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[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 154 (Thursday, August 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45847-45848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6816]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

Notice of Intention To Bill for Trinity Public Utilities District 
Assessment

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of interim billing procedures.

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SUMMARY: To comply with the requirements of Public Law 106-377, the 
Mid-Pacific Region of the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) will be 
billing Central Valley Project (CVP) water contractors for their share 
of the Trinity Public Utilities District (TPUD) assessment. This will 
be an interim process until supplementary rate setting policies are 
established that ensure full recovery of the assessment without further 
appropriation as required in the law. Billings will be prepared with 
payment due within 30 days and the billing period will cover the TPUD

[[Page 45848]]

assessment for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007.

DATES: Submit written comments on the direct billing of the TPUD 
assessment on or before August 18, 2006 to the address below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this change in process for collecting 
the TPUD assessment should be addressed to the Bureau of Reclamation, 
Attention: Tom Ruthford, MP-3600, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 
95825.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, please 
contact Katherine Thompson at (916) 978-5550 or E-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Beginning in Fiscal Year 2001 and 
thereafter, Public Law 106-377, Section 203 required Reclamation to 
collect annually from CVP water contractors an assessment for TPUD. 
Section 203 states: ``Beginning in fiscal year 2001 and thereafter, the 
Secretary of the Interior shall assess and collect annually from 
Central Valley Project (CVP) water and power contractors the sum of 
$540,000 (June 2000 price levels) and remit, without further 
appropriation, the amount collected annually to the Trinity Public 
Utilities District (TPUD). This assessment shall be payable 70 percent 
by CVP Preference Power Customers and 30 percent by CVP Water 
Customers. The CVP Water Contractor share of this assessment shall be 
collected by the Secretary through established Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation) Operation and Maintenance rate setting practices. The CVP 
Power Contractor share of this assessment shall be assessed by 
reclamation to the Western Area Power Administration, Sierra Nevada 
Region (Western), and collected by Western through established power 
rate setting practices.''
    Prior to FY 2006, these funds had been collected as a component of 
the water rates through the water rate setting process. Further, the 
Mid-Pacific Region's system to account for water deliveries and 
resultant revenues remits revenue directly to the U.S. Treasury. While 
this is appropriate for water revenues, the system is not capable of 
collecting and accounting for the TPUD assessment separately from water 
revenue. Consequently, the Mid-Pacific Region is in the process of (1) 
developing a supplementary rate setting policy to collect the TPUD 
assessment separately from water revenue; (2) analyzing the extent of 
system changes, costs, and time required to account for TPUD assessment 
separately from water revenues; and (3) identifying and implementing 
preferred system changes.
    As an interim measure, the Mid-Pacific Region will bill water 
contractors for the TPUD assessment. Billings will cover collections 
for Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007 and the TPUD surcharge will be 
eliminated from the published water rates for this time period.

John F. Davis,
Deputy Regional Director, Mid-Pacific Region.
[FR Doc. 06-6816 Filed 8-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MN-M
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