[Senate Report 110-160]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 358
110th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 110-160
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ELECTRICITY PROGRAMS ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007
_______
September 17, 2007.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1203]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 1203) to enhance the management of
electricity programs at the Department of Energy, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Measure
The purpose of S. 1203 is to increase the number of
Assistant Secretaries of Energy from 7 to 8.
Background and Need
The Department of Energy Organization Act vests a wide
range of functions in the Secretary of Energy. To assist the
Secretary in the performance of these functions, section 203(a)
of the Organization Act, as it was originally enacted in 1977,
authorized the President, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, to appoint 8 Assistant Secretaries. Section 203(a)
did not prescribe specific functions for any of the Assistant
Secretaries. Instead, in order to allow the Secretary maximum
flexibility in organizing the Department's responsibilities, it
listed 11 broad groups of functions, including, for example,
``environmental responsibilities and functions'', ``national
security functions'', and ``energy conservation functions.'' It
then permitted the Secretary to assign the Assistant
Secretaries functions from the list. In addition, section
203(b) required the President, when submitting a nomination for
an Assistant Secretary, to ``identify with particularity the
function or functions'' to be performed by the Assistant
Secretary.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2000, Public Law 106-65, reduced the number of Assistant
Secretaries from 8 to 6. That Act created a ``separately
organized agency'' within the Department of Energy known as the
National Nuclear Security Administration to manage the
Secretary's national security functions, which had previously
been assigned to the Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs.
The Act provided for an Administrator and 3 Deputy
Administrators to perform the national security functions, and
reduced the authorized number of Assistant Secretaries for the
rest of the Department from 8 to 6. The Act also eliminated
``national security functions'' from the list of functions
performed by the Assistant Secretaries in section 203(a) of the
Organization Act.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 restored one of the two
Assistant Secretary positions eliminated by the National
Defense Authorization Act, by raising the number of Assistant
Secretaries authorized by section 203(a) of the Organization
Act from 6 to 7. In keeping with the prior law, section
1006(b)(1) of the Energy Policy Act did not prescribe the
functions of the new position. Nonetheless, section 1006(b)(2)
expressed ``the sense of Congress that . . . departmental
missions in nuclear energy should be at the Assistant Secretary
level.''
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 also gave the Secretary of
Energy new responsibilities for the modernization of the
electric grid and for enhancing the security and reliability of
our energy infrastructure. The Secretary assigned these and
other functions to an Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability, to be headed by an office director. Following the
resignation of the Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety,
and Health in March 2006, however, the Secretary proposed to
assign the functions of the Office of Electricity Delivery and
Energy Reliability to an Assistant Secretary for Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability and to reorganize the
environment, safety, and health functions under a new Office of
Health, Safety and Security, headed by an office director
rather than an Assistant Secretary. In September 2006, the
President nominated Kevin M. Kolevar to the vacant Assistant
Secretary position and identified the functions assigned to the
position as Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability rather
than Environment, Safety and Health. The Senate confirmed the
nomination on August 3, 2007.
The importance of electricity delivery and energy
reliability to the nation make the elevation of the functions
to the Assistant Secretary level appropriate. However, the
assignment of those responsibility to the Assistant Secretary
position that had been responsible for Environment, Safety and
Health functions since 1985 (and environmental functions since
1978), foreclosed, at least for the time being, management of
the Environment, Safety and Health functions at the Assistant
Secretary level.
S. 1203 is needed to increase the number of Assistant
Secretaries of Energy from 7 to 8, the number originally
authorized by the Organization Act in 1977. In keeping with
current law, S. 1203 does not designate the functions of the
new position, but it will enable the Secretary to restore the
Environment, Safety and Health functions to the Assistant
Secretary level.
Legislative History
S. 1203 was introduced by Senators Bingaman and Domenici on
April 24, 2007. The Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing on
the measure on May 22, 2007. The Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources ordered S. 1203 favorably reported, without
amendment, at a business meeting on July 25, 2007.
Committee Recommendation
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on July 25, 2007, by a voice vote of a quorum
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1203.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1 states the short title, the ``Department of
Energy Electricity Programs Enhancement Act of 2007''.
Section 2 increases the authorized number of Assistant
Secretaries of Energy from 7 to 8. Subsection (a) implements
the increase by amending section 203(a) of the Department of
Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7133(a)). Subsection (b)
makes a conforming amendment in the Executive Schedule in
section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.
Subsection (c) expresses the sense of Congress that the
missions of the Department of Energy related to electricity
delivery and reliability should be at the Assistant Secretary
level.
Cost and Budget Considerations
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
September 5, 2007.
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
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 S. 1203, the Department
of Energy Electricity Programs Enhancement Act of 2007.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Kathleen
Gramp.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag.
Enclosure.
S. 1203--Department of Energy Electricity Programs Enhancement Act of
2007
S. 1203 would modify the management structure of the
Department of Energy (DOE) by adding an additional position for
an Assistant Secretary. The legislation also would express the
sense of the Congress that the department's electricity
delivery and reliability activities should be managed by an
Assistant Secretary.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 1203 would cost less
than $1 million a year, subject to the availability of
appropriated funds. DOE currently has seven Assistant
Secretaries, as authorized by existing law, including an
Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability. Based on the staffing of other such positions at
DOE, CBO expects that the additional office of the Assistant
Secretary would include two or more deputies and related
support staff. Enacting this legislation would not affect
direct spending or revenues.
S. 1203 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Kathleen Gramp.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 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 S. 1203.
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 S. 1203.
Executive Communications
Statement of David R. Hill, General Counsel, Department of Energy
Chairman Dorgan, Senator Murkowski, and members of the
Committee, my name is David Hill and I am the General Counsel
of the U.S. Department of Energy. I want to thank you for the
opportunity to appear today and offer preliminary comments on
five energy-related bills that the Congress is considering. The
bills before the Committee today make each valuable
contributions to our national discussion on energy security,
but in some cases could benefit from further review, discussion
and modification. The Department looks forward to working with
the Committee to resolve these issues. I would like to discuss
the elements of each bill, as well as present some of the DOE
activities that are already underway in areas addressed by the
bills.
* * * * * * *
s. 1203
S. 1203 expands the authorized number of Assistant
Secretaries at the Department of Energy from seven to eight.
The Department believes it already has a sufficient number of
authorized assistant secretaries, but we do not oppose Congress
increasing the number if it sees fit to do so. S. 1203 also
would preserve the President and Secretary of Energy discretion
to determine whether to appoint individuals to fill all of the
authorized assistant secretary positions, to determine how best
to manage the Department mission, and to determine the
portfolios for the assistant secretaries and other Departmental
officials. At this time, the President and the Secretary have
made no decision whether an individual would be nominated for
the additional assistant secretary position should it be
authorized, or what the responsibilities of any such official
would be.
* * * * * * *
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill S. 1203, as ordered reported, are shown as follows
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):
Department of Energy Organization Act
Public Law 95-91--Aug. 4, 1977; 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.
AN ACT to establish a Department of Energy in the executive branch by
the reorganization of energy functions within the Federal Government in
order to secure effective management to assure a coordinated national
energy policy, and for other purposes.
* * * * * * *
ASSISTANT SECRETARIES
Sec. 203. (a) There shall be in the Department [7 Assistant
Secretaries] 8 Assistant Secretaries, each of whom shall be
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate; who shall be compensated at the rate provided
for at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of
title 5, United States Code; and who shall perform, in
accordance with applicable law, such of the functions
transferred or delegated to, or vested in, the Secretary as he
shall prescribe in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter. The functions which the Secretary shall assign to the
Assistant Secretaries include, but are not limited to, the
following:
* * * * * * *
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
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CHAPTER 53--PAY RATES AND SYSTEMS
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SUBCHAPTER II--EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE PAY RATES
* * * * * * *
Sec. 5315. Positions at level IV
Level IV of the Executive Schedule applies to the following
positions, for which the annual rate of basic pay shall be the
rate determined with respect to such level under chapter 11 of
title 2, as adjusted by section 5318 of this title:
* * * * * * *
[Assistant Secretaries of Energy (7)] Assistant Secretaries
of Energy (8).
* * * * * * *