[House Report 109-323]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-323

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      SOUTHERN OREGON BUREAU OF RECLAMATION REPAYMENT ACT OF 2005

                                _______
                                

December 6, 2005.--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. 4195]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

      The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4195) to authorize early repayment of obligations to the 
Bureau of Reclamation within Rogue River Valley Irrigation 
District or within Medford Irrigation District, 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. 4195 is to authorize early repayment of 
obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within Rogue River 
Valley Irrigation District or within Medford Irrigation 
District.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Bureau of Reclamation's Rogue River Project, located in 
southern Oregon, provides water to three irrigation districts: 
Talent, Rogue River Valley, and Medford. Each district has a 
contract with the Bureau of Reclamation specifying terms for 
repayment of the federal construction cost of facilities 
(capital obligations) used to provide water to that District. 
Only one contract, that of the Talent Irrigation District, 
contains a provision allowing early repayment of capital 
obligations by individual landowners.
    H.R. 4195 allows early repayment for the Rogue River Valley 
and Medford Irrigation Districts. The effect of the legislation 
gives landholders within these two irrigation districts the 
same ability to repay their capital obligations early to the 
federal government as those in the Talent Irrigation District. 
This action would release landholders within the Rogue River 
Valley and Medford Irrigation Districts from certain ownership 
reporting requirements under the Reclamation Reform Act and 
would also provide an early revenue stream to the U.S. 
Treasury.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4195 was introduced on November 1, 2005, by 
Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Water and Power. On November 9, 2005, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On November 16, 2005, 
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee on Water and Power 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 ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    This section cites the bill as the ``Southern Oregon Bureau 
of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005.''

Section 2. Early repayment

    This section states that any landowner within the Rogue 
River Valley or Medford Irrigation Districts may repay 
construction costs (capital obligations) allocated to that 
landowner's land at any time. Upon repayment, those lands will 
not be subject to ownership limits and reporting requirements 
under the Reclamation Reform Act and other statutes.

Section 3. Limitation

    This section states that this legislation does not modify 
contractual rights between the Rogue River Valley and Medford 
Irrigation Districts and the Bureau of Reclamation, or any 
rights, obligations, or relationships between the two districts 
and their landowners as provided under Oregon law.

Section 4. Certification

    This section requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
provide certification of repayment to landowners who request it 
once they have completed repayment of construction costs 
allocated to their land.

            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. 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:

H.R. 4195--Southern Oregon Bureau of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005

    Currently, the Rogue River Valley, Talent, and Medford 
Water Districts received water from the Bureau of Reclamation's 
(BOR's) Rogue River Project, located in southern Oregon. Each 
district has a contract with BOR that specifies terms for 
repayment of the construction costs of facilities used to 
provide water to each district. Only the contract with the 
Talent Water District provides for early repayment of 
construction costs by landowners. Enacting H.R. 4195 would 
authorize any landowner within either the Rogue River Valley 
Irrigation District or the Medford Irrigation District to 
repay, at any time, the construction costs for federal water 
projects. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4195 would have no 
significant impact on offsetting receipts, and would not affect 
revenues.
    Based on information from BOR, CBO estimates that 
implementing this bill would increase offsetting receipts (from 
the early repayment of construction costs) in 2006 by about 
$70,000. As a result of the early repayment, the federal 
government would no longer receive payments of about $4,000 
each year through 2026.
    H.R. 4195 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.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Susanne S. 
Mehlman. 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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