[House Report 109-568]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 109-568
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AMENDING THE RECLAMATION STATES EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF ACT OF 1991 TO
EXTEND THE AUTHORITY FOR DROUGHT ASSISTANCE
_______
July 17, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2925]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 2925) to amend the Reclamation States Emergency Drought
Relief Act of 1991 to extend the authority for drought
assistance, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as
amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF THE RECLAMATION STATES EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF
ACT OF 1991.
The Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43
U.S.C. 2210 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 104(c), by striking ``September 30, 2005'' and
inserting ``September 30, 2010''; and
(2) in section 301, by striking ``fiscal years 1992, 1993,
1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004'' and
inserting ``the period of fiscal years 2006 through 2010''.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2925 is to amend the Reclamation States
Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 to extend the authority
for drought assistance.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 2925 amends Title I of Public Law 102-250 to allow the
Bureau of Reclamation to provide emergency assistance to
western States in managing and allocating scarce water supplies
during times of drought. Title I authority expired on September
30, 2005. This bill extends the Title I expiration date until
September 30, 2010, and will allow the Bureau of Reclamation to
continue to assist States in addressing water supply crises
when the Governor of a State or governing body of an Indian
tribe requests temporary drought assistance.
Title I of the underlying law provides the Bureau of
Reclamation with emergency authority for construction,
management, and conservation measures to alleviate the adverse
impacts of drought. It authorizes the agency to make loans to
water users for mitigating damages caused by drought. It allows
the Bureau to facilitate water acquisitions between willing
buyers and willing sellers, acquire water for use under
temporary contracts, make facilities available for storage and
conveyance of project and non-project water, and acquire water
for fish and wildlife purposes.
From fiscal years 2000 through 2005, an average of $4.2
million per year was appropriated for activities under the act,
with the majority of funding applied to Title I activities.
Representative actions that have occurred under Title I include
releasing of water for non-project purposes, helping
municipalities drill new wells when their supply has dried up,
assisting Indian tribes in obtaining alternate water supplies,
and purchasing water for fish and wildlife purposes so that
project water can still serve irrigators.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2925 was introduced on June 15, 2005, by Congressman
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX). The bill was referred to the Committee
on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Water and Power. On September 27, 2005, the Subcommittee held a
hearing on the bill. On June 21, 2006, 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. Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA)
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to extend
the authorization of appropriations until fiscal year 2010. The
amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as
amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by unanimous consent.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Extension of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief
Act of 1991
This section extends the authority under section 104(c) of
the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991
until September 30, 2010. As amended, this section also extends
section 301, authorizations of appropriations, of the
underlying Act, through fiscal year 2010.
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, clause 3 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. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to amend the Reclamation States
Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 to extend the authority
for drought assistance.
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. 2925--A bill to amend the Reclamation States Emergency Drought
Relief Act of 1991 to extend the authority of drought
assistance
Summary: The Bureau of Reclamation undertakes construction,
water management, and water conservation activities to
alleviate damages caused by drought in certain states. The
authority to provide such assistance ended on September 30,
2005. H.R. 2925 would extend that authority through September
30, 2010. Under the bill, the authorization of appropriations
for this program would be limited to a total of $90 million
over the 2006-2010 period.
Assuming appropriation of amounts necessary to provide the
drought assistance authorized by H.R. 2925, CBO estimates that
implementing the bill would cost $16 million over the 2007-2011
period. Enacting H.R. 2925 would not affect direct spending or
revenues.
H.R. 2925 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA);
the bill would benefit state, local, or tribal governments and
any costs would be incurred voluntarily.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 2925 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300
(natural resources and environment).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
--------------------------------------------
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
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CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Estimated Authorization Level...................................... 4 4 4 4 0
Estimated Outlays.................................................. 3 4 4 4 1
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Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes H.R. 2925
will be enacted near the end of fiscal year 2006 and that the
necessary amounts will be appropriated for each year. Estimates
of outlays are based on historical spending patterns for this
activity.
The Reclamation States Energy Drought Relief Act of 1991
provided the Bureau of Reclamation the authority to mitigate
damages caused by drought in certain states by undertaking
construction, water management, and water conservation
activities. Since that time, the Congress has provided almost
$70 million for those activities--an average of more than $4
million per year over the past 16 years.
H.R. 2925 would extend the authority provided under the act
until 2010 and would limit appropriations to a total of $90
million over the 2006-2010 period. Because CBO cannot predict
the timing or severity of droughts, CBO expects that the need
to undertake drought relief over the next five years will
continue at the same rate as the average need over the past 16
years--about $4 million a year. Thus, CBO estimates that
implementing H.R. 2925 would cost $16 million over the 2007-
2011 period.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 2925
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA. The bill would benefit reclamation states and
local and tribal governments within those states by extending
the legislative authority that provides them drought aid. Any
costs incurred by governmental entities would result from
complying with conditions for receiving federal assistance.
Previous CBO estimate: On December 1, 2005, CBO transmitted
a cost estimate of S. 648, a bill to amend the Reclamation
States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 to extend the
authority for drought assistance, as ordered reported by the
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on November
16, 2005. Both S. 648 and H.R. 2925 would authorize
appropriations over the 2006-2010 period; however, CBO assumed
that S. 648 would be enacted in fiscal year 2006 with
appropriations beginning in that year. In addition, H.R. 2925
would cap the program's authorization of appropriations at $90
million over the 2006-2010 period.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Leigh Angres and Julie
Middleton. Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Lisa
Ramirez-Branum. Impact on the Private Sector: Craig Cammarata.
Estimate 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.