A bill to provide for disaster assistance for power transmission and distribution facilities, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ratepayer Recovery Act of 2008''.

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 (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 amended--
            (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 facility damaged 
                or destroyed by a major disaster for the repair, 
                restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of the 
                facility and for associated expenses incurred by the 
                person.'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(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 date of the 
                        major disaster for which Federal assistance is 
                        sought under this subsection; and
                            ``(ii) that was declared by the President 
                        not more than 10 years before the date on which 
                        the President declared the major disaster for 
                        which Federal assistance is sought under this 
                        subsection.
                    ``(B) Conditioned on previous event.--The President 
                may make contributions to the owner of a private or 
                investor-owned power facility under paragraph (1)(C) 
                for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or 
                replacement of any facility damaged or destroyed as a 
                result of a major disaster, only if--
                            ``(i) the facility damaged or destroyed as 
                        a result of the major disaster was damaged or 
                        destroyed by a previous major disaster;
                            ``(ii) the cost of repairing, restoring, 
                        reconstructing, or replacing the private or 
                        investor-owned power facility 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 major disaster;
                            ``(iii) the total costs of repair, 
                        restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of 
                        all private or investor-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
                            ``(iv) 20 percent or more of the 
                        population, based on the most recent census 
                        data, of each geographic area in which the 
                        private or investor-owned power facility is 
                        located, had income that did not exceed the 
                        poverty line (as defined in section 2110(c)(5) 
                        of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
                        1397jj(c)(5)) during the year before the 
                        previous major disaster.
                    ``(C) Application for funds.--A person that owns a 
                private or investor-owned power facility that meets the 
                requirements under subparagraph (B) may apply for 
                Federal assistance on or before the earlier of--
                            ``(i) 30 days after the date on which the 
                        President declares the major disaster for which 
                        the person requests Federal assistance; and
                            ``(ii) the date upon which person has 
                        incurred costs of more than the greater of 
                        $10,000,000 and \2/3\ of the average annual net 
                        income of the person for the previous 3 fiscal 
                        years relating to the repair, restoration, 
                        reconstruction, or replacement of all private 
                        or investor-owned power facilities owned by the 
                        person that were damaged or destroyed as a 
                        result of the major disaster for which the 
                        person requests Federal assistance.
                    ``(D) Amount of federal assistance for disaster 
                relief.--The owner of a private or investor-owned power 
                facility may receive assistance under paragraph (1)(C) 
                for the costs of repair, restoration, reconstruction, 
                or replacement of the facility and associated expenses 
                incurred by the person that exceed the greater of 
                $10,000,000 and the amount equal to \2/3\ of the 
                average annual net income of the person for the 
                previous 3 fiscal years.
                    ``(E) Aggregation for purposes of determining 
                costs.--For purposes of determining 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 
                declared during any 12-month period.
                    ``(F) Approval or disapproval of applications.--The 
                President shall approve or disapprove an application 
                for assistance submitted by a person under paragraph 
                (1)(C) 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 Robert 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 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5172(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) For private or investor-owned power facilities.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a person that owns a private 
                or investor-owned power facility determines that the 
                public welfare would not best be served by repairing, 
                restoring, reconstructing, or replacing the facility, 
                the person may elect to receive, in lieu of a 
                contribution under subsection (a)(1)(C), a contribution 
                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 associated expenses, under the conditions 
                described in subsection (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 
                the person requests Federal assistance to--
                            ``(i) repair, restore, or expand other 
                        private or investor-owned power facilities 
                        owned by the person;
                            ``(ii) construct a new private or investor-
                        owned power facility owned by the person; or
                            ``(iii) fund hazard mitigation measures 
                        that the person determines to be necessary 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 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(e)(1)(A)) 
is amended by striking ``public facility or private nonprofit 
facility'' and inserting ``public facility, private nonprofit facility, 
or private or investor-owned power facility''.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall 
promulgate regulations necessary to implement this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act.

Summary: Ratepayer Recovery Act of 2008 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to cite conditions under which the President is authorized to make disaster assistance contributions for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of private or investor-owned power transmission and distribution facilities damaged or destroyed by a major disaster.

Cites conditions for large in-lieu contributions to a private or investor-owned power facility if the owner determines that the public welfare would not best be served by repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing the facility.

Restricts the use of such funds to the area affected as a result of the major disaster.