I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2133 

To amend the Act of August 21, 1957, to allocate funds from certain electric 

power sales from the Niagara Power Project in New York to capital 

needs of Western New York, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2009 

Mr. HIGGINS (for himself, Mr. LEE of New York, Mr. MASSA, Mrs. MALONEY, 

and Mr. ISRAEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Act of August 21, 1957, to allocate funds 

from certain electric power sales from the Niagara Power 

Project in New York to capital needs of Western New 

York, 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. NIAGARA POWER PROJECT. 

4 (a) WESTERN NEW YORK REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

5 CORPORATION.—The Act of August 21, 1957, authorizing 

6 the construction of the Niagara Power Project (16 U.S.C. 

7 836 and following) is amended by adding the following 

8 new sections at the end thereof: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 3 REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CORPORATION AP3 PROVED.—Niagara County, Erie County, and Chautauqua 

4 County, New York, are authorized to establish a Regional 

5 Development Corporation to operate in accordance with 

6 this section and in accordance with such other rules and 

7 regulations as may be established, consistent with this sec8 tion, by agreement of such counties. Any such agreement 

9 shall be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Com10 mission. The Commission is authorized to approve such 

11 agreement unless the Commission find the agreement in12 consistent with this section or other applicable provisions 

13 of law. 

14 ‘‘(b) GOVERNANCE.—The Regional Development 

15 Corporation shall be governed by a Board of Directors, 

16 to be comprised of 7 members, appointed as follows: 

17 ‘‘(1) One individual appointed by the Chair18 person of the County Legislature in Niagara County, 

19 New York. 

20 ‘‘(2) One individual appointed by the County 

21 Executive of Erie County, New York. 

22 ‘‘(3) One individual appointed by the County 

23 Executive of Chautauqua County, New York. 

24 ‘‘(4) One individual appointed by the Mayor of 

25 Buffalo, New York. 


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1 ‘‘(5) One individual appointed by the Mayor of 

2 Niagara Falls, New York. 

3 ‘‘(6) One individual appointed by the Buffalo 

4 Niagara Partnership or its successor agency. 

5 ‘‘(7) One individual appointed by the Governor 

6 of the State of New York. 

7 ‘‘(c) STAFF AND SUPPORT.—The Board of Directors 

8 shall appoint such staff and provide such support for the 

9 Corporation as the Board deems necessary. 

10 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS, BOOKS, AND RECORDS.—The meet11 ings of the Board shall be open to the public, and all books 

12 and records of the Corporation shall be available to the 

13 public during normal business hours. The Board shall 

14 make public as promptly as possible the minutes of all 

15 meetings held by the Board. The Comptroller General of 

16 the United States shall annually review all operations of 

17 the Corporation and submit a report to the Congress re18 garding all financial and other operations of the Corpora19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES.—Funds made avail21 able to the Corporation under this section may be used 

22 only for construction, engineering, architecture, and re23 lated projects for the development of the waterfront in Ni24 agara County, Chautauqua County, and Erie County, New 

25 York, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, 


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1 the Olmsted Park system, regional cultural institutions in 

2 Niagara County, Chautauqua County, and Erie County, 

3 New York, downtown Niagara Falls redevelopment initia4 tives, and the Buffalo Niagara Medical campus. 

5 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Funds made available 

6 under this section shall be allocated among Erie, Chau7 tauqua, and Niagara County projects in proportion to the 

8 existing ratio for the allocation of replacement and expan9 sion power between facilities in the three counties. 

10 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—All proceeds from the sale of electric 

11 power generated by the Niagara Power Project and allo12 cated to the replacement power program and the expan13 sion power program, but not used by the designated recipi14 ents, shall be transferred by the New York Power Author15 ity to the Regional Development Corporation established 

16 under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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