The Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act () was a bill introduced in the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

which passed in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

on April 9, 2013. The purpose of the act was to authorize the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

to facilitate the development of hydroelectric power on the Diamond Fork System of the

Central Utah Project The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's ...

. The Central Utah Project is a United States federal water project responsible for power generation, water for irrigation and community use, flood control, and recreation. The bill would alter some of the financial requirements of building a plant in order to facilitate private development. The bill was signed into law on July 22, 2013, becoming Public Law 113-20.

Background

According to information provided by House Republicans, this bill was necessary to remove financial barriers that were preventing the development of hydropower in this geographic region. Additional background information can be found i
House Committee Report 113-25

Provisions/Elements of the bill

''This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...

, a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

source.'' The Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act states that its goal is to facilitate

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

development on the Diamond Fork System in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. In order to do this, the act would change some laws regarding the budget of the program. More specifically, one of the changes the bill makes is to say that a certain amount of reimbursable costs allocated to project power in the Power Appendix of th
October 2004 Supplement
to the 1988 Bonneville Unit Definite Plan Report shall be considered final costs, as well as specified costs in excess of the total maximum repayment obligation, subject to the same terms and conditions. There are several additional provisions in the bill. In section 4, it states two things. First, that the Act does not obligate the

Western Area Power Administration As one of the four power marketing administrations within the U.S. Department of Energy, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)'s role is to market wholesale hydropower generated at 57 hydroelectric federal dams operated by the Bureau of R ...

to purchase or market any of the power produced by the Diamond Fork

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

. Secondly, the act states that none of the costs associated with development of transmission facilities to transmit power from the Diamond Fork power plant shall be assigned to power for the purpose of the Colorado River Storage Project and its ratemaking. In section 5 of the bill, it prohibits any hydroelectric power generation or transmission facility on the Diamond Fork System from being financed or refinanced with any obligation whose interest enjoys federal

tax-exempt Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

status or which enjoys certain federal tax credits. Section 6 orders the Department of the Interior to report to the United States House Committee on Natural Resources and the

United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and recla ...

if hydropower production on the Diamond Fork System has not commenced 24 months after enactment of this Act, stating the reasons such production has not commenced, and presenting a detailed timeline for future hydropower production. Section 8 of the act restricts where the funding of these activities can come from. It prohibits the use of Western Area Power Administration borrowing authority under the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 to fund any study or construction of transmission facilities developed as a result of the Act.

Congressional Budget Office report

The Congressional Budget Office reported that it expected that enacting H.R. 254 would lead to the development of hydropower facilities at the Diamond Fork Project in Utah by a nonfederal entity within a few years, sooner than was expected under current law. Based on information CBO received from the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

, the CBO estimated that the federal government would receive payments from the hydropower developer of about $4 million over the 2014-2023 period. Enacting the bill would decrease direct spending (by increasing offsetting receipts); therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.

Procedural history

House

The Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act was introduced into the House on January 15, 2013 by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). It was referred to two House committees and one subcommittee - the

United States House Committee on the Budget The United States House Committee on the Budget, commonly known as the House Budget Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include legislative oversight of the federal budget process, ...

, the United States House Committee on Natural Resources, and the

United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power The United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries is one of the five subcommittees within the House Natural Resources Committee. It was previously known as the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife. Jur ...

. The bill was passed by the House on April 9, 2013 with a vote of 400-4 i
Roll Call Vote 90
One Republican and three Democrats voted against it.

Senate

The Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act was received in the Senate on April 10, 2013.

Debate

The House Republicans, on their official website, made a statement of support for the passage of H.R. 254. They argued that the bill would remove financial hurdles that are currently preventing developers from starting hydropower projects in the area due to their high costs. The bill would also generate some revenue for the government that it is not making currently. An alternative plan to have the government develop a plant at taxpayer expense, and then attempt to pay itself back with revenue from selling the hydropower, was also considered.

Notes/References

External links

Library of Congress Thomas H.R. 254beta.congress.gov H.R. 254GovTrack.us H.R. 254OpenCongress.org H.R. 254October 2004 Supplement to the 1988 Bonneville Unit Definite Plan ReportCongressional Budget Office Report on H.R. 254House GOP H.R. 254House Committee Report 113-25 part 1
{{US government sources Acts of the 113th United States Congress Proposed energy infrastructure in the United States Proposed energy projects Energy in Utah