Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5099 - Central Valley Project Reform Act

(SENT 6/16/92)
(House Rules)
(Miller (D) CA and 27 others)

The Administration believes that the increasingly difficult challenge of meeting California's water needs requires maximum operational flexibility for the Central Valley Project. Enactment of H.R. 5099, however, would impose severe constraints on project operations. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, therefore, would recommend that the President veto H.R. 5099, because the bill would:

—   interfere with the State's authority in matters of water allocation, distribution, and use;

—   provide for a number of expensive measures, several of which have not been subjected to feasibility analyses and would be financed largely at Federal expense;

—   adversely affect various on-going cooperative efforts to help balance the competing uses of water in California;

—   impose taxes on voluntary water transfers, which could discourage the use of such transfers;

—   preclude the Secretary of the Interior from providing temporary water supplies to cities during times of drought; and

—   divert project revenues to a special fish and wildlife restoration fund.

The Administration supports some of the concepts embodied in H.R. 5099, as reported by the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. These include certain fish and wildlife mitigation efforts, water management activities, and the potential transfer of the Central Valley Project to non-Federal ownership. The Administration appreciates the Committee's apparent support for the possible transfer of the Central Valley Project. However, specific provisions contained in the bill could interfere with this transfer.

Finally, if H.R. 5099 is incorporated into House-passed version of H.R. 429, the "Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992", the Secretary of the Interior would recommend that the President veto H.R. 429.

Scoring for the Purpose of PAYGO and Discretionary Caps

H.R. 5099 would increase Federal receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA). If H.R. 5099 were enacted, final OMB scoring estimates would be published within 5 days of enactment, as required by OBRA. The cumulative effects of all enacted legislation on direct spending will be issued in monthly reports transmitted to Congress.