I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6013 
To provide for disaster assistance for power transmission and distribution 
facilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2008 
Mr. MELANCON
(for himself, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. 
BOUSTANY, and Mr. JEFFERSON) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To provide for disaster assistance for power transmission 
and distribution facilities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ratepayer Recovery 
Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR POWER TRANSMISSION 
AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 102 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
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(42 U.S.C. 5122) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(11) PRIVATE
OR
INVESTOR-OWNED
POWER 
FACILITY.—The term ‘private or investor-owned 
power facility’— 
‘‘(A) means a privately-owned or investor- 
owned transmission or distribution facility that 
provides electric or natural gas service to retail 
customers under State or local jurisdiction; and 
‘‘(B) includes leased facilities.’’. 
(b) CONDITIONS
FOR
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 
406(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(a)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) subject to paragraph (4), to a person 
that owns a private or investor-owned power fa-
cility damaged or destroyed by a major disaster 
for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or re-
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placement of the facility and for associated ex-
penses incurred by the person.’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(4) CONDITIONS FOR ASSISTANCE TO PRIVATE 
OR INVESTOR-OWNED POWER FACILITIES.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 
term ‘previous major disaster’ means a major 
disaster— 
‘‘(i) occurring before the disaster for 
which Federal assistance is sought under 
this subsection; and 
‘‘(ii) the declaration of which was not 
more than 10 years before the date of the 
declaration of the major disaster for which 
Federal assistance is sought under this 
subsection. 
‘‘(B) 
CONDITIONED
ON
PREVIOUS 
EVENT.—The President may make contribu-
tions to the owner of a private or investor- 
owned power facility under paragraph (1)(C) 
for repair, restoration and replacement of any 
facility damaged or destroyed as a result of the 
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major disaster for which it requests Federal as-
sistance, only if— 
‘‘(i) the cost of repairing, restoring, or 
replacing the private or investor-owned 
power facilities damaged or destroyed by 
the previous major disaster exceeded 
$2,500 for each retail customer receiving 
electrical or natural gas service from the 
owner on the day before the date of the 
previous disaster; 
‘‘(ii) the total costs of repair, restora-
tion, or replacement of all private or inves-
tor-owned power facilities owned by such 
person and associated expenses incurred by 
the person as a result of the previous 
major disaster exceeded $500,000,000; and 
‘‘(iii) 20 percent or more of the popu-
lation, as estimated by the Bureau of the 
Census, of each geographic area of each 
local government in which the private or 
investor-owned power facility is located, 
was below the official Federal poverty level, 
as determined by the Bureau of Census, 
during the year before the previous major 
disaster. 
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‘‘(C) APPLICATION FOR FUNDS.—A person 
that owns a private or investor-owned power fa-
cility that meets the requirements under sub-
paragraph (B) may apply for Federal assistance 
on or before the earlier of— 
‘‘(i) the 30th day after declaration of 
a major disaster; or 
‘‘(ii) the date upon which the owner of 
the private or investor-owned power facility 
has incurred costs of $10,000,000 or two- 
thirds of its average annual net income for 
the previous three fiscal years, whichever is 
higher, towards the total costs of repair, 
restoration, or replacement of all private or 
investor-owned power facilities damaged or 
destroyed as a result of the major disaster 
for which it requests Federal assistance. 
‘‘(D) LIMIT ON FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR 
DISASTER
RELIEF.—Federal assistance under 
this section to the owner of a private or inves-
tor-owned power facility shall only apply to the 
costs of repair, restoration, reconstruction or 
replacement of the facility and for associated 
expenses incurred by the person that exceed 
$10,000,000 or two-thirds of its average annual 
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net income for the previous three fiscal years, 
whichever is higher. 
‘‘(E) AGGREGATION FOR PURPOSES OF DE-
TERMINING
COSTS.—For purposes of deter-
mining the costs of a previous major disaster 
under this paragraph, the owner of the private 
or investor-owned power facility may aggregate 
the costs of all previous major disasters during 
any 12-month period. 
‘‘(F) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF AP-
PLICATIONS.—The President shall approve or 
disapprove an application for assistance sub-
mitted by a person under this paragraph for a 
private or investor-owned power facility not 
later than 30 days after the date of receipt of 
the application.’’. 
(c) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 406(b)(2) of the Rob-
ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘public 
facility or private nonprofit facility’’ and inserting ‘‘public 
facility, private nonprofit facility, or private or investor- 
owned power facility’’. 
(d) 
LARGE
IN-LIEU
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 
406(c) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
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Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(c)) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) 
FOR
PRIVATE
OR
INVESTOR-OWNED 
POWER FACILITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which 
a person that owns a private or investor-owned 
power facility determines that the public welfare 
would not best be served by repairing, restor-
ing, reconstructing, or replacing the facility, the 
person may elect to receive, in lieu of a con-
tribution under subsection (a)(1)(C), a con-
tribution in an amount equal to 75 percent of 
the Federal share of the Federal estimate of the 
cost of repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or 
replacing the facility and of management ex-
penses, under the conditions described in sub-
section (a)(4). 
‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds contributed 
to a person under this paragraph may be used 
only within the area affected as a result of the 
major disaster for which it requests Federal as-
sistance to— 
‘‘(i) repair, restore, or expand other 
private or investor-owned power facilities 
owned by the person; 
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‘‘(ii) construct a new private or inves-
tor-owned power facility owned by the per-
son; or 
‘‘(iii) fund hazard mitigation meas-
ures that the person determines to be nec-
essary to meet a need for the services and 
functions of the person in the area affected 
by the major disaster.’’. 
(e) ELIGIBLE COST.—Section 406(e)(1)(A) of the 
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(e)(1)(A)) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘public facility or private nonprofit facility’’ and in-
serting ‘‘public facility, private nonprofit facility, or pri-
vate or investor-owned power facility’’. 
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro-
mulgate regulations necessary to implement this Act and 
the amendments made by this Act. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub-
section (b), this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act shall take effect upon the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
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(b) REGULATIONS.—Section 3 shall take effect on the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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