[House Report 108-653]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
 2d Session                                                     108-653

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TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO CONTRACT WITH THE CITY OF 
CHEYENNE, WYOMING, FOR THE STORAGE OF THE CITY'S WATER IN THE KENDRICK 
                            PROJECT, WYOMING

                                _______
                                

 September 7, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 943]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(S. 943) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to contract 
with the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the storage of the 
city's water in the Kendrick Project, Wyoming, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment 
and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of S. 943 is to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to contract with the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for 
storage of the City's water in the Kendrick Project, Wyoming.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Kendrick Project, located in Carbon and Natrona 
Counties in Central Wyoming, provides water from the North 
Platte River for irrigation and hydropower generation purposes. 
Major features of the project include: Seminoe Dam, Reservoir, 
and Powerplant; Alcova Dam, Reservoir and Powerplant; and the 
Casper Canal and Distribution System. The Project was 
constructed and is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the 
Department of the Interior.
    In 1983, the Bureau of Reclamation and the City of Cheyenne 
entered into an Interim Water Storage Contract which provided 
the City with 10,000 acre feet of storage space at Seminoe 
Reservoir. This contract allowed the City to store exchange 
water for use in the spring and summer months to compensate for 
water that the City released during winter months to fulfill 
minimum flow requirements for fish habitat. The contract 
required the City to pay for such storage rights. The original 
contract was for a term of 15 years, with the option for a five 
year renewal. The contract and the renewal have expired. 
Currently, the City has storage rights on an annual basis 
because it is unclear whether Reclamation has the authority to 
enter into long-term, non-project municipal water storage 
contracts. As a result, the Bureau of Reclamation and the City 
are seeking legislative authority to enter into long-term 
contracts to provide storage space for non-project municipal 
and industrial water in Seminoe Reservoir.
    S. 943 allows the Bureau of Reclamation and the City of 
Cheyenne to enter into a 40-year water storage contract, with 
the option of additional 40-year renewal. The bill specifies 
that proceeds received from the City will be credited against 
applicable operation and maintenance and capital costs 
associated with the Kendrick Project.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    S. 943 was introduced by Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) on April 
29, 2003. The Senate passed the bill on May 19, 2004, by 
unanimous consent. In the House of Representatives, the bill 
was referred to the Committee on Resources. Within the 
Committee, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Water 
and Power. The Subcommittee held a hearing on S. 943 on July 8, 
2004. On July 14, 2004, the Resources Committee met to mark up 
the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged from further 
consideration by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered 
and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by unanimous consent.

                           SECTION-BY-SECTION

Section 1. Water Storage Contracts

    This section defines various terms used in the bill and 
allows the Secretary of the Interior to enter into one or more 
contracts with the City of Cheyenne for storage of the City's 
water for municipal and industrial use in the Seminoe Dam and 
the Reservoir of the Kendrick Project. This section requires 
that any contract and subsequent renewals shall not exceed 40-
year terms. The section further provides that revenues received 
under a contract shall be credited against the applicable 
operation and maintenance and construction costs of the 
Kendrick Project. This section also states that a contract 
shall not adversely affect any existing Kendrick Project 
contractor, or any existing contractor on the North Platte 
River System.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax 
expenditures. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 
enacting this bill would decrease offsetting receipts but that 
the loss of receipts would be less than $500,000 for the 2005-
2014 time period.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

S. 943--An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to contract 
        with the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the storage of the 
        city's water in the Kendrick Project, Wyoming

    S. 943 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, 
through the Bureau of Reclamation, to renew a water storage 
contract with the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the storage of 
the city's municipal and industrial water. The term of this and 
subsequent contracts would be limited to 40 years.
    CBO estimates that implementing S. 943 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. Currently, the bureau 
provides water storage services under a temporary one-year 
water storage contract to the city of Cheyenne through the 
Kendrick Project on the North Platte River. The temporary 
contract has the same terms as the expired contract. Under the 
temporary contract, the city makes an annual payment of $70,000 
to the federal government. Under S. 943, the city would 
negotiate a contract with the federal government for water 
storage services. Under the contract, the Bureau expects that 
the city would make an annual payment of about $53,000 to the 
federal government. CBO estimates that enacting S. 943 would 
decrease offsetting receipts (a form of direct spending), but 
the loss of receipts would be less than $500,000 over the 2005-
2014 period.
    S. 943 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    On March 8, 2004, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
943 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources on February 11, 2004. The two versions of the 
legislation are identical, as are the cost estimates.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  
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