[Senate Report 108-243]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 453
108th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 108-243
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TOM GREEN COUNTY WATER CONTROL AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 1
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March 9, 2004.--Ordered to be printed
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Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 856]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the Act (H.R. 856) to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green
County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo
project, Texas, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the Act do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of H.R. 856 is to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green
County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo
project, Texas.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Due to current drought conditions in the area of Texas
serviced by the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement
District No. 1, the District has limited quantities of water to
deliver to users and limited revenues to repay its required
repayment obligation. The Bureau of Reclamation does not have
general authority to extend the District's repayment period
without an Act of Congress. By extending the repayment period,
the annual payments will remain constant and allow for
repayment of the remaining obligation, albeit over a longer
time period.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 856 was introduced by Representative Stenholm on
February 13, 2003. A similar bill, H.R. 4910, was introduced in
the 107th Congress. H.R. 856 passed the House of
Representatives on May 14, 2003, by a voice vote on a motion to
suspend the rules, and was referred to the Committee on
Environment and Public Works on May 15, 2003. On June 19, 2003,
the bill was discharged and referred to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources. The Subcommittee on Water and Power held
a hearing on H.R. 856 on September 23, 2003. S. Hrg. 108-211.
At the business meeting on February 11, 2004, the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 856 favorably
reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTES
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on February 11, 2004, by a unanimous vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 856.
The roll call vote on reporting the measure was 23 yeas and
0 nays, as follows:
YEAS NAYS
Mr. Domenici
Mr. Nickles
Mr. Craig
Mr. Campbell*
Mr. Thomas
Mr. Alexander
Ms. Murkowski
Mr. Talent
Mr. Burns
Mr. Smith*
Mr. Bunning
Mr. Kyl*
Mr. Bingaman
Mr. Akaka
Mr. Dorgan*
Mr. Graham*
Mr. Wyden*
Mr. Johnson*
Ms. Landrieu*
Mr. Bayh*
Mrs. Feinstein*
Mr. Schumer*
Ms. Cantwell
*Indicates vote by proxy.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water
Control and Improvement District No. 1, by extending the
repayment period from 40 years to 50 years.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, February 25, 2004.
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 H.R. 856, an act to
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment
contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and
Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, Texas, and for
other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Julie
Middleton.
Sincerely,
Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
Director.
Enclosure.
H.R. 856--An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to revise a
repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and
Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, Texas, and for
other purposes
H.R. 856 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior
through the Bureau of Reclamation to revise its repayment
contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and
Improvement District in Texas for reimbursable construction
costs of the San Angelo project. This act would extend the
repayment period from 40 years to 50 years.
CBO estimates that H.R. 856 would have no significant
impact on the federal budget. The district has been unable to
make regular payments of the reimbursable construction costs
due to a severe drought. With an extension of the repayment
period, the district would be able to make smaller payments to
the federal government over a longer period of time.
Consequently, CBO estimates that implementing this act would
result in a loss of less than $1 million in offsetting receipts
over the 2004-2019 period, followed by an increase of the same
amount over the 2020-2031 period.
H.R. 856 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 Julie Middleton.
This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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 H.R. 856. 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 H.R. 856, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at
the Subcommittee hearing follows:
Statement of Michael Gabaldon, Director, Policy, Management, and
Technical Services, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the
Interior
My name is Michael Gabaldon and I am the Director, Policy,
Management, and Technical Services of the Bureau of
Reclamation. I am pleased to present the Department's views on
H.R. 856 which authorizes the Secretary to revise a repayment
contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and
Improvement District No. 1 (District) at Reclamation's San
Angelo Project, Texas.
The San Angelo Project (Project) was authorized by the
Congress in 1957 to provide flood control, municipal and
industrial water for the City of San Angelo, recreation, fish
and wildlife, and supplemental irrigation supplies to the
District. The Project has been beset by chronic drought
conditions since it was constructed in 1963. These arid
conditions have resulted in Reclamation granting a total of
seven deferments of the annual installments due on the
District's forty-year repayment contract. Due to the continued
drought the District has requested a partial deferment for the
2003 annual installment. Since 1997, four deferments for the
District's annual payment to the United States have been
granted because of the unavailability of irrigation water. The
District has not taken any water from the reservoir since 1998.
H.R. 856 provides some immediate financial relief to the
District by extending its contract with Reclamation by ten
years and thereby reducing its annual payments to the United
States by approximately $70,000 per year. Extension of the
repayment period will not likely be a permanent solution to the
water scarcity facing this project. However, taking this action
will give Reclamation some time to assess the project's long-
term challenges and will aid the District by providing needed
repayment relief.
Therefore, the Department supports H.R. 856.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to
present the Department's views on H.R. 856.
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 Act H.R. 856, as
ordered reported.