Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Access Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to pass important legislation in the State of Wyoming. This bill has only to do with Wyoming and no other State. It is H.R. 3415, the Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyance Act.

It allows the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to transfer the ownership of the facility to stakeholders in my home State of Wyoming. The Pilot Butte power plant is owned by the Federal Government, but it has not been in service since 2008. It closed when it became too costly to operate. So it has been sitting idle there in Wyoming in a small area of 2\1/2\ acres for the past 15 years. It is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and they are planning to demolish it.

To be clear, we are talking about a mothballed hydroelectric structure. We are talking about 2 acres of Bureau of Reclamation land. This is essentially 1\1/2\ football fields in size. That is how small of a footprint this is.

Well, the Midvale Irrigation District in Pavillion, WY, reached out to the Wyoming congressional delegation--all three members of the delegation--saying that they were willing to take ownership of this power plant that has been sitting idle for 15 years and ready to be demolished. Midvale Irrigation proposed this transfer as a solution to provide energy to local users. The local people right there came to us. They said that they will make the needed repairs to bring this power station back into operation.

If enacted, the bill will enable the facility to be revived after years and years of neglect and sitting idle. Communities in my home State of Wyoming will once again be able to get electricity from this local source of hydropower. This transfer is the only option to save the facility for future use. Without this bill, the Bureau of Reclamation plans to demolish the facility. As a result, it is going to cost the American taxpayers over $7 million to destroy this property.

This bill that I have introduced, sponsored by the entire Wyoming delegation, is a win-win. The American people will no longer own a mothballed facility that is going to cost $7 million to demolish, and the people of Wyoming will be able to put the hydropower plant back into use.

Now, there has been a lot of conversation about the consultations and discussions that I have had with community members and stakeholders. I have met directly with both the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapahoe Tribes regarding this specific bill and the hydropower plant. Since February--February of this year--my office has been actively engaged in discussions with all parties involved. This summer, my staff visited the facility and met with all of the stakeholders.

Everyone wants to see the facility operating again, and I am confident that the people of Wyoming will properly manage this facility in a way that benefits everyone in the local community.

The House of Representatives passed this legislation unanimously back in February. It has the support of the entire Wyoming delegation.

3415, which was received from the House; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, this 2\1/2\ acre piece of land is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation--not owned by the Tribe, not owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. It is a title transfer to create an energy source for local stakeholders. This is all about my home State of Wyoming. We are talking 2\1/2\ acres.

I understand the Senator from Minnesota is making this objection on her behalf as well as the behalf of the Senator from New Mexico. Let me assure the Senators from Minnesota and New Mexico that I will be vigilant and watching out for bills that impact at least 2\1/2\ acres in their home States. For example, the Senator from New Mexico, right now, has a bill, Cerro de la Olla, and it was reported favorably out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Madam President, that bill established 12,000 acres--not 2\1/2\ acres--12,000 acres of wilderness in New Mexico. This bill in my home State--not New Mexico, not Minnesota--Bureau of Reclamation land is 2\1/2\ acres.

As I said, I will be vigilant and watching out for bills that impact at least 2\1/2\ acres in their home States. And I consider their bills now dead until the Pilot Butte issue is resolved.

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, could I clarify for the Chair, Calendar No. 304 was misread as 301. It is 304, which is S. 961.

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