[House Report 108-704]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-704
======================================================================

 
             MONTANA WATER CONTRACTS EXTENSION ACT OF 2004

                                _______
                                

 September 28, 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 H.R. 5009]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 5009) to extend water contracts between the United States 
and specific irrigation districts and the City of Helena in 
Montana, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 5009 is to extend water contracts 
between the United States and specific irrigation districts and 
the City of Helena in Montana, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Flood Control Acts of 1944 and 1946 authorized the 
Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program (Program). The Program 
was created to provide flood control, irrigation, navigation, 
recreation, preservation and enhancement of fish and wildlife 
and power generation throughout ten states in the Upper Great 
Plains region of the United States. In the State of Montana, 
the Helena Valley Unit, the Crow Creek Pump Unit, and the East 
Bench Unit were constructed as parts of the Program and are 
currently owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. Irrigation 
districts in south-central Montana and the City of Helena, 
Montana entered into long-term water service contracts with the 
Bureau of Reclamation for water deliveries from these units.
    The Helena Valley Unit delivers 87,000 acre-feet \1\ of 
water from the Missouri River for use by the Helena Valley 
Irrigation District and the City of Helena, which depends on 
the unit for 30% of its municipal water needs. The Crow Creek 
Pump Unit lifts approximately 16,800 acre-feet of water from 
the Missouri River for delivery to the Toston Irrigation 
District service area. The East Bench Unit delivers irrigation 
water from the Beaverhead River to the Clark Canyon Water 
Supply Company and the East Bench Irrigation District. The 
contracts for these water deliveries will expire in 2004 and 
2005. The irrigation district, the City of Helena and the 
Bureau of Reclamation have expressed a desire to extend these 
contracts for up to two more years. H.R. 5009 extends these 
contracts for up to two years.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ One acre-foot equals 327,000 gallons of water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Extension of the water contracts will allow these entities 
appropriate time to negotiate new long-term water contracts. 
Contract renewal negotiations are usually completed some time 
before expiration, However, the negotiations for the 
aforementioned water deliveries have been delayed, in part, due 
to Endangered Species Act studies on the Upper Missouri River. 
The information in these studies is considered pertinent to 
future long-term water service contracts. The two-year contract 
extensions under H.R. 5009 would allow for continued water 
service during the renegotiation process, under current terms 
and conditions, while providing sufficient time to negotiate 
new contracts.

                          SUBCOMMITTEE ACTION

    Representative Dennis Rehberg (R-MT) introduced H.R. 5009 
on September 7, 2004. The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Water 
and Power. On September 9, 2004, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On September 15, 2004, the Committee on 
Resources met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 
discharged from further consideration of the bill 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. Short title

    This section cites the title of the bill as the ``Montana 
Water Contracts Extension Act of 2004.''

Section 2. Extension of water contracts

    This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to 
extend five specific water contracts up to two years on the 
date which each contract expires or the date in which a new 
long-term water contract is executed.

            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

    1. 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, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to extend water contracts between the 
United States and specific irrigation districts and the City of 
Helena, Montana.
    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:

H.R. 5009--Montana Water Contract Extension Act of 2004

    H.R. 5009 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to 
extend five specific water contracts in the Pick-Sloan Missouri 
River Basin in Montana. This bill would extend those contracts 
for two years beyond the current expiration dates or until new 
long-term contracts are executed, whichever is earlier. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 5009 would have no significant 
effect on the federal budget.
    Under current law, these five contracts result in an 
aggregate annual payment to the federal government of about 
$125,000 plus reimbursements for operations and maintenance 
costs. Currently, three of the contracts are due to expire at 
the end of 2004, and the remaining two contracts will expire at 
the end of 2005. If those contracts expire, the bureau has the 
authority to enter into annual interim contracts with the water 
users (local irrigation districts and the city of Helena, 
Montana) under terms similar to the present contracts until 
long-term contracts are executed. Consequently, payments to the 
federal government under the bill are likely to be similar to 
the payments that would be received under current law.
    H.R. 5009 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. 
Enacting this bill would benefit the affected contractors, 
which are local government entities.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. 
This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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.

                                  
