[House Report 115-532]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress }                                          { REPORT
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  2d Session   }                                          { 115-532

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        SWAN LAKE HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT BOUNDARY CORRECTION ACT

                                _______
                                

January 29, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 219]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 219) to correct the Swan Lake hydroelectric 
project survey boundary and to provide for the conveyance of 
the remaining tract of land within the corrected survey 
boundary to the State of Alaska, 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. 219 is to correct the Swan Lake 
hydroelectric survey boundary and to provide for the conveyance 
of the remaining tract of land within the corrected survey 
boundary to the State of Alaska.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Swan Lake Hydroelectric Project is a remote facility 
located approximately 22 air miles northeast of Ketchikan, 
Alaska.\1\ The facility is operated by the Southeast Alaska 
Power Agency (SEAPA), a regional Joint Action Agency of the 
State of Alaska.\2\ The Project was initiated by the State of 
Alaska in 1980 and placed into service in 1984.\3\
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    \1\SEAPA Hydro, ``Swan Lake Hydro Facility,'' Southeast Alaska 
Power Agency, 2013. http://www.seapahydro.org/Swan-Lake-Hydro-
Facility.php.
    \2\SEAPA Hydro, ``About Us,'' Southeast Alaska Power Agency, 2013. 
http://www.seapahydro.org/about-us.php.
    \3\Senate Report 115-98, https://www.congress.gov/congressional-
report/115th-congress/
senate-report/98/1.
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    The Swan Lake Hydroelectric Project is comprised of an 
elliptical concrete thin arch dam, 174 feet high and 430 feet 
long at its crest.\4\ The corresponding reservoir has a usable 
storage capacity of 86,000 acre feet and a surface area of 
approximately 1,500 acres.\5\
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    \4\SEAPA Hydro, ``Swan Lake Hydro Facility.'' http://
www.seapahydro.org/Swan-Lake-Hydro-Facility.php.
    \5\SEAPA Hydro, ``Swan Lake Hydro Facility.'' http://
www.seapahydro.org/Swan-Lake-Hydro-Facility.php.
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    The project's powerhouse contains two turbine generating 
units with an installed capacity of 25 megawatts. The project 
and associated facilities supply wholesale power to the 
municipal utilities serving the cities of Petersburg, Wrangell, 
and Ketchikan\6\ with a combined population of 19,395 
residents.\7\
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    \6\Information provided to the Committee by Representative Don 
Young of Alaska's Office.
    \7\Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research 
and Analysis Section, ``2016 Population Estimates by Borough, Census 
Area, and Economic Region'' http://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/pop/.
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    At the time the Project entered service, a future 15-foot 
increase in reservoir elevation was anticipated as a second 
phase to the Project, which would raise the elevation of the 
reservoir from 330 feet to 345 feet (plus a 5-foot buffer).\8\ 
As a result, in 1994 the State of Alaska sought a land 
selection of 1,500 acres of land inside the Tongass National 
Forest, sufficient land to secure the inundation area of the 
reservoir at the 350-foot elevation level. The land conveyance 
from the federal government to the State of Alaska was granted 
in 1997.
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    \8\SEAPA Hydro, ``Swan Lake Reservoir Expansion'' Southeast Alaska 
Power Agency, 2013. http://www.seapahydro.org/_exp/pdfs/White_Paper/
swl_white_paper.pdf.
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    In 2012, SEAPA conducted a land survey of the reservoir 
property as part of its due diligence before raising the height 
of the dam to its final anticipated height of 345 feet. The 
survey discovered an error in the 350-foot elevation contour on 
reference maps utilized during the State selection process.\9\ 
The 2012 survey concluded raising the dam to its final 
anticipated height would inundate an additional 25.8 acres of 
federal land along one of Swan Lake's tributaries.\10\
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    \9\SEAPA Hydro, ``Costs and Benefits Analysis for Increasing 
Storage at Swan Lake,'' Southeast Alaska Power Authority, 2012. http://
www.seapahydro.org/_exp/pdfs/White_Paper/cost-benefit.pdf.
    \10\SEAPA Hydro, ``Costs and Benefits Analysis for Increasing 
Storage at Swan Lake,'' Southeast Alaska Power Authority, 2012. http://
www.seapahydro.org/_exp/pdfs/White_Paper/cost-benefit.pdf.
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    There is no disagreement among the federal and State 
agencies that the 25.8 acres of Forest Service lands currently 
within the Project boundary remain within the Project boundary 
solely due to an error in establishing lands to be transferred 
to the State of Alaska in 1997.\11\
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    \11\Information provided to the Committee by Representative Don 
Young of Alaska's Office.
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    H.R. 219 would correct the error by requiring the Secretary 
of the Interior, after consultation with the Secretary of 
Agriculture, to survey the exterior boundaries of the tract of 
federal land within the Swan Lake Hydroelectric Project 
boundary and transfer the surveyed federal land within the 
project to the State of Alaska.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1. Short Title. Provides that this Act may be cited 
as the Swan Lake Hydroelectricity Project Boundary Correction 
Act.
    Section 2. Conveyance of Federal Land Within the Swan Lake 
Hydroelectric Project Boundary. Directs the Secretary of the 
Interior to consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and 
survey the exterior boundaries of the federal land tract within 
the boundaries of the Swan Lake Hydroelectric Project within 18 
months of the enactment of the legislation. Following 
completion of the survey, the Secretary of the Interior is to 
issue a patent for the land to the State of Alaska in 
accordance with the survey and applicable federal laws.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 219 was introduced on January 3, 2017, by Congressman 
Don Young (R-AK). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 
on Federal Lands. On October 11, 2017, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the legislation. On January 10, 2018, the Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered 
and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by unanimous consent.

            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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

      COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, January 26, 2018.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 219, the Swan Lake 
Hydroelectric Project Boundary Correction Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
            Sincerely,
                                                Keith Hall,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 219--Swan Lake Hydroelectric Project Boundary Correction Act

    H.R. 219 would direct the Department of the Interior to 
conduct a survey of a 26-acre parcel of land within the 
boundary of the Swan Lake Hydroelectric Project in Alaska. The 
bill also would require the federal government to convey the 
parcel, which is currently under the jurisdiction of the U.S. 
Forest Service, to the state of Alaska. Using information 
provided by the affected agencies, CBO estimates that 
implementing the bill would have not significant effect on the 
federal budget. The parcel is not currently generating any 
receipts for the Forest Service and it is not expected to do so 
in the future.
    Enacting H.R. 219 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting the bill would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    On April 27, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
267, a bill to provide for the correction of a survey of 
certain land in the state of Alaska, as ordered reported by the 
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 30, 
2017. The two bills are similar and the CBO's estimate of their 
budgetary effects are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. 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 correct the Swan Lake 
hydroelectric survey boundary and to provide for the conveyance 
of the remaining tract of land within the corrected survey 
boundary to the State of Alaska.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

    Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                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 to existing 
law.

                                  [all]