29–010

Calendar No. 453

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " SENATE ! 2d Session 108–243

TOM GREEN COUNTY WATER CONTROL AND 

IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 1

MARCH 9, 2004.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. DOMENICI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 856]

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the Act (H.R. 856) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County 

Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, 

Texas, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 

favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 

Act do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of H.R. 856 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County 

Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, 

Texas. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Due to current drought conditions in the area of Texas serviced 

by the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District 

No. 1, the District has limited quantities of water to deliver to 

users and limited revenues to repay its required repayment obligation. The Bureau of Reclamation does not have general authority 

to extend the District’s repayment period without an Act of Congress. By extending the repayment period, the annual payments 

will remain constant and allow for repayment of the remaining obligation, albeit over a longer time period. 

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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 856 was introduced by Representative Stenholm on February 13, 2003. A similar bill, H.R. 4910, was introduced in the 

107th Congress. H.R. 856 passed the House of Representatives on 

May 14, 2003, by a voice vote on a motion to suspend the rules, 

and was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works on May 15, 2003. On June 19, 2003, the bill was discharged 

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 

The Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on H.R. 856 

on September 23, 2003. S. Hrg. 108–211. At the business meeting 

on February 11, 2004, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 856 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTES

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on February 11, 2004, by a unanimous vote of a 

quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 856. 

The roll call vote on reporting the measure was 23 yeas and 0 

nays, as follows: 

YEAS NAYS 

Mr. Domenici 

Mr. Nickles 

Mr. Craig 

Mr. Campbell* 

Mr. Thomas 

Mr. Alexander 

Ms. Murkowski 

Mr. Talent 

Mr. Burns 

Mr. Smith* 

Mr. Bunning 

Mr. Kyl* 

Mr. Bingaman 

Mr. Akaka 

Mr. Dorgan* 

Mr. Graham* 

Mr. Wyden* 

Mr. Johnson* 

Ms. Landrieu* 

Mr. Bayh* 

Mrs. Feinstein* 

Mr. Schumer* 

Ms. Cantwell

*Indicates vote by proxy. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and 

Improvement District No. 1, by extending the repayment period 

from 40 years to 50 years. 

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COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office.

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, February 25, 2004. 

Hon. PETE V. DOMENICI, Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 856, an act to authorize 

the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with 

the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District 

No. 1, San Angelo project, Texas, and for other purposes. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Julie Middleton. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 856—An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to revise 

a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, Texas, 

and for other purposes 

H.R. 856 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior through 

the Bureau of Reclamation to revise its repayment contract with 

the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District in 

Texas for reimbursable construction costs of the San Angelo 

project. This act would extend the repayment period from 40 years 

to 50 years. 

CBO estimates that H.R. 856 would have no significant impact 

on the federal budget. The district has been unable to make regular 

payments of the reimbursable construction costs due to a severe 

drought. With an extension of the repayment period, the district 

would be able to make smaller payments to the federal government 

over a longer period of time. Consequently, CBO estimates that implementing this act would result in a loss of less than $1 million 

in offsetting receipts over the 2004–2019 period, followed by an increase of the same amount over the 2020–2031 period. 

H.R. 856 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 Julie Middleton. This 

estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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 

H.R. 856. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic 

responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

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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 H.R. 856, as ordered reported. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at the 

Subcommittee hearing follows:

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL GABALDON, DIRECTOR, POLICY, 

MANAGEMENT, AND TECHNICAL SERVICES, U.S. BUREAU

OF RECLAMATION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

My name is Michael Gabaldon and I am the Director, 

Policy, Management, and Technical Services of the Bureau 

of Reclamation. I am pleased to present the Department’s 

views on H.R. 856 which authorizes the Secretary to revise 

a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water 

Control and Improvement District No. 1 (District) at Reclamation’s San Angelo Project, Texas. 

The San Angelo Project (Project) was authorized by the 

Congress in 1957 to provide flood control, municipal and 

industrial water for the City of San Angelo, recreation, fish 

and wildlife, and supplemental irrigation supplies to the 

District. The Project has been beset by chronic drought 

conditions since it was constructed in 1963. These arid 

conditions have resulted in Reclamation granting a total of 

seven deferments of the annual installments due on the 

District’s forty-year repayment contract. Due to the continued drought the District has requested a partial deferment 

for the 2003 annual installment. Since 1997, four 

deferments for the District’s annual payment to the United 

States have been granted because of the unavailability of 

irrigation water. The District has not taken any water 

from the reservoir since 1998. H.R. 856 provides some immediate financial relief to the District by extending its contract with Reclamation by ten years and thereby reducing 

its annual payments to the United States by approximately $70,000 per year. Extension of the repayment period will not likely be a permanent solution to the water 

scarcity facing this project. However, taking this action 

will give Reclamation some time to assess the project’s 

long-term challenges and will aid the District by providing 

needed repayment relief. 

Therefore, the Department supports H.R. 856. 

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to 

present the Department’s views on H.R. 856.

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 Act H.R. 856, as ordered reported.

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