49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 109–323 

SOUTHERN OREGON BUREAU OF RECLAMATION 

REPAYMENT ACT OF 2005 

DECEMBER 6, 2005.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4195] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4195) to authorize early repayment of obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within Rogue River Valley Irrigation District 

or within Medford Irrigation District, having considered the same, 

report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 

the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 4195 is to authorize early repayment of obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within Rogue River Valley Irrigation District or within Medford Irrigation District. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Bureau of Reclamation’s Rogue River Project, located in 

southern Oregon, provides water to three irrigation districts: Talent, Rogue River Valley, and Medford. Each district has a contract 

with the Bureau of Reclamation specifying terms for repayment of 

the federal construction cost of facilities (capital obligations) used 

to provide water to that District. Only one contract, that of the Talent Irrigation District, contains a provision allowing early repayment of capital obligations by individual landowners. 

H.R. 4195 allows early repayment for the Rogue River Valley and 

Medford Irrigation Districts. The effect of the legislation gives landholders within these two irrigation districts the same ability to 

repay their capital obligations early to the federal government as 

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those in the Talent Irrigation District. This action would release 

landholders within the Rogue River Valley and Medford Irrigation 

Districts from certain ownership reporting requirements under the 

Reclamation Reform Act and would also provide an early revenue 

stream to the U.S. Treasury. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 4195 was introduced on November 1, 2005, by Congressman 

Greg Walden (R–OR). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Water and Power. On November 9, 2005, the Subcommittee held a 

hearing on the bill. On November 16, 2005, the Full Resources 

Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water 

and Power was discharged from further consideration of the bill by 

unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was 

ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This section cites the bill as the ‘‘Southern Oregon Bureau of 

Reclamation Repayment Act of 2005.’’ 

Section 2. Early repayment 

This section states that any landowner within the Rogue River 

Valley or Medford Irrigation Districts may repay construction costs 

(capital obligations) allocated to that landowner’s land at any time. 

Upon repayment, those lands will not be subject to ownership limits and reporting requirements under the Reclamation Reform Act 

and other statutes. 

Section 3. Limitation 

This section states that this legislation does not modify contractual rights between the Rogue River Valley and Medford Irrigation 

Districts and the Bureau of Reclamation, or any rights, obligations, 

or relationships between the two districts and their landowners as 

provided under Oregon law. 

Section 4. Certification 

This section requires the Secretary of the Interior to provide certification of repayment to landowners who request it once they 

have completed repayment of construction costs allocated to their 

land. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

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COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that Rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 4195—Southern Oregon Bureau of Reclamation Repayment 

Act of 2005 

Currently, the Rogue River Valley, Talent, and Medford Water 

Districts received water from the Bureau of Reclamation’s (BOR’s) 

Rogue River Project, located in southern Oregon. Each district has 

a contract with BOR that specifies terms for repayment of the construction costs of facilities used to provide water to each district. 

Only the contract with the Talent Water District provides for early 

repayment of construction costs by landowners. Enacting H.R. 4195 

would authorize any landowner within either the Rogue River Valley Irrigation District or the Medford Irrigation District to repay, 

at any time, the construction costs for federal water projects. CBO 

estimates that enacting H.R. 4195 would have no significant impact on offsetting receipts, and would not affect revenues. 

Based on information from BOR, CBO estimates that implementing this bill would increase offsetting receipts (from the early 

repayment of construction costs) in 2006 by about $70,000. As a result of the early repayment, the federal government would no 

longer receive payments of about $4,000 each year through 2026. 

H.R. 4195 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 Susanne S. Mehlman. 

This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

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