Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on February 29, 2012
H.R. 3263 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to allow the Norman water project in central Oklahoma to store water conveyed from other projects. Enacting H.R. 3263 would affect direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation, however, CBO estimates that any impact on net direct spending would be negligible. Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues.
The Norman Project consists of Norman Dam, Lake Thunderbird, and a pipeline system. It provides municipal and industrial water and flood protection to nearby communities. In 1966, the operation and maintenance responsibilities for the project were transferred from the federal government to the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District.
H.R. 3263 would authorize the bureau to approve the conveyance and storage of water from other water projects in Lake Thunderbird. Under the bill, the district would purchase water from Oklahoma City’s Atoka Reservoir by accessing the nearby Atoka pipeline. The district would be required to pay all costs associated with constructing any additional facilities and associated operation and maintenances costs. Based on information from the bureau, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would affect direct spending (through the collection and spending of receipts), but such effects would not be significant.
H.R. 3263 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On January 12, 2012, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 802, the Lake Thunderbird Efficient Use Act of 2011, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on November 10, 2011. The two pieces of legislation are similar, and the CBO cost estimates are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson. The estimate was approved
by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
