[House Report 113-78]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-78
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SOUTH UTAH VALLEY ELECTRIC CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
May 17, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 251]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 251) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to
convey certain Federal features of the electric distribution
system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service District, and
for other purposes, 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. 251 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey certain Federal features of the electric
distribution system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service
District.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) began developing
the Strawberry Valley Project (SVP) in Utah in 1906. Today,
this federal project includes the Strawberry Dam and Reservoir,
several diversion dams, canals, three power plants and a 296-
mile long electric transmission and distribution system. The
Strawberry Water Users Association (SWUA), which operated the
SVP until 1986 and repaid all applicable construction costs of
the electricity distribution system to the federal government,
also owned a portion of that electricity distribution system.
In 1986, SWUA sold its portion of the electricity
distribution system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service
District (SESD). Since there was a mix of federal and non-
federal ownership of the electricity distribution system,
Reclamation approved the sale only on the condition that the
sale be limited to those portions that were not part of the
original SVP or were not constructed on federal lands or
easements. At the time, Reclamation, SWUA and the SESD believed
that most of the distribution system was non-federal. However,
Reclamation recently determined that most of the distribution
system was built on federal easements acquired early in the SVP
history. Reclamation, as a result, now believes that most of
the distribution system still belongs to the federal
government. It has not quantified how much of the system it
owns, however, due to inadequate paperwork. The federal
government's determination has created system management and
ownership uncertainty since it is unclear which entity owns
which portions of the electric distribution system. H.R. 251
resolves this confusion by placing the entire system in local
ownership by transferring federal title to the SESD.
In general, such title transfers benefit both local
communities and the federal government. The transfer of title
will divest Reclamation of federal liability while providing
the non-federal entity with greater autonomy and flexibility to
manage facilities in a manner that best meets its needs. Non-
federal ownership also gives a local entity the ability to
leverage private equity in the event of needed repairs or for
other reasons. Each Reclamation title transfer requires
specific Congressional authorization and Presidential
signature. Since 1996, titles to portions of 27 Reclamation
projects have been transferred.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 251 was introduced on January 15, 2013, by Congressman
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). The bill was referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Water and Power. On April 24, 2013, the Full
Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee on Water and Power was discharged by unanimous
consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill was then
adopted and ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by unanimous consent.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the short title of the bill: the
South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act.
Section 2. Definitions
This section defines key terms used in the bill.
Section 3. Conveyance of electric distribution system
This section directs the Secretary of the Interior to
convey all right, title, and interest currently owned by the
United States to the South Utah Valley Electric Service
District (SESD), requires that the conveyance of land shall
comply with all applicable environmental laws and excludes the
Strawberry Valley Project power generation system and the
federally-owned portions of the 46 kilovolt transmission
system, except in specific and limited cases, from being
conveyed to the SESD.
Section 4. Effect of conveyance
This section specifies that the land and facilities
conveyed shall no longer be part of a federal reclamation
project, that SESD shall not be entitled to any future
Reclamation benefits for the conveyed land and facilities, and
that the federal government shall not be liable for damages
related to the land and facilities, including the 1986 sale
between the Strawberry Water Users Association and the SESD.
Section 5. Report
This section requires that if the conveyance under section
3 is not completed within one year of enactment, the Secretary
of the Interior shall submit a report to Congress that
describes the status of the conveyance, any obstacles
preventing completion of the conveyance, and specifies an
anticipated new date for completion of the conveyance.
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
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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. 251--South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act
H.R. 251 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
transfer title to the electric distribution system located in
Spanish Fork, Utah, to the South Utah Valley Electric Service
District. Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation,
CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no
significiant net impact on the federal budget. Enacting H.R.
251 would have an insignificant impact on direct spending;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. The legislation
would not affect revenues.
The electric distribution system was developed as part of
the Strawberry Valley Project in the 1920s. The Strawberry
Water Users Association, the nonfederal sponsor of the project,
satisfied all federal repayment obligations associated with the
project in 1974. In 1986, the Bureau of Reclamation transferred
financial responsibility for operating and maintaining the
system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service District.
Under the current law, the bureau oversees those activities.
Under the legislation, transfer to the district of title to
the electric distribution system would include all federally
owned fixtures and the underlying federal land not shared by
other facilities. In instances where the underlying federal
land is also occupied by other facilities and in the case of
shared power poles, permanent access and licensing privileges
would be granted to the district to perform required
maintenance.
Under H.R. 251, the Bureau of Reclamation would no longer
oversee the facilitiies or collect licensing fees from
utilities seeking easements. Based on information from the
bureau, CBO estimates that the loss of those collections would
not be significant.
H.R. 251 contains no intergovernmental or privacte-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On March 25, 2013, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
25, the South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act, as ordered
reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources on March 14, 2013. The two pieces of legislation are
similar, and CBO cost estimates are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of 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. Based on
information from the Bureau of Reclamation, CBO estimates that
implementing the legislation would have no significant net
impact on the federal budget.
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 direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey certain Federal features of the electric
distribution system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service
District.
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.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
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.
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.