Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on August 1, 2012
H.R. 6060 would extend the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to spend, without further appropriation, certain proceeds collected from the sale of hydroelectric power by the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) for fish recovery programs in the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6060 would not affect the federal budget. Because the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to the bill.
The explicit authority to spend WAPA proceeds from hydroelectricity sales for certain fish recovery programs expired at the end of fiscal year 2011. Since 2011, the bureau has continued to fund those programs at a cost of about $3 million annually using its general authority to spend proceeds from WAPA’s electricity sales. Those fish recovery activities include research, removal of nonnative fish, and program-management activities.
H.R. 6060 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
