[House Report 118-367]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                      {     118-367

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



 
                 PILOT BUTTE POWER PLANT CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

January 30, 2024.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3415]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3415) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey to the Midvale Irrigation District the Pilot Butte Power 
Plant in the State of Wyoming, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                       PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION

    The purpose of H.R. 3415 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey to the Midvale Irrigation District the Pilot 
Butte Power Plant in the State of Wyoming, and for other 
purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 3415, the Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyance Act, 
requires the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to enter good 
faith negotiations to convey the Pilot Butte Power Plant (Power 
Plant) to the Midvale Irrigation District (District) under 
Reclamation's Title Transfer Program. The Title Transfer 
Program allows for Reclamation to transfer authority over water 
infrastructure to a project's beneficiary. This process, 
designed to give greater local control and autonomy to a 
project beneficiary, has historically required an individual 
act of Congress. From 1995 to 2019, Reclamation has conveyed 
all or part of thirty projects over to project 
beneficiaries.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\``Statement of Camille Calimlim Touton.'' Senate Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee. July 19, 2023. https://
www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/8B0FC197-6740-485F-A24C-
2AFABD64D158.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2019, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management 
and Recreation Act (P.L. 116-9) gave Reclamation the authority 
to transfer certain projects to beneficiaries without an act of 
Congress. However, P.L. 116-9 excluded certain ``reserved 
works,'' or infrastructure that is owned, operated, or 
maintained by Reclamation. Since the Power Plant was removed 
from service in 2008, Reclamation is responsible for all costs 
associated with maintenance and inspection; given that the 
Power Plant is still considered a ``reserved work,'' an act of 
Congress is required to transfer this structure to the 
District.
    This legislation would give the District the ability to 
rehabilitate a power plant that has been shut down for more 
than a decade. The District has expressed interest in producing 
hydroelectric power during its six-month irrigation season, 
providing additional electricity generation to the District's 
940 water users.\2\ Additionally, Reclamation has incurred 
increased annual maintenance and inspection costs as the plant 
remains shut down; a future demolition plan was estimated at 
roughly $5 million, and the Wyoming Water Development Office 
has projected that the Power Plant's needed repairs will cost 
between $4.4 million and $8.3 million.\3\ Transferring 
authority of the Power Plant from Reclamation to the District 
presents an opportunity to unlock additional electricity 
generation for the District and its water users, give the 
District greater control over the Power Plant's upgrades and 
overall resource management, and eases the financial burden on 
both the District and Reclamation by sharing the costs 
associated with this project.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\``Statement of Steve J. Lynn.'' House Committee on Natural 
Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries. September 
28, 2023. https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/
testimony_lynn.pdf.
    \3\``Statement of Camille Calimlim Touton.'' Senate Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee. July 19, 2023. https://
www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/8B0FC197-6740-485F-A24C-
2AFABD64D158.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3415 was introduced on May 17, 2023, by Rep. Harriet 
M. Hageman (R-WY). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 
on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. On September 28, 2023, the 
Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a hearing on 
the bill. On October 25-26, the Committee on Natural Resources 
met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife 
and Fisheries was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
3415 by unanimous consent. H.R. 3415 was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the 
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure: 
hearing by the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries 
held on September 28, 2023.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 establishes the short title of the bill as the 
``Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyance Act.''

Section 2. Definitions

    Section 2 defines key terms used throughout the Act in 
outlining the process of transferring authority of the Power 
Plant from Reclamation to the District.

Section 3. Agreement, conveyance, and report

    Section 3 requires that not later than two years after 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary), acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, 
shall enter into negotiations with the District to determine 
the terms of conveyance. Conveyance will require the District 
to assume all liability for administration, operation, 
maintenance, and replacement of the Power Plant. At the date of 
effective conveyance, the Power Plant will no longer be 
considered part of a Federal Reclamation project. If conveyance 
is not completed within 1 year of enactment, the Secretary 
shall submit a report to the House Committee on Natural 
Resources and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources a 
report describing the status of conveyance, obstacles to 
completing conveyance, and an anticipated date of completing 
conveyance.

Section 4. Liability

    Section 4 mandates that, effective on the date of 
conveyance, the United States or employees or agents of the 
United States are no longer to be held liable for any act, 
omission, or occurrence relating to the power plant.

Section 5. Compliance with other laws

    Section 5 requires that, prior to making the conveyance, 
the Secretary shall complete all actions required under the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.), National Preservation Programs under Subtitle III of 
Title 54, U.S.C., and any other applicable laws. The District 
shall comply with all Federal, State, and local laws in 
operating the Power Plant, effective on the date of conveyance.

Section 6. Payment of costs

    Section 6 establishes that administrative costs for the 
conveyance of the Power Plant, real estate transfer costs, and 
cost of compliance with review under the National Environmental 
Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, or Subtitle III of 
Title 54 U.S.C. shall be paid in equal shares by the Secretary 
and the District.

            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:




    H.R. 3415 would require the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to 
negotiate an agreement within two years with the Midvale 
Irrigation District located in Pavillion, Wyoming, to convey 
the Pilot Butte Power Plant and related facilities to the 
district.
    Under current law, BOR holds title to the power plant and 
related facilities, and ownership of the power plant cannot be 
transferred unless authorized by the Congress. The plant has 
not produced electricity since 2008 when BOR determined that 
increasing operation and maintenance costs made electricity 
generation at the plant economically infeasible. The district 
has expressed interest in taking ownership and rehabilitating 
and operating the power plant and related facilities to provide 
power to the district's water users.
    Using information from BOR, CBO estimates that total costs 
to implement the bill would be less than $20,000 for staff to 
coordinate surveys, complete reviews under the National 
Environmental Policy Act, and transfer the title to the 
district. Under the bill, those costs would be split equally 
with the district. Spending by BOR for those costs would be 
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
    CBO estimates that enacting the bill would insignificantly 
increase offsetting receipts, which are recorded as reductions 
in direct spending, from amounts transferred to the government 
to pay for the district's share of the cost of administrative 
activities to complete the transfer. The spending of those 
receipts would increase direct spending and any excess 
contributions would be returned to the district. Thus, CBO 
estimates that by the end of 2033 there would be no net effect 
on direct spending under H.R. 3415.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.
    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 direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey to the Midvale Irrigation District the Pilot 
Butte Power Plant in the State of Wyoming, and for other 
purposes.

                           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.

                 UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT

    According to the Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 3415 
contains no unfunded mandates as defined in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act.

                           EXISTING PROGRAMS

    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.

                  APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    As ordered reported by the Committee on Natural Resources, 
H.R. 3415 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  [all]