Date: 1984-10-02
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 3150. as amended. a bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey. for certain specified consideration. to the Sabine River Authority approximately 31.000 acres of land within the Sabine National Forest to be used for the purposes of the Toledo Bend project in Louisiana and Texas. This bill would put to rest a problem that has concerned the Congress and the parties involved for many. many years. And it would resolve the problem in a fair. evenhanded. and equitable manner. I commend CHARLIE WHITLEY. chairman of the Subcommittee on Forests. Family Farms. and Energy. and the members of the subcommittee for fashioning this compromise. Let me give you a brief history as background for H.R. 3150. The Sabine River Authority of Texas and the Sabine River Authority of Louisiana. as licensees. operate the Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Sabine National Forest. A 50year license was issued for the project by the Federal Power Commission on October 14. 1963. The project was. by the way. constructed without Federal funds. Under the license. approximately 31.000 acres of the national forest was flooded to create the reservoir. The license established a fee for the use of this Federal land. However. .his fee and other administrative fees have been waived each year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC. Under FERC regulations. waiver of fees may be granted to State and municipal licensees to the extent that power generated. transmitted. or distributed by a project is sold directly or indirectly to the public without profit. The primary purposes of the project are water distribution and the generation of hydroelectric power. The immediate need for this bill resuited from a hearing in 1975. after which FERC decided fees had been improperly waived because the authority failed to prove it was not making a profit on project power sales. However. on March 18. 1980. FERC reversed this decision. indicating that the burden of proof. while on the authority. is not as onerous as was suggested in the earlier decision. The authority contends that a profit cannot occur from project power sales. At the initiation of the project. rates to be charged for power were established in a 50year power sales agreement. the terms of which can only be changed by mutual agreement. Moreover. the selling price in this agreement is far too low to cover costs and return a profit. Although there is no expectation that the feewaiver situation will change. the authority is concerned that there could be a change in the FERC regulations. Also. it would like to be relieved of the administrative burden of having to request the waiver of landuse charges annually. To accomplish this. the authority wishes to acquire the Federal lands occupied by the reservoir. and the authority is willing to pay a premium. in the form of land and money. in return for being released from the possibility of future fees. H.R. 3150. as amended by the Committee on Agriculture. would address these problems. It would: First. direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the Sabine River Authority approximately 31.000 acres of land inundated by the Toledo Bend Reservoir. and a total of approximately 118 acres of other land owned by the United States adjacent to the reservoir. Second. retain in the United States any subsurface rights it now owns in the lands to be conveyed to the authority. Third. provide that the lands conveyed to the authority would revert to the United States if the authority puts them to use other than for purposes of the Toledo Bend project. and Fourth. direct the Authority. in exchange for the conveyance of lands described above. to convey to the United States approximately 586 acres of land at the shoreline of the reservoir and adjacent to national forest lands and to pay the United States the sum of $650.000. As ordered reported by the committee. the bill also would. upon completion of the conveyance described above. exempt the authority from Federal landuse fees and administrative charges referred to in the authoritys license for the project. Such fees have been waived since the inception of the project and it is expected that the fees would continue to be waived since power is sold by the project without profit. In order to accommodate concerns of the Committee on Energy and Commerce concerning this provision. we have. in consultation with that committee. fashioned a new section 4 which is included in the bill now under consideration. The new section 4 contains no reference to a waiver or exemption from FERC administrative fees. It would provide for waiver of FERC landuse charges if that agency makes certain determinations. And it provides that if FERC does not determine that the consideration to be made available by the authority in. cludes the full value of the landuse charge that would be waived. the land exchanges may not be made. I would emphasize that the bill provides. for the first time in the long history of this matter. for the authority to furnish consideration for the relief that it seeks. Under the bill. the authority would. as I have indicated. convey to the United States about 586 acres of valuable timberland that would become a part of the adjacent Sabine National Forest. In addition. it would pay the United States the sum of $650.000. This payment would be deposited in a special fund in the Treasury and. when appropriated. would be available to the Secretary of Agriculture for use in acquiring land for the national forests in the area. A question has been raised as to the adequacy of the consideration specified in the bill. In this regard. the Committee on Agriculture has determined that the consideration is more than adequate. It is. of course. difficult. if not impossible. accurately to ascertain a value for the 31.000 acres of Forest Service land inundated by the waters of the re.servoir. But it is not difficult to conclude that there is not a lively market for land lying beneath the reservoir pool. On the other hand. the U.S. Forest Service owns some 260 miles of shoreline or 13.150 acres of property which have been converted to valuable shoreline lands by the Toledo Bend Reservoir. The average value of these lands in the period 196364when land was being acquired by the projectwas $60 per acre. Due almost exclusively to the existence of the reservoir. it is estimated that the value of the Federal land today has risen to at least $1.088 per acre. At this average value. the Government has received a direct benefit of $14.307.200. The Toledo Bend project has also created a tremendous recreational benefit. The reservoir is readily accessible and the population within a 70mile radius of the project is approximately 1.200.000. It is estimated that the annual attendance for recreation is 3 million visitordays. And it is estimated that the recreation expenditures induced by the project are about $12.500.000 each year. In summary. H.R. 3150 achieves several objectives. Primarily. upon completion of the land exchange. the Sabine River Authorities of Texas and Louisiana would no longer be subjected to the risk of paying landuse fees to tve Federal Government. unless the Fedeial Energy Regulatory Commission cannot determine that the consideration to be made available by the authority includes full value of the waiver of the fee. In the event. the land exchange otherwise required by the bill could not occur. Ht 10853 H 10854 CO This bill also. in effect. establishes a fair value for the landis being conveyed by the United States. Because the value of this land cannot be established in the market. it is appropriate that the Congress determine a reasonable value after review of all the facts and circumstances. H.R. 3150. as amended. also provides the U.S. Forest Service with an opportunity to consolidate its lands in the Sabine National Forest that lie along the Toledo Bend Reservoir. Mr. Speaker. the new section 4. as offered in the amendment. would appear to leave the landusefee question open until FERC determines that the consideration provided is adequate to compensate the Government for the value of the waived fee. However. it is clear to me that there will be no value left to consider once the Federal lands are transferred to the authority. Once the basis for the landuse fee is removedthat is. the use of Federal landthere would be no use fee charged. Thus. no value attaches to this waiver. Moreover. the authority has always been granted a waiver from these fees. and there is no reason to expect they will ever be liable for the fees under existing regulations. Therefore. the permanent waiver of this fee should require no additional consideration. However. Mr. Speaker. this bill is crystal clear: If FERC does not determine that this consideration is adequate to compensate for the permanent waiver of the use fee. then the land conveyances otherwise required by the bill would not be made. Finally. Mr. Speaker. I note that FERC is expected to make the determinations required by section 4 of the bill promptly. so that the Secretary of Agriculture may meet the time constraints prescribed in section 1 for conveying Federal lands to the authority. Mr. Speaker. I believe that H.R. 3150. as amended. constitutes a highly meritorious resolution of what has been a very difficult matter. It disposes of longstanding problems in a fashion that works to the benefit of all concerned. I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this reasonable and carefully crafted measure to resolve an old and vexing problem. I