Calendar No. 135

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 92

[Report No. 104–102]

A BILL

To provide for the reconstitution of outstanding relumbia River Power System. priated capital investments in the Federal Co- Bonneville Power Administration for the appro- payment obligations of the Administrator of the

JULY 11 (legislative day, JULY 10), 1995

Reported without amendment
II

Calendar No. 135

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 92

[Report No. 104–102]

To provide for the reconstitution of outstanding repayment obligations of

the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration for the appropriated capital investments in the Federal Columbia River Power System.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. HATFIELD (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. GORTON, and Mr. PACKWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

JULY 11 (legislative day, JULY 10), 1995

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, without amendment

A BILL

To provide for the reconstitution of outstanding repayment

obligations of the Administrator of the Bonneville Power

Administration for the appropriated capital investments

in the Federal Columbia River Power System.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bonneville Power

3 Administration Appropriations Refinancing Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 For the purposes of this Act—

6 (1) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator

7 of the Bonneville Power Administration;

8 (2) ‘‘capital investment’’ means a capitalized

9 cost funded by Federal appropriations that—

10 (A) is for a project, facility, or separable

11 unit or feature of a project or facility;

12 (B) is a cost for which the Administrator

13 is required by law to establish rates to repay to

14 the United States Treasury through the sale of

15 electric power, transmission, or other services;

16 (C) excludes a Federal irrigation invest17 ment; and

18 (D) excludes an investment financed by the

19 current revenues of the Administrator or by

20 bonds issued and sold, or authorized to be is21 sued and sold, by the Administrator under sec22 tion 13 of the Federal Columbia River Trans23 mission System Act (16 U.S.C. 838(k));

24 (3) ‘‘new capital investment’’ means a capital

25 investment for a project, facility, or separable unit
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1 or feature of a project or facility, placed in service

2 after September 30, 1995;

3 (4) ‘‘old capital investment’’ means a capital in4 vestment whose capitalized cost—

5 (A) was incurred, but not repaid, before

6 October 1, 1995, and

7 (B) was for a project, facility, or separable

8 unit or feature of a project or facility, placed in

9 service before October 1, 1995;

10 (5) ‘‘repayment date’’ means the end of the pe11 riod within which the Administrator’s rates are to

12 assure the repayment of the principal amount of a

13 capital investment; and

14 (6) ‘‘Treasury rate’’ means—

15 (A) for an old capital investment, a rate

16 determined by the Secretary of the Treasury,

17 taking into consideration prevailing market

18 yields, during the month preceding October 1,

19 1995, on outstanding interest-bearing obliga20 tions of the United States with periods to matu21 rity comparable to the period between October

22 1, 1995, and the repayment date for the old

23 capital investment; and

24 (B) for a new capital investment, a rate

25 determined by the Secretary of the Treasury,
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1 taking into consideration prevailing market

2 yields, during the month preceding the begin3 ning of the fiscal year in which the related

4 project, facility, or separable unit or feature is

5 placed in service, on outstanding interest-bear6 ing obligations of the United States with peri7 ods to maturity comparable to the period be8 tween the beginning of the fiscal year and the

9 repayment date for the new capital investment.

10 SEC. 3. NEW PRINCIPAL AMOUNTS.

11 (a) Effective October 1, 1995, an old capital invest12 ment has a new principal amount that is the sum of—

13 (1) the present value of the old payment

14 amounts for the old capital investment, calculated

15 using a discount rate equal to the Treasury rate for

16 the old capital investment; and

17 (2) an amount equal to $100,000,000 multi18 plied by a fraction whose numerator is the principal

19 amount of the old payment amounts for the old cap20 ital investment and whose denominator is the sum of

21 the principal amounts of the old payment amounts

22 for all old capital investments.

23 (b) With the approval of the Secretary of the Treas24 ury based solely on consistency with this Act, the Adminis25 trator shall determine the new principal amounts under
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1 section 3 and the assignment of interest rates to the new

2 principal amounts under section 4.

3 (c) For the purposes of this section, ‘‘old payment

4 amounts’’ means, for an old capital investment, the annual

5 interest and principal that the Administrator would have

6 paid to the United States Treasury from October 1, 1995,

7 if this Act were not enacted, assuming that—

8 (1) the principal were repaid—

9 (A) on the repayment date the Adminis10 trator assigned before October 1, 1993, to the

11 old capital investment, or

12 (B) with respect to an old capital invest13 ment for which the Administrator has not as14 signed a repayment date before October 1,

15 1993, on a repayment date the Administrator

16 shall assign to the old capital investment in ac17 cordance with paragraph 10(d)(1) of the ver18 sion of Department of Energy Order RA

19 6120.2 in effect on October 1, 1993; and

20 (2) interest were paid—

21 (A) at the interest rate the Administrator

22 assigned before October 1, 1993, to the old cap23 ital investment, or

24 (B) with respect to an old capital invest25 ment for which the Administrator has not as-
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1 signed an interest rate before October 1, 1993,

2 at a rate determined by the Secretary of the

3 Treasury, taking into consideration prevailing

4 market yields, during the month preceding the

5 beginning of the fiscal year in which the related

6 project, facility, or separable unit or feature is

7 placed in service, on outstanding interest-bear8 ing obligations of the United States with peri9 ods to maturity comparable to the period be10 tween the beginning of the fiscal year and the

11 repayment date for the old capital investment.

12 SEC. 4. INTEREST RATE FOR NEW PRINCIPAL AMOUNTS.

13 As of October 1, 1995, the unpaid balance on the

14 new principal amount established for an old capital invest15 ment under section 3 bears interest annually at the Treas16 ury rate for the old capital investment until the earlier

17 of the date that the new principal amount is repaid or

18 the repayment date for the new principal amount.

19 SEC. 5. REPAYMENT DATES.

20 As of October 1, 1995, the repayment date for the

21 new principal amount established for an old capital invest22 ment under section 3 is no earlier than the repayment date

23 for the old capital investment assumed in section 3(c)(1).
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1 SEC. 6. PREPAYMENT LIMITATIONS.

2 During the period October 1, 1995, through Septem3 ber 30, 2000, the total new principal amounts of old cap4 ital investments, as established under section 3, that the

5 Administrator may pay before their respective repayment

6 dates shall not exceed $100,000,000.

7 SEC. 7. INTEREST RATES FOR NEW CAPITAL INVESTMENTS

8 DURING CONSTRUCTION.

9 (a) The principal amount of a new capital investment

10 includes interest in each fiscal year of construction of the

11 related project, facility, or separable unit or feature at a

12 rate equal to the one-year rate for the fiscal year on the

13 sum of—

14 (1) construction expenditures that were made

15 from the date construction commenced through the

16 end of the fiscal year, and

17 (2) accrued interest during construction.

18 (b) The Administrator is not required to pay, during

19 construction of the project, facility, or separable unit or

20 feature, the interest calculated, accrued, and capitalized

21 under subsection (a).

22 (c) For the purposes of this section, ‘‘one-year rate’’

23 for a fiscal year means a rate determined by the Secretary

24 of the Treasury, taking into consideration prevailing mar25 ket yields, during the month preceding the beginning of

26 the fiscal year, on outstanding interest-bearing obligations
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1 of the United States with periods to maturity of approxi2 mately one year.

3 SEC. 8. INTEREST RATES FOR NEW CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.

4 The unpaid balance on the principal amount of a new

5 capital investment bears interest at the Treasury rate for

6 the new capital investment from the date the related

7 project, facility, or separable unit or feature is placed in

8 service until the earlier of the date the new capital invest9 ment is repaid or the repayment date for the new capital

10 investment.

11 SEC. 9. APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.

12 The Confederated Tribe of the Colville Reservation

13 Grand Coulee Dam Settlement Act (Public Law No. 103–

14 436) is amended by striking section 6 and its catchline

15 and inserting the following:

16 ‘‘SEC. 6. APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.

17 ‘‘(a) Without fiscal year limitation, there are appro18 priated to the Administrator $15.25 million in fiscal year

19 1996, $15.86 million in fiscal year 1997, $16.49 million

20 in fiscal year 1998, $17.15 million in fiscal year 1999,

21 $17.84 million in fiscal year 2000, and $4.10 million in

22 each succeeding fiscal year so long as the Administrator

23 makes annual payments to the Tribes under the settle24 ment agreement.

25 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section—
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1 ‘‘(1) ‘settlement agreement’ means that settle2 ment agreement between the United States of Amer3 ica and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Res4 ervation signed by the Tribes on April 16, 1994, and

5 by the United States of America on April 21, 1994,

6 which settlement agreement resolves claims of the

7 Tribes in Docket 181–D of the Indian Claims Com8 mission, which docket has been transferred to the

9 United States Court of Federal Claims; and

10 ‘‘(2) ‘Tribes’ means the Confederated Tribes of

11 the Colville Reservation, a federally recognized In12 dian Tribe.’’.

13 SEC. 10. CONTRACT PROVISIONS.

14 In each contract of the Administrator that provides

15 for the Administrator to sell electric power, transmission,

16 or related services, and that is in effect after September

17 30, 1995, the Administrator shall offer to include, or as

18 the case may be, shall offer to amend to include, provisions

19 specifying that after September 30, 1995—

20 (1) the Administrator shall establish rates and

21 charges on the basis that—

22 (A) the principal amount of an old capital

23 investment shall be no greater than the new

24 principal amount established under section 3 of

25 this Act;
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1 (B) the interest rate applicable to the un2 paid balance of the new principal amount of an

3 old capital investment shall be no greater than

4 the interest rate established under section 4 of

5 this Act;

6 (C) any payment of principal of an old

7 capital investment shall reduce the outstanding

8 principal balance of the old capital investment

9 in the amount of the payment at the time the

10 payment is tendered; and

11 (D) any payment of interest on the unpaid

12 balance of the new principal amount of an old

13 capital investment shall be a credit against the

14 appropriate interest account in the amount of

15 the payment at the time the payment is ten16 dered;

17 (2) apart from charges necessary to repay the

18 new principal amount of an old capital investment as

19 established under section 3 of this Act and to pay

20 the interest on the principal amount under section 4

21 of this Act, no amount may be charged for return

22 to the United States Treasury as repayment for or

23 return on an old capital investment, whether by way

24 of rate, rent, lease payment, assessment, user

25 charge, or any other fee;
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1 (3) amounts provided under section 1304 of

2 title 31, United States Code, shall be available to

3 pay, and shall be the sole source for payment of, a

4 judgment against or settlement by the Administrator

5 or the United States on a claim for a breach of the

6 contract provisions required by this Act; and

7 (4) the contract provisions specified in this Act

8 do not—

9 (A) preclude the Administrator from recov10 ering, through rates or other means, any tax

11 that is generally imposed on electric utilities in

12 the United States, or

13 (B) affect the Administrator’s authority

14 under applicable law, including section 7(g) of

15 the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning

16 and Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 839e(g)), to—

17 (i) allocate costs and benefits, includ18 ing but not limited to fish and wildlife

19 costs, to rates or resources, or

20 (ii) design rates.

21 SEC. 11. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

22 (a) This Act does not affect the obligation of the Ad23 ministrator to repay the principal associated with each

24 capital investment, and to pay interest on the principal,

25 only from the ‘‘Administrator’s net proceeds,’’ as defined
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1 in section 13 of the Federal Columbia River Transmission

2 System Act (16 U.S.C. 838k(b)).

3 (b) Except as provided in section 6 of this Act, this

4 Act does not affect the authority of the Administrator to

5 pay all or a portion of the principal amount associated

6 with a capital investment before the repayment date for

7 the principal amount.