I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 799

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 2, 1995

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington (for himself, Ms. DUNN, Mr. TATE, Mr.

METCALF, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. COOLEY, Mr. BUNN of Oregon, Mr.

WHITE, and Mrs. SMITH of Washington) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Resources

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Administration Appropriations Refinancing Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purposes of this Act—
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1 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Bonneville Power Administration.

3 (2) The term ‘‘capital investment’’ means a

4 capitalized cost funded by Federal appropriations

5 that—

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

7 unit or feature of a project or facility;

8 (B) is a cost for which the Administrator

9 is required by law to establish rates to repay to

10 the United States Treasury through the sale of

11 electric power, transmission, or other services;

12 (C) excludes a Federal irrigation invest13 ment; and

14 (D) excludes an investment financed by the

15 current revenues of the Administrator or by

16 bonds issued and sold, or authorized to be is17 sued and sold, by the Administrator under sec18 tion 13 of the Federal Columbia River Trans19 mission System Act (16 U.S.C. 838(k)).

20 (3) The term ‘‘new capital investment’’ means

21 a capital investment for a project, facility, or sepa22 rable unit or feature of a project or facility, placed

23 in service after September 30, 1995.

24 (4) The term ‘‘old capital investment’’ means a

25 capital investment whose capitalized cost—
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1 (A) was incurred, but not repaid, before

2 October 1, 1995; and

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

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

5 service before October 1, 1995.

6 (5) The term ‘‘repayment date’’ means the end

7 of the period within which the Administrator’s rates

8 are to assure the repayment of the principal amount

9 of a capital investment.

10 (6) The term ‘‘Treasury rate’’ means—

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

12 determined by the Secretary of the Treasury,

13 taking into consideration prevailing market

14 yields, during the month preceding October 1,

15 1995, on outstanding interest-bearing obliga16 tions of the United States with periods to matu17 rity comparable to the period between October

18 1, 1995, and the repayment date for the old

19 capital investment; and

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

21 determined by the Secretary of the Treasury,

22 taking into consideration prevailing market

23 yields, during the month preceding the begin24 ning of the fiscal year in which the related

25 project, facility, or separable unit or feature is
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1 placed in service, on outstanding interest-bear2 ing obligations of the United States with peri3 ods to maturity comparable to the period be4 tween the beginning of the fiscal year and the

5 repayment date for the new capital investment.

6 SEC. 3. NEW PRINCIPAL AMOUNTS.

7 (a) Effective October 1, 1995, an old capital invest8 ment has a new principal amount that is the sum of—

9 (1) the present value of the old payment

10 amounts for the old capital investment, calculated

11 using a discount rate equal to the Treasury rate for

12 the old capital investment; and

13 (2) an amount equal to $100,000,000 multi14 plied by a fraction whose numerator is the principal

15 amount of the old payment amounts for the old cap16 ital investment and whose denominator is the sum of

17 the principal amounts of the old payment amounts

18 for all old capital investments.

19 (b) With the approval of the Secretary of the Treas20 ury based solely on consistency with this Act, the Adminis21 trator shall determine the new principal amounts under

22 section 3 and the assignment of interest rates to the new

23 principal amounts under section 4.

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

25 amounts’’ means, for an old capital investment, the annual
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1 interest and principal that the Administrator would have

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

3 if this Act were not enacted, assuming that—

4 (1) the principal were repaid—

5 (A) on the repayment date the Adminis6 trator assigned before October 1, 1993, to the

7 old capital investment, or

8 (B) with respect to an old capital invest9 ment for which the Administrator has not as10 signed a repayment date before October 1,

11 1993, on a repayment date the Administrator

12 shall assign to the old capital investment in ac13 cordance with paragraph 10(d)(1) of the ver14 sion of Department of Energy Order RA

15 6120.2 in effect on October 1, 1993; and

16 (2) interest were paid—

17 (A) at the interest rate the Administrator

18 assigned before October 1, 1993, to the old cap19 ital investment, or

20 (B) with respect to an old capital invest21 ment for which the Administrator has not as22 signed an interest rate before October 1, 1993,

23 at a rate determined by the Secretary of the

24 Treasury, taking into consideration prevailing

25 market yields, during the month preceding the
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1 beginning of the fiscal year in which the related

2 project, facility, or separable unit or feature is

3 placed in service, on outstanding interest-bear4 ing obligations of the United States with peri5 ods to maturity comparable to the period be6 tween the beginning of the fiscal year and the

7 repayment date for the old capital investment.

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

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

10 new principal amount established for an old capital invest11 ment under section 3 bears interest annually at the Treas12 ury rate for the old capital investment until the earlier

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

14 the repayment date for the new principal amount.

15 SEC. 5. REPAYMENT DATES.

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

17 new principal amount established for an old capital invest18 ment under section 3 is no earlier than the repayment date

19 for the old capital investment assumed in section 3(c)(1).

20 SEC. 6. PREPAYMENT LIMITATIONS.

21 During the period October 1, 1995, through Septem22 ber 30, 2000, the total new principal amounts of old cap23 ital investments, as established under section 3, that the

24 Administrator may pay before their respective repayment

25 dates shall not exceed $100,000,000.
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1 SEC. 7. INTEREST RATES FOR NEW CAPITAL INVESTMENTS

2 DURING CONSTRUCTION.

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

4 includes interest in each fiscal year of construction of the

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

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

7 sum of—

8 (1) construction expenditures that were made

9 from the date construction commenced through the

10 end of the fiscal year, and

11 (2) accrued interest during construction.

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

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

14 feature, the interest calculated, accrued, and capitalized

15 under subsection (a).

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

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

18 of the Treasury, taking into consideration prevailing mar19 ket yields, during the month preceding the beginning of

20 the fiscal year, on outstanding interest-bearing obligations

21 of the United States with periods to maturity of approxi22 mately one year.

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

24 The unpaid balance on the principal amount of a new

25 capital investment bears interest at the Treasury rate for

26 the new capital investment from the date the related
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1 project, facility, or separable unit or feature is placed in

2 service until the earlier of the date the new capital invest3 ment is repaid or the repayment date for the new capital

4 investment.

5 SEC. 9. APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.

6 The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

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

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

9 and inserting the following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 6. APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.

11 ‘‘(a) Without fiscal year limitation, there are appro12 priated to the Administrator $15.25 million in fiscal year

13 1996, $15.86 million in fiscal year 1997, $16.49 million

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

15 $17.84 million in fiscal year 2000, and $4.10 million in

16 each succeeding fiscal year so long as the Administrator

17 makes annual payments to the Tribes under the settle18 ment agreement.

19 ‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section—

20 ‘‘(1) ‘settlement agreement’ means that settle21 ment agreement between the United States of Amer22 ica and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Res23 ervation signed by the Tribes on April 16, 1994, and

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

25 which settlement agreement resolves claims of the
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1 Tribes in Docket 181–D of the Indian Claims Com2 mission, which docket has been transferred to the

3 United States Court of Federal Claims; and

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

5 the Colville Reservation, a federally recognized In6 dian Tribe.’’.

7 SEC. 10. CONTRACT PROVISIONS.

8 In each contract of the Administrator that provides

9 for the Administrator to sell electric power, transmission,

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

11 30, 1995, the Administrator shall offer to include, or as

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

13 specifying that after September 30, 1995—

14 (1) the Administrator shall establish rates and

15 charges on the basis that—

16 (A) the principal amount of an old capital

17 investment shall be no greater than the new

18 principal amount established under section 3 of

19 this Act;

20 (B) the interest rate applicable to the un21 paid balance of the new principal amount of an

22 old capital investment shall be no greater than

23 the interest rate established under section 4 of

24 this Act;
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1 (C) any payment of principal of an old

2 capital investment shall reduce the outstanding

3 principal balance of the old capital investment

4 in the amount of the payment at the time the

5 payment is tendered; and

6 (D) any payment of interest on the unpaid

7 balance of the new principal amount of an old

8 capital investment shall be a credit against the

9 appropriate interest account in the amount of

10 the payment at the time the payment is ten11 dered;

12 (2) apart from charges necessary to repay the

13 new principal amount of an old capital investment as

14 established under section 3 of this Act and to pay

15 the interest on the principal amount under section 4

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

17 to the United States Treasury as repayment for or

18 return on an old capital investment, whether by way

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

20 charge, or any other fee;

21 (3) amounts provided under section 1304 of

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

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

24 judgment against or settlement by the Administrator
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1 or the United States on a claim for a breach of the

2 contract provisions required by this Act; and

3 (4) the contract provisions specified in this Act

4 do not—

5 (A) preclude the Administrator from recov6 ering, through rates or other means, any tax

7 that is generally imposed on electric utilities in

8 the United States, or

9 (B) affect the Administrator’s authority

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

11 the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning

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

13 (i) allocate costs and benefits, includ14 ing but not limited to fish and wildlife

15 costs, to rates or resources, or

16 (ii) design rates.

17 SEC. 11. SAVINGS PROVISIONS.

18 (a) This Act does not affect the obligation of the Ad19 ministrator to repay the principal associated with each

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

21 only from the ‘‘Administrator’s net proceeds,’’ as defined

22 in section 13 of the Federal Columbia River Transmission

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

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

25 Act does not affect the authority of the Administrator to
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1 pay all or a portion of the principal amount associated

2 with a capital investment before the repayment date for

3 the principal amount.

4 SEC. 12. DOE STUDY.

5 (a) The Administrator shall undertake a study to de6 termine the effect that increases in the rates for electric

7 power sales made by the Administrator may have on the

8 customer base of the Bonneville Power Administration.

9 Such study shall identify other sources of electric power

10 that may be available to customers of the Bonneville

11 Power Administration and shall estimate the level at which

12 higher rates for power sales by the Administration may

13 result in the loss of customers by the Administration.

14 (b) The Administrator shall undertake a study to de15 termine the total prior costs incurred by the Bonneville

16 Power Administration for compliance with the provisions

17 of the Endangered Species Act and the total future costs

18 anticipated to be incurred by the Administration for com19 pliance with such provisions.

20 (c) The Administrator shall submit the results of the

21 studies undertaken under this section to the Congress

22 within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this

23 Act.

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