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[Senate Report 115-80]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                      Calendar No. 99
115th Congress       }                                 {       Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session         }                                 {       115-80

======================================================================

 
     TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE FOR COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION OF A 
                         HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT

                                _______
                                

                  May 24, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 723]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 723) to extend the deadline for 
commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments 
and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendments are as follows:
    1. On page 1, line 9, strike ``Commission'' and insert 
``the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (referred to in this 
section as the `Commission')''.
    2. On page 2, line 12, strike ``Federal Energy 
Regulatory''.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 723 is to extend the deadline for 
commencement of construction of the W. Kerr Scott hydroelectric 
project.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    On July 17, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) granted the Wilkesboro Hydroelectric Company, LLC, 
a license for its proposed 4-megawatt W. Kerr Scott 
Hydroelectric Project (No. 12642) to be located at the 
existing, non-powered, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) W. 
Kerr Scott Dam in the State of North Carolina.
    On July 24, 2013, the Commission approved the transfer of 
the license from Wilkesboro Hydroelectric Company to Wilkesboro 
Hydropower, LLC. On May 7, 2014, the Commission granted 
Wilkesboro Hydropower a two-year extension, the maximum allowed 
under section 13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806), to 
extend the deadline of the project commencement to July 17, 
2016. Given the extensive and ongoing review process undertaken 
by the Corps to ensure that the proposed development does not 
conflict with the authorized purposes of flood control and 
water supply, Wilkesboro Hydropower seeks an extension of the 
project commencement deadline.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senators Burr and Tillis introduced S. 723 on March 27, 
2017.
    In the 114th Congress, a similar measure, S. 2083, was 
introduced by Senators Burr and Tillis on September 28, 2015. 
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on 
the bill on October 8, 2015. At its open business session on 
November 19, 2015, the Committee favorably reported S. 2083 
without amendment.
    The measure was also included in Amendment No. 3234, which 
the Senate agreed to on April 19, 2016, as an amendment to S. 
2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016, which the 
Senate passed, as amended, on April 20, 2016.
    H.R. 3447, a companion measure, was introduced in the House 
of Representatives by Representative Foxx on September 8, 2015. 
H.R. 3447 was agreed to in the House of Representatives by a 
vote of 406-3 on March 15, 2016.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on March 30, 2017, and ordered S. 723 
favorably reported, as amended.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommended that the Senate pass S. 
723, if amended as described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

    During the consideration of S. 723 the committee adopted 
two technical amendments to clarify that the Commission 
referred to in the bill is the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 authorizes the Commission, at the request of the 
licensee for the project and after reasonable notice in 
accordance with Commission procedures, to extend the time 
period during which the licensee is required to commence 
project construction for up to six years. Section 1 also 
authorizes the Commission to reinstate the license if the 
license has expired prior to the date of enactment of this Act. 
If so reinstated, the reinstated license is to be effective as 
of the date of the expiration of the previous extension.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
    CBO estimates that implementing S. 723 would have no net 
effect on the federal budget. The bill would authorize the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reinstate the 
license and extend the deadline for beginning construction of a 
hydroelectric project (number 12642) involving the W. Kerr 
Scott Hydropower Project in North Carolina. The proposed 
extension could have a minor effect on FERC's workload; 
however, because FERC recovers 100 percent of its costs through 
user fees, any change in that agency's costs (which are 
controlled through annual appropriation acts) would be offset 
by an equal change in fees that the commission charges, 
resulting in no net change in federal spending.
    Enacting S. 723 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting S. 723 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    S. 723 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.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 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 S. 723. 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. 723, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 723, as ordered 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

    Because S. 723 is similar to legislation considered by the 
Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request 
Executive Agency views. The written testimony provided by the 
FERC Chairman at the hearing before the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee on October 8, 2015, follows:

              Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
                                    Office of the Chairman,
                                                    Washington, DC.
Re S. 1583, S. 2083, and S. 2046.

Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Chairman Murkowski: This letter is in response to a 
request by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
for my views on S. 1583, a bill to authorize the expansion of 
the existing Terror Lake Hydroelectric Project, located at 
Terror Lake, on Kodiak Island, Alaska; S. 2083, a bill to 
extend the deadline for the commencement of construction of the 
W. Kerr Scott Hydroelectric Project in North Carolina; and S. 
2046, a bill to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission) to issue an order continuing a stay of 
a hydroelectric license for the Mahoney Lake Project in the 
State of Alaska, and for other purposes.

                                S. 2083

    On July 17, 2012, the Commission issued Wilkesboro 
Hydroelectric Company, LLC a license to construct and operate 
the proposed 4-MW W. Kerr Scott Hydroelectric Project, to be 
located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) W. Kerr 
Scott Dam and Reservoir, located on the Yadkin River, in Wilkes 
County, North Carolina. The license required the company to 
commence project construction within two years of the issuance 
date of the license, the longest time period allowed by section 
13 of the Federal Power Act. On May 7, 2014, the Commission, at 
the licensee's request, granted the one, two-year extension of 
the commencement of construction deadline permitted by section 
13, thus making the deadline July 17, 2016. On June 19, 2015, 
the licensee filed an application with the Commission, seeking 
to amend the project license consistent with the results of its 
design consultation with the Corps.
    S. 2083 would allow the Commission, at the licensee's 
request, to extend the time period within which the licensee is 
required to commence construction for up to three consecutive 
two-year periods following the expiration of the extension 
authorized by the May 7, 2014 order.
    The last several Commission Chairmen have taken the 
position of not opposing legislation that would extend the 
commencement of construction deadline no further than 10 years 
from the date that the license in question was issued. Where 
proposed extensions would run beyond that time, there has been 
a sense that the public interest is better served by releasing 
the site for other public uses. Because S. 2083 provides for 
commencement of construction deadlines that do not exceed 10 
years from the date on which the project license was issued, I 
do not oppose this bill.
            Sincerely,
                                             Norman C. Bay,
                                                          Chairman.

                        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 bill as ordered 
reported.

                                  [all]
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