[House Report 109-323]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 109-323
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SOUTHERN OREGON BUREAU OF RECLAMATION REPAYMENT ACT OF 2005
_______
December 6, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4195]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4195) 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, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 4195 is to authorize early repayment of
obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within Rogue River
Valley Irrigation District or within Medford Irrigation
District.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Bureau of Reclamation's Rogue River Project, located in
southern Oregon, provides water to three irrigation districts:
Talent, Rogue River Valley, and Medford. Each district has a
contract with the Bureau of Reclamation specifying terms for
repayment of the federal construction cost of facilities
(capital obligations) used to provide water to that District.
Only one contract, that of the Talent Irrigation District,
contains a provision allowing early repayment of capital
obligations by individual landowners.
H.R. 4195 allows early repayment for the Rogue River Valley
and Medford Irrigation Districts. The effect of the legislation
gives landholders within these two irrigation districts the
same ability to repay their capital obligations early to the
federal government as those in the Talent Irrigation District.
This action would release landholders within the Rogue River
Valley and Medford Irrigation Districts from certain ownership
reporting requirements under the Reclamation Reform Act and
would also provide an early revenue stream to the U.S.
Treasury.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 4195 was introduced on November 1, 2005, by
Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Water and Power. On November 9, 2005, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On November 16, 2005,
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee on Water and Power was discharged from further
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. No amendments
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section cites the bill as the ``Southern Oregon Bureau
of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005.''
Section 2. Early repayment
This section states that any landowner within the Rogue
River Valley or Medford Irrigation Districts may repay
construction costs (capital obligations) allocated to that
landowner's land at any time. Upon repayment, those lands will
not be subject to ownership limits and reporting requirements
under the Reclamation Reform Act and other statutes.
Section 3. Limitation
This section states that this legislation does not modify
contractual rights between the Rogue River Valley and Medford
Irrigation Districts and the Bureau of Reclamation, or any
rights, obligations, or relationships between the two districts
and their landowners as provided under Oregon law.
Section 4. Certification
This section requires the Secretary of the Interior to
provide certification of repayment to landowners who request it
once they have completed repayment of construction costs
allocated to their land.
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 Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 4195--Southern Oregon Bureau of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005
Currently, the Rogue River Valley, Talent, and Medford
Water Districts received 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 H.R. 4195 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 H.R. 4195 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.
H.R. 4195 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 Susanne S.
Mehlman. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
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 in existing
law.