29–010 

Calendar No. 55 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 113–24 

AMERICAN FALLS RESERVOIR 

APRIL 22, 2013.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. WYDEN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

ADDITIONAL VIEWS 

[To accompany S. 276] 

The Committee in Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 276) to reinstate and extend the deadline for 

commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project involving 

the American Falls Reservoir, having considered the same, reports 

favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 

bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 276 is to reinstate and extend the deadline for 

commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project at the 

American Falls Reservoir in Idaho. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The Lateral 993 Project was licensed to the American Falls Reservoir District No. 2/Big Wood Canal Company in Idaho as Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 12423 in 2003, 

and subsequently received the maximum, two-year extension in 

2005. After project construction did not commence by the extended 

deadline (September 26, 2007), the license was terminated by 

FERC order in 2009. Legislation is required to reinstate the terminated license and extend the construction commencement deadline. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator Risch introduced S. 276 on February 11, 2013. The bill 

is co-sponsored by Senator Crapo. At its business meeting on 

March 14, 2013, the Committee ordered S. 276 favorably reported. 

In the 112th Congress, the Subcommittee on Water and Power 

held a hearing on similar legislation, S. 334, on May 19, 2011 (S. 

Hrg. 112–63). The Committee ordered S. 334 favorably reported 

without amendment at its business meeting on July 14, 2011 (S. 

Rpt. 112–54). The Senate passed S. 334 by unanimous consent on 

October 18, 2011. 

During the 111th Congress, the Committee considered similar 

legislation, S. 3099, sponsored by Senator Risch. The Subcommittee 

on Water and Power held a hearing on S. 3099 on April 27, 2010 

(S. Hrg. 111–619) and the Committee ordered S. 3099 favorably reported without amendment on May 6, 2010 (S. Rpt. 111–195). 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on March 14, 2013, by voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 276. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 requires FERC, at the request of the licensee for the 

project and after reasonable notice and in accordance with FERC 

procedures, to reinstate the license issued for FERC project number 

12423 and to extend the time period during which the licensee is 

required to commence the construction of project works to September 25, 2013. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 276—A bill to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project involving the 

American Falls Reservoir 

CBO estimates that implementing S. 276 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 12423) at the American Falls Reservoir in Idaho. 

The proposed extension could have a minor impact on FERC’s 

workload. Because FERC recovers 100 percent of its costs through 

user fees, any change in its administrative costs would be offset by 

an equal change in fees that the commission charges. Therefore, 

the legislation’s provisions would have no net budgetary impact. 

Because FERC’s administrative costs are controlled through annual appropriation acts, enacting S. 276 would not affect direct 

spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not 

apply. 

S. 276 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. 


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The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. 276. 

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. 276, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 276, 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

Executive Communications were not requested by the Committee 

in the 113th Congress. The following Administration testimony references similar legislation introduced in the 112th Congress. 

The testimony provided by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the May 19, 2011, Subcommittee hearing on S. 334 follows: 

FEDERAL ENERGY

REGULATORY COMMISSION, 

Washington, DC, May 18, 2011. 

Re: S. 334 

Hon. JEFF BINGAMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR CHAIRMAN BINGAMAN: This letter is in response to your request for my views on S.334. That bill would require the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate the license for the proposed 1.5-megawatt Lateral 993 Hydroelectric Project No. 12423, to 

be located at the juncture of the 993 Lateral Canal and the North 

Gooding Main Canal, northwest of the town of Shoshone, in Lincoln 

County, Idaho. The bill also would require the Commission to extend the commencement of construction deadline for the project to 

September 25, 2013. 

The Commission issued an original license for this project, to 

American Falls Reservoir District No. 2 and Big Wood Canal, on 

September 26, 2003. The license provided that the company was required to commence project construction within two years of the 

date of the license, the maximum period permitted by section 13 

of the Federal Power Act. The Commission subsequently granted a 

two-year extension of the commencement of construction deadline, 

again the maximum authorized by section 13. Construction had not 

commenced when that deadline expired, on September 26, 2007. 


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Section 13 provides that, when construction has not timely commenced, the Commission must terminate the license. The Commission terminated the license by order dated August 3, 2009. 

I and 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. 334 requires the Commission to an extension to September 25, 2013, thus extending the commencement of 

construction deadline to 10 years from when the license was issued, 

I do not oppose the bill. 

If I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other Commission matter, please let me know. 

Sincerely, 

JON WELLINGHOFF, 

Chairman. 


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ADDITIONAL VIEWS 

Although the Committee has previously reported similar legislation in each of the two previous Congresses, both of those bills 

would have required the licensee to have commenced construction 

of the project within 10 years after the issuance of the original license in 2003. 

Requiring that the licensee to commence construction under the 

reinstated license within 10 years after the date the original license 

was issued was in keeping with the position first adopted by Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with regard to 

another license in 1995, consistently followed in similar cases by 

subsequent FERC Chairmen, and generally honored by the Committee ever since. 

S. 276 departs from this policy by giving the licensee 3 years 

from the date of enactment of the bill to commence construction, 

which will extend the commencement of construction deadline well 

beyond 10-year benchmark of September 25, 2013. 

Although I continue to support adherence to the 10-year policy, 

I am willing to make an exception to the policy in this case. Legislation to reinstate and extend the license was first introduced in 

the Senate more than 3 years ago, in March 2010, and it was first 

reported from the Committee in May 2011. Action on the bill has 

been diligently pursued ever since, and the Senate has failed to 

pass it, through no fault of the licensee. Under these circumstances, I am willing to extend the deadline for a period of time 

commensurate with the time the legislation has been under consideration. I do not regard the Committee’s willingness to make an exception to the 10-year policy in this case as setting a precedent for 

future cases or as diminishing in any way the importance and utility of the 10-year policy. 

RON WYDEN. 


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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 S. 276, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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