I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3366

To amend the Niagara Redevelopment Act to encourage economic development 

and recovery in western New York, to promote fiscal transparency, to 

enhance the safety and security of the Niagara Power Project, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2005

Mr. HIGGINS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To amend the Niagara Redevelopment Act to encourage economic development and recovery in western New York, 

to promote fiscal transparency, to enhance the safety 

and security of the Niagara Power Project, and for other 

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western New York 

5 Redevelopment Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. RENEW REPLACEMENT POWER. 

2 Section 1 of the Act of August 21, 1957 (Public Law 

3 85–859; 71 Stat. 401; 16 U.S.C. 836) is amended in sub4 section (b)(3) by striking out ‘‘for a period ending not 

5 later than the final maturity date of the bonds initially 

6 issued to finance the project work herein specifically au7 thorized,’’. 

8 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC RECOVERY. 

9 (a) LICENSE CONDITIONS.—The Federal Energy 

10 Regulatory Commission (FERC) shall include among the 

11 conditions imposed on any license issued subsequent to the 

12 original license for the project authorized by section 1 of 

13 the Act of August 21, 1957 (Public Law 85–859; 71 Stat. 

14 401; 16 U.S.C. 836) in addition to those deemed necessary 

15 and required under the terms of the Federal Power Act, 

16 the following: 

17 (1) ANNUAL PAYMENT.—(A) In order to render 

18 financial assistance to the host governments in 

19 which any feature of the Niagara Power Project is 

20 located, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) 

21 shall make a mandatory annual payment from its 

22 gross proceeds to the Erie Canal Harbor Develop23 ment Corporation in the City of Buffalo and the 

24 County of Erie in the amount of $10,000,000 for 

25 each 12-month period of the new license. For every 

26 12-month period after the first such period after the 
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1 license is issued and continuing for the life of the 

2 new license and any subsequent licenses, the annual 

3 payment shall include an additional 3 percent of the 

4 amount of the payment made during the preceding 

5 12-month period. 

6 (B) Prior to the establishment of the Erie 

7 Canal Harbor Development Corporation, the pay8 ment described in subparagraph (A) shall be held in 

9 escrow by the NYPA for transfer to the corporation 

10 upon its establishment. Such payment shall be used 

11 by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation 

12 only for the development, design, engineering and 

13 construction of projects at the Inner and Outer Har14 bor in Buffalo, and Erie County, New York, includ15 ing transportation infrastructure improvements and 

16 Skyway Bridge alternatives. Other qualified uses 

17 may include brownfield remediation, greenway trail 

18 design and construction and other waterfront envi19 ronmental restoration projects. 

20 (C) At the expiration of the Erie Canal Harbor 

21 Development Corporation the annual payments shall 

22 be made to the Erie County Industrial Development 

23 Agency for the uses and purposes set forth in sub24 paragraph (B). 
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1 (2) ADDITIONAL ANNUAL PAYMENT TO COUN2 TIES.—(A) In order to achieve the yet unrealized re3 gional economic benefits that the New York Power 

4 Authority contracted to deliver on when it was 

5 awarded exclusive control of the Niagara Power 

6 Project, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

7 shall include as a condition on any new and subse8 quent license, the payment of 1 percent of gross pro9 ceeds to be split evenly by the Industrial Develop10 ment Agencies for each of the counties of Niagara, 

11 Erie, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus, New York. 

12 (B) Such funds shall be distributed by such 

13 agencies to high-load industries and businesses com14 mitted to incremental capital investment and job re15 tention and creation in each such county. The pro16 ceeds shall be disbursed to such western New York 

17 industries and businesses and used by such indus18 tries and businesses to offset the high cost of energy 

19 in New York State and retain current employment 

20 levels. 

21 (C) The payment of funds under this paragraph 

22 to Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Niagara 

23 counties shall be additional to, and shall not affect 

24 the obligation of the New York Power Authority to 

25 pay, any other funds to those counties under the 
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1 terms of any judicial decree or settlement of an ac2 tion brought by one or more of such counties against 

3 the NYPA. 

4 (D) The term ‘‘gross proceeds’’, as used in this 

5 paragraph, means the total gross proceeds derived 

6 by the licensee from the sale of power for the pre7 ceding fiscal year, excluding power used by the Cor8 poration or sold or delivered to any other depart9 ment or agency of the State of New York for any 

10 purpose other than resale. 

11 SEC. 4. TRANSPARENCY. 

12 The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Office 

13 of Inspector General, Office of Audit Services, shall con14 duct an audit of Niagara Power Project finances and oper15 ations since project inception in order to provide con16 sistent and timely information concerning the true eco17 nomic impact of the Niagara Power Project and its rev18 enue and disbursements and shall conduct subsequent an19 nual audits to verify payments to host communities and 

20 others. 

21 SEC. 5. PHYSICAL SECURITY AND SAFETY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to improve the physical 

23 security of the Niagara Power Project, the Federal Energy 

24 Regulatory Commission shall include among the condi25 tions imposed on any license issued subsequent to the 
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1 original license for the project authorized by section 1 of 

2 the Act of August 21, 1957 (Public Law 85–859; 71 Stat. 

3 401; 16 U.S.C. 836) in addition to those deemed necessary 

4 and required under the terms of the Federal Power Act, 

5 a requirement that the licensee shall acquire by contract 

6 or other agreement property or interests therein sufficient 

7 to provide an appropriate effective zone of separation be8 tween all project control, switching or generating facilities 

9 and any privately owned real property not used for the 

10 generation, transmission, or control of electric energy. Any 

11 such acquisition by the licensee shall be carried out pursu12 ant to such terms as may be necessary to ensure replace13 ment of any residential, educational, recreational, and 

14 community services and facilities acquired or adversely af15 fected by such acquisition, and that such replacement fa16 cilities or services are of equivalent character, value, and 

17 number to those so acquired, while meeting contemporary 

18 standards for construction, operation, and level of service. 

19 (b) RESOURCES FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.—The New 

20 York Power Authority shall provide to First Responders 

21 serving the local jurisdictions in which the Niagara Power 

22 Project facilities are located adequate financial and other 

23 resources and assistance to acquire, operate, maintain, 

24 and replace, through the term of any license granted pur25 suant to this Act, the equipment and other assets needed 
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1 to protect human life and property from harm should any 

2 feature or facility of the Niagara Power Project be subject 

3 to damage of any type because of an act of terror or other 

4 criminal behavior. 

5 SEC. 6. HOLD HARMLESS. 

6 Nothing in this Act authorizes any increase in the 

7 rates and charges for electric energy under the Replace8 ment Power program. 

9 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

10 If any provision of this Act, or amendment made by 

11 this Act, or the application of this Act or such amend12 ments to any person or circumstance is determined by a 

13 court to be invalid, the validity of the remainder of this 

14 Act and the amendments made by this Act and the appli15 cation of such provision to other persons and cir16 cumstances shall not be affected by such determination.

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