[Senate Report 113-24]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        Calendar No. 55

113th Congress  }                                           {    Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session    }                                           {    113-24

======================================================================



 
                        AMERICAN FALLS RESERVOIR

                                _______
                                

                 April 22, 2013.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                         [To accompany S. 276]

    The Committee in Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 276) to reinstate and extend the deadline 
for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project 
involving the American Falls Reservoir, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 276 is to reinstate and extend the 
deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric 
project at the American Falls Reservoir in Idaho.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Lateral 993 Project was licensed to the American Falls 
Reservoir District No. 2/Big Wood Canal Company in Idaho as 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 12423 
in 2003, and subsequently received the maximum, two-year 
extension in 2005. After project construction did not commence 
by the extended deadline (September 26, 2007), the license was 
terminated by FERC order in 2009. Legislation is required to 
reinstate the terminated license and extend the construction 
commencement deadline.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Risch introduced S. 276 on February 11, 2013. The 
bill is co-sponsored by Senator Crapo. At its business meeting 
on March 14, 2013, the Committee ordered S. 276 favorably 
reported.
    In the 112th Congress, the Subcommittee on Water and Power 
held a hearing on similar legislation, S. 334, on May 19, 2011 
(S. Hrg. 112-63). The Committee ordered S. 334 favorably 
reported without amendment at its business meeting on July 14, 
2011 (S. Rpt. 112-54). The Senate passed S. 334 by unanimous 
consent on October 18, 2011.
    During the 111th Congress, the Committee considered similar 
legislation, S. 3099, sponsored by Senator Risch. The 
Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on S. 3099 on 
April 27, 2010 (S. Hrg. 111-619) and the Committee ordered S. 
3099 favorably reported without amendment on May 6, 2010 (S. 
Rpt. 111-195).

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on March 14, 2013, by voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 276.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 requires FERC, at the request of the licensee for 
the project and after reasonable notice and in accordance with 
FERC procedures, to reinstate the license issued for FERC 
project number 12423 and to extend the time period during which 
the licensee is required to commence the construction of 
project works to September 25, 2013.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

S. 276--A bill to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement of 
        construction of a hydroelectric project involving the American 
        Falls Reservoir

    CBO estimates that implementing S. 276 would have no net 
effect on the federal budget. The bill would authorize the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reinstate the 
license and extend the deadline for beginning construction of a 
hydroelectric project (number 12423) at the American Falls 
Reservoir in Idaho. The proposed extension could have a minor 
impact on FERC's workload. Because FERC recovers 100 percent of 
its costs through user fees, any change in its administrative 
costs would be offset by an equal change in fees that the 
commission charges. Therefore, the legislation's provisions 
would have no net budgetary impact.
    Because FERC's administrative costs are controlled through 
annual appropriation acts, enacting S. 276 would not affect 
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures do not apply.
    S. 276 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 Megan Carroll. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. 276.
    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. 276, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 276, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    Executive Communications were not requested by the 
Committee in the 113th Congress. The following Administration 
testimony references similar legislation introduced in the 
112th Congress.
    The testimony provided by the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission at the May 19, 2011, Subcommittee hearing on S. 334 
follows:
                                     Federal Energy
                                     Regulatory Commission,
                                      Washington, DC, May 18, 2011.
Re: S. 334
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Chairman Bingaman: This letter is in response to your 
request for my views on S.334. That bill would require the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate the license 
for the proposed 1.5-megawatt Lateral 993 Hydroelectric Project 
No. 12423, to be located at the juncture of the 993 Lateral 
Canal and the North Gooding Main Canal, northwest of the town 
of Shoshone, in Lincoln County, Idaho. The bill also would 
require the Commission to extend the commencement of 
construction deadline for the project to September 25, 2013.
    The Commission issued an original license for this project, 
to American Falls Reservoir District No. 2 and Big Wood Canal, 
on September 26, 2003. The license provided that the company 
was required to commence project construction within two years 
of the date of the license, the maximum period permitted by 
section 13 of the Federal Power Act. The Commission 
subsequently granted a two-year extension of the commencement 
of construction deadline, again the maximum authorized by 
section 13. Construction had not commenced when that deadline 
expired, on September 26, 2007. Section 13 provides that, when 
construction has not timely commenced, the Commission must 
terminate the license. The Commission terminated the license by 
order dated August 3, 2009.
    I and the last several Commission Chairmen have taken the 
position of not opposing legislation that would extend the 
commencement of construction deadline no further than 10 years 
from the date that the license in question was issued. Where 
proposed extensions would run beyond that time, there has been 
a sense that the public interest is better served by releasing 
the site for other public uses. Because S. 334 requires the 
Commission to an extension to September 25, 2013, thus 
extending the commencement of construction deadline to 10 years 
from when the license was issued, I do not oppose the bill.
    If I can be of further assistance to you on this or any 
other Commission matter, please let me know.
            Sincerely,
                                           Jon Wellinghoff,
                                                          Chairman.

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    Although the Committee has previously reported similar 
legislation in each of the two previous Congresses, both of 
those bills would have required the licensee to have commenced 
construction of the project within 10 years after the issuance 
of the original license in 2003.
    Requiring that the licensee to commence construction under 
the reinstated license within 10 years after the date the 
original license was issued was in keeping with the position 
first adopted by Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission with regard to another license in 1995, consistently 
followed in similar cases by subsequent FERC Chairmen, and 
generally honored by the Committee ever since.
    S. 276 departs from this policy by giving the licensee 3 
years from the date of enactment of the bill to commence 
construction, which will extend the commencement of 
construction deadline well beyond 10-year benchmark of 
September 25, 2013.
    Although I continue to support adherence to the 10-year 
policy, I am willing to make an exception to the policy in this 
case. Legislation to reinstate and extend the license was first 
introduced in the Senate more than 3 years ago, in March 2010, 
and it was first reported from the Committee in May 2011. 
Action on the bill has been diligently pursued ever since, and 
the Senate has failed to pass it, through no fault of the 
licensee. Under these circumstances, I am willing to extend the 
deadline for a period of time commensurate with the time the 
legislation has been under consideration. I do not regard the 
Committee's willingness to make an exception to the 10-year 
policy in this case as setting a precedent for future cases or 
as diminishing in any way the importance and utility of the 10-
year policy.
                                                         Ron Wyden.

                        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 S. 276, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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