A bill to provide for disaster assistance for power transmission and distribution facilities, and for other purposes.

Summary: Rate Payer Recovery Act of 2007 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to cite conditions under which the President is authorized to make disaster assistance contributions for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of private or investor-owned power transmission and distribution facilities damaged or destroyed by a major disaster.

Cites conditions for large in-lieu contributions to a private or investor-owned power facility in any case in which the owner determines that the public welfare would not best be served by repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing the facility.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rate Payer Recovery Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION 
              FACILITIES.

    (a) Private or Investor-Owned Power Facility Defined.--Section 102 
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5122) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) Private or investor-owned power facility.--The term 
        `private or investor-owned power facility'--
                    ``(A) means a privately-owned or investor-owned 
                transmission or distribution facility that provides 
                electric or natural gas service to retail customers 
                under State or local jurisdiction; and
                    ``(B) includes leased facilities.''.
    (b) Conditions for Contributions.--Section 406(a) of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5172(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) subject to paragraph (4), to a person that 
                owns a private or investor-owned power facility damaged 
                or destroyed by a major disaster for the repair, 
                restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of the 
                facility and for associated expenses incurred by the 
                person.'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) Conditions for assistance to private or investor-
        owned power facilities.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `previous major disaster' means a major disaster--
                            ``(i) occurring before the disaster for 
                        which Federal assistance is sought under this 
                        subsection; and
                            ``(ii) the declaration of which was not 
                        more than 10 years before the date of the 
                        declaration of the major disaster for which 
                        Federal assistance is sought under this 
                        subsection.
                    ``(B) Conditioned on previous event.--The President 
                may make contributions to the owner of a private or 
                investor-owned power facility under paragraph (1)(C), 
                only if--
                            ``(i) the cost of repairing, restoring, or 
                        replacing the private or investor-owned power 
                        facilities damaged or destroyed by the previous 
                        major disaster exceeded $2,500 for each retail 
                        customer receiving electrical or natural gas 
                        service from the owner on the day before the 
                        date of the previous disaster;
                            ``(ii) the total costs of repair, 
                        restoration, or replacement of all private or 
                        investor-owned power facilities owned by such 
                        person and associated expenses as a result of 
                        the previous major disaster exceeded 
                        $500,000,000; and
                            ``(iii) 25 percent or more of the 
                        population, as determined by the Bureau of the 
                        Census, of each geographic area of each local 
                        government in which the private or investor-
                        owned power facility is located, had taxable 
                        income in the year preceding the previous major 
                        disaster below the Federal poverty level on the 
                        date of the previous major disaster.
                    ``(C) Application for funds.--A person that owns a 
                private or investor-owned power facility that meets the 
                requirements under subparagraph (B) may apply for 
                Federal assistance not later than the earlier of--
                            ``(i) 30 days after declaration of a major 
                        disaster; or
                            ``(ii) the date upon which the owner of the 
                        private or investor-owned power facility has 
                        contributed $10,000,000 towards the total costs 
                        of repair, restoration, or replacement of the 
                        private or investor-owned power facility 
                        damaged or destroyed as a result of the major 
                        disaster for which it requests Federal 
                        assistance.
                    ``(D) Limit on federal assistance for disaster 
                relief.--Federal assistance under this section to the 
                owner of a private or investor-owned power facility 
                shall only apply to eligible costs and expenses 
                directly incurred by the owner exceeding $10,000,000.
                    ``(E) Aggregation for purposes of determining 
                costs.--For purposes of determining the costs of a 
                previous major disaster under this paragraph, the costs 
                of all previous major disasters during any 12-month 
                period shall be aggregated.
                    ``(F) Approval or disapproval of applications.--The 
                President shall approve or disapprove an application 
                for assistance submitted by a person under this 
                paragraph not later than 30 days after the date of 
                receipt of the application.''.
    (c) Federal Share.--Section 406(b)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(b)(2)) is 
amended by striking ``public facility or private nonprofit facility'' 
and inserting ``public facility, private nonprofit facility, or private 
or investor-owned power facility''.
    (d) Large In-Lieu Contributions.--Section 406(c) of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5172(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) For private or investor-owned power facilities.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In any case in which a person 
                that owns a private or investor-owned power facility 
                determines that the public welfare would not best be 
                served by repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or 
                replacing the facility, the person may elect to 
                receive, in lieu of a contribution under subsection 
                (a)(1)(C), a contribution in an amount equal to 75 
                percent of the Federal share of the Federal estimate of 
                the cost of repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or 
                replacing the facility and of management expenses, 
                under the conditions described in subsection (a)(4).
                    ``(B) Use of funds.--Funds contributed to a person 
                under this paragraph may be used to--
                            ``(i) repair, restore, or expand other 
                        private or investor-owned power facilities 
                        owned by the person;
                            ``(ii) construct a new private or investor-
                        owned power facility owned by the person; or
                            ``(iii) fund hazard mitigation measures 
                        that the person determines to be necessary to 
                        meet a need for the services and functions of 
                        the person in the area affected by the major 
                        disaster.''.
    (e) Eligible Cost.--Section 406(e)(1)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(e)(1)(A)) 
is amended by striking ``public facility or private nonprofit 
facility'' and inserting ``public facility, private nonprofit facility, 
or private or investor-owned power facility''.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall promulgate regulations 
necessary to implement this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided under subsection (b), this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Regulations.--Section 3 shall take effect on the date of 
enactment of this Act.