[Senate Report 109-197]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 315
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    109-197

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      SOUTHERN OREGON BUREAU OF RECLAMATION REPAYMENT ACT OF 2005

                                _______
                                

                December 8, 2005.--Ordered to be printed

 Filed under authority of the order of the Senate of November 18, 2005

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1760]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1760) 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, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 1760 is to authorize early repayment of 
obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within the Rogue River 
Valley Irrigation District or within the Medford Irrigation 
District.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    Section 213 of the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982, 43 
U.S.C. 390mm, (RRA) prohibits the early repayment of a water 
district's construction cost obligation unless the district's 
contract with the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau or Reclamation) 
included an express provision allowing for such early repayment 
when the RRA was enacted. Moreover, the reporting requirements 
of the RRA inhibit a contractor's ability to access financial 
tools because lending institutions and public institutional 
investors, with no interest in the farming operation, are 
required to file RRA certification and reporting forms.
    Of the three districts in Reclamation's Rogue River 
Project, only the Talent Irrigation District's contract with 
the Bureau contains an express provision allowing for early 
repayment. The remaining districts, the Rogue River Valley 
Irrigation District and the Medford Irrigation District, lack 
the necessary contractual provision.
    S. 1760 would authorize the contractors in the Rogue River 
Valley and Medford Irrigation Districts to repay their capital 
obligations to the Bureau at an accelerated rate. The 
legislation does not change the amount of Reclamation project 
water the contractor may receive.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1760 was introduced by Senators Smith and Wyden on 
September 22, 2005, and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources. The Water and Power Subcommittee held a 
hearing on S. 1760 on October 6, 2005. At the business meeting 
on November 16, 2005, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources ordered S. 1760 favorably reported, without 
amendment.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business session on November 16, 2005, by unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
1760.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 sets forth the short title.
    Section 2 allows any landowner within the Rogue River 
Valley Irrigation District or the Medford Irrigation District 
to repay, at any time, the applicable project facility 
construction costs. Once the construction cost repayment 
obligation has been fully discharged, the relevant lands shall 
no longer be subject to the ownership and full-cost pricing 
limitations of Reclamation law.
    Section 3 makes clear that nothing in the Act modifies any 
contractual rights or obligations between the individual water 
districts and the Federal Government. Additionally, nothing in 
the Act alters the relationship that may exist under Oregon 
State law between the individual water districts and their 
landowners.
    Section 4 directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
certification, upon request, to landowners who have fully 
repaid the applicable project facility construction costs.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

                                                  December 2, 2005.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
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. 1760, the Southern 
Oregon Bureau of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susanne S. 
Mehlman.
            Sincerely,
                                       Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 1760--Southern Oregon Bureau of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005

    Currently, the Rogue River Valley, Talent, and Medford 
Water Districts receive 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 S. 1760 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 S. 1760 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.
    S. 1760 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 November 29, 2005, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 4195 as ordered reported by the House Committee on 
Resources on November 16, 2005. The two versions of the bills 
are identical, as are our cost estimates.
    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.

                      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. 1760.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
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. 1760.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the Subcommittee hearing on S. 1760 follows:

                     Statement of William E. Rinne,

           Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation,

                       Department of the Interior

    Madam Chairman, I am William E. Rinne, Deputy Commissioner 
of the Bureau of Reclamation. Thank you for the opportunity to 
testify in support of S. 1760, a bill to authorize early 
repayment of obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within 
the Rogue River Valley Irrigation District or within the 
Medford Irrigation District.
    I am pleased to present the Department's views in support 
of S. 1760. There are three districts in our Rogue River 
Project that are subject to the acreage limitation provisions 
of Federal reclamation law. Under section 213 of the 
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA), early repayment of a 
district's construction costs is prohibited unless the 
district's repayment contract with Reclamation included a 
provision allowing for early repayment when the RRA was 
enacted.
    One of the three districts in the Rogue River Project has 
such a provision (specifically, the contract with Talent 
Irrigation District). As a result, a landowner who may own land 
in Talent Irrigation District and one or both of the other two 
districts in the Rogue River Project and would like to payout 
early would find that early repayment is allowed in only one of 
the districts. We support S. 1760's approach to allow early 
repayment in all three districts within this particular 
project. This legislation would accomplish such by providing 
early repayment authority to landowners in the Rogue River 
Valley Irrigation District and the Medford Irrigation District. 
Early payout would accelerate the repayment of these project 
costs to the United States Treasury.
    This concludes my written statement. I am pleased to answer 
any questions.

                        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. 1760, as 
ordered reported.

                                  
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