department of Water Resources. 
Reclamation believes the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and 
Water Management Program is worthwhile, with potentially 
numerous benefits; however we are concerned about the proposed 
federal role in this project. Despite the very high federal 
cost share for the project, under S. 1883 there is currently no 
federal interest in the dam, and none is provided by the bill; 
moreover, there is no provision for repayment by project 
beneficiaries in accordance with reclamation law.
    We are also concerned that Reclamation's participation in 
this program would adversely impact ongoing projects and 
operations. S. 1883 would authorize the use of Reclamation 
funds for a non-Federal purpose. Reclamation funds must be 
targeted to perform essential functions at our federal 
projects, such as security at BOR dams and reservoirs, 
operations and maintenance (O&M), resource management, dam 
safety, or construction. The Department cannot, therefore, 
support S. 1883.
    The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is 
no objection to the presentation of this report from the 
standpoint of the Administration's program.
            Sincerely,
                                          John W. Keys III,
                               Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation.

                        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 the bill S. 1883, as 
ordered report.

                                
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