H.R. 5181 — Introduced in House

I 115th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5181 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 6, 2018Mr. Faso introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require certain licensees under the Federal Power Act make annual payments to the county in which a licensed hydropower facility is located, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Local Taxpayer Protection Act of 2018. 2. Payment of fees by certain hydropower facility license holders (a) Initial payment Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the duration of the applicable license and any subsequent license received for the same facility and related operations, a covered licensee shall make an annual payment to the county in which the applicable licensed project is located beginning in the amount of $1,800,000. (b) Increase in subsequent payments The amount of each annual payment occurring after the first annual payment shall increase by 2 percent of the preceding annual payment. (c) Remaining obligations The payment of funds under this section shall not affect the obligation of the covered licensee to pay any other funds required to be paid to a county under the terms of a judicial decree or settlement of an action brought by one or more counties against the covered licensee. (d) Statutory construction Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize an increase in the rates and charges for electric energy of a covered licensee. (e) Covered licensee defined In this section, the term covered licensee means a State, or any subdivision thereof, that— (1) received a license under section 10 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 803) for a pumped-storage facility; and (2) filed for such license in April of 2017.