69–010 

Calendar No. 810 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 110–378 

DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON, PUD CONVEYANCE 

ACT 

JUNE 16, 2008.—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 H.R. 523] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the Act (H.R. 523) to require the Secretary of the Interior 

to convey certain public land located wholly or partially within the 

boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility district, 

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommends that the Act do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of H.R. 523 is to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public land within the boundaries of the 

Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility district. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The Wells Hydroelectric Project, operated by Public Utility District (PUD) #1 of Douglas County, Washington, provides electricity 

to approximately 17,000 customers in Washington State. The central feature of the project is a dam on the Columbia River. 

The PUD is in the early stages of the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (FERC) hydroelectric dam relicensing process. The 

project was first licensed for 50 years in 1962. That license expires 

May 31, 2012 and an application for relicensing must be submitted 

by 2010. According to the PUD, consolidation of ownership of several federal parcels located within the project’s boundaries would 

assist in the relicensing. 


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H.R. 523 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey, for fair 

market value, approximately 622 acres of federal land to the PUD. 

The bill requires the PUD to pay for any administrative costs of 

the conveyance. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 523, sponsored by Rep. Hastings, passed the House on October 22, 2007 by a vote of 377–0. The Subcommittee on Public 

Lands and Forests held a hearing on H.R. 523 on February 27, 

2008. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered 

the bill favorably reported on May 7, 2008. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on May 7, 2008, by a voice vote of a quorum present, 

recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 523. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 contains the short title. 

Section 2 defines several key terms used in the legislation. 

Section 3(a) requires the Secretary of the Interior to convey all 

right, title, and interest of the United States in the land identified 

in the bill to the PUD. This section states that the PUD has 45 

days after completion of an appraisal to make an offer to purchase 

the land. The Secretary is then required to make the conveyance 

within 30 days of receiving the offer. 

Subsection (b) requires the Secretary, not later than 60 days 

after the date of enactment of this Act, to complete an appraisal 

of the public land. This subsection states that the appraisal must 

be conducted in accordance with the ‘‘Uniform Appraisal Standards 

for Federal Land Acquisitions’’ and the ‘‘Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.’’

Subsection (c) requires the PUD to pay the Secretary an amount 

equal to the appraised value of the public land as determined 

under subsection (b). 

Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to finalize legal descriptions of the public land to be conveyed. This subsection also states 

that the map and legal descriptions shall be on file and available 

for public inspection in appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land 

Management. 

Subsection (e) requires that the PUD pay any costs related to the 

conveyance. 

Subsection (f) requires the Secretary to deposit the proceeds from 

the sale in the Federal Land Disposal account. 

Section 4(a) withdraws, subject to valid existing rights, the public 

land from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 

public land laws; location, entry, and patenting under the mining 

laws; and operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and 

geothermal leasing laws. 

Subsection (b) states that this section expires two years after the 

date of enactment of this Act or on the date of the completion of 

the conveyance under section 3, whichever is earlier. 

Section 5 states that the Secretary shall retain the authority to 

place conditions on the license to insure adequate protection and 


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utilization of the public land granted to the Secretary in section 

4(e) of the Federal Power Act until the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission has issued a new license for the Wells Hydroelectric 

Project. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 523—Douglas County, Washington, PUD Conveyance Act 

H.R. 523 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey, 

at fair market value, 622 acres of federal land to the Douglas 

County Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD). Any administrative 

costs of the conveyance would be borne by the PUD. CBO estimates 

that any net budgetary impact from enacting this legislation would 

be negligible. 

Four percent of the proceeds of the conveyance, classified as offsetting receipts, would be transferred to the state of Washington 

for education expenses or to build public infrastructure. The remaining receipts would be deposited into the Federal Land Deposit 

Account, which was created by the Federal and Transaction Facilities Act. Those receipts would be available, without further appropriation, to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase land inholdings (parcels of land that are entirely surrounded by federally owned land). 

The sale of Federal land could result in forgone offsetting receipts if, under current law, those lands would generate income 

from activities such as mineral leasing and mining. According to 

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), that land currently generates no significant receipts and BLM does not anticipate any receipts from it over the next 10 years. 

H.R. 523 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. Enacting this 

act would benefit the PUD, and any costs that it might incur in association with the conveyance of land would be incurred voluntarily. 

On October 18, 2007, CBO published a cost estimate for H.R. 

523, the Douglas County, Washington, PUD Conveyance Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on 

October 10, 2007. The versions of the legislation are identical, as 

are the estimated costs. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Ted Kruzich. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 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 

H.R. 523. The Act 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. 


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Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of H.R. 523, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

H.R. 523, as reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The views of the Administration were included in testimony received by the Committee at a hearing on H.R. 523 on February 27, 

2008. 

STATEMENT OF LUKE JOHNSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, 

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on H.R. 523. 

This legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public lands located wholly or partially within 

the boundaries of the Wells Dam Hydroelectric Project 

[Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project No. 2149–

19795] (Project) to Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas 

County, WA (PUD). The Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM) supports this conveyance. During consideration of 

H.R. 523 by the House Committee on Natural Resources in 

the 1st session of this Congress, the BLM raised several 

concerns. These were resolved to our satisfaction in the 

legislation passed by the House of Representatives on October 22, 2007, and referred to the Senate. The BLM therefore supports H.R. 523. 

Since 1998, the PUD has expressed a strong desire to 

purchase all BLM-managed public lands within the Project 

boundaries. Some of the public lands the PUD wishes to 

acquire are located within the boundaries of the Project. 

These were reserved for power site purposes by order of 

the Federal Power Commission (FPC Order dated July 12, 

1962, for Power Project No. 2149). Also, the PUD has requested some public lands that lie outside (but contiguous 

to) the designated project boundary. The PUD’s 50-year license for the project expires on May 31, 2012. Its application for relicensing must be filed with the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC) by 2010. The BLM, with 

management responsibilities for land located within 

Project boundaries, is in the initial stages of preparing to 

participate in the section 4(e) [Federal Power Act, 16 

U.S.C. 797(e)] relicensing process. 

In testimony on H.R. 523 before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Public Lands, 

and Forests (May 10, 2007), the BLM raised two concerns. 

The Subcommittee subsequently adopted an amendment in 

the nature of a substitute that addressed our concerns, as 

follows: 

• Resource safeguards. BLM had encouraged the sponsor and the Subcommittee to provide safeguards to protect 

the known resource values on these lands, which include 


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Bald Eagle roosts and approximately two miles of Columbia River shoreline currently open to the public. The 

amendment adopted by the Subcommittee assures this 

protection will be provided through the relicensing process. 

The amendment added a new ‘‘Retained Authority’’ provision under which the Secretary of the Interior’s role and 

participation in the relicensing action for the PUD is preserved even though the Federal government would no 

longer own land within the Project boundary. The BLM 

does not object to Section 5; as noted previously, we are already in the initial stages of preparing for the relicensing 

process and will fulfill that obligation. • Disposition of Funds. BLM recommended that Section 

3(f) of the legislation be amended to direct that the proceeds from the sales be deposited in the ‘‘Federal Land 

Disposal Account’’ established by P.L. 106–248, the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA). This recommendation was adopted. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will be glad 

to answer questions. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the Act, H.R. 523, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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