S AMDT 1069

S 1069 IS

To provide for disaster assistance for power transmission and distribution facilities, and for other purposes.

May 19, 2009

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself and Mr. VITTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

To provide for disaster assistance for power transmission and distribution facilities, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Ratepayer Recovery Act of 2009’.

SEC. 2. DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES.

(a) Definitions- Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘(11) PRIVATE OR INVESTOR-OWNED POWER FACILITY- The term ‘private or investor-owned power facility’--

‘(A) means a privately-owned or investor-owned transmission or distribution facility that provides electric or natural gas service to retail customers under State or local jurisdiction; and

‘(B) includes leased facilities.’.

(b) Conditions for Contributions- Section 406(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(a)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘and’ at the end;

(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and inserting ‘; and’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

‘(C) subject to paragraph (4), to a person that owns a private or investor-owned power facility damaged or destroyed by a major disaster for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of the facility and for associated expenses incurred by the person.’;

(2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:

‘(4) CONDITIONS FOR ASSISTANCE TO PRIVATE OR INVESTOR-OWNED POWER FACILITIES-

‘(A) DEFINITION- In this paragraph, the term ‘previous major disaster’ means a major disaster--

‘(i) occurring before the date of the major disaster for which Federal assistance is sought under this subsection; and

‘(ii) that was declared by the President not more than 10 years before the date on which the President declared the major disaster for which Federal assistance is sought under this subsection.

‘(B) CONDITIONED ON PREVIOUS EVENT- The President may make contributions to the owner of a private or investor-owned power facility under paragraph (1)(C) for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of any facility damaged or destroyed as a result of a major disaster, only if--

‘(i) the facility damaged or destroyed as a result of the major disaster was damaged or destroyed by a previous major disaster;

‘(ii) the cost of repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing the private or investor-owned power facility damaged or destroyed by the previous major disaster exceeded $2,500 for each retail customer receiving electrical or natural gas service from the owner on the day before the date of the previous major disaster;

‘(iii) the total costs of repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of all private or investor-owned power facilities owned by such person and associated expenses incurred by the person as a result of the previous major disaster exceeded $500,000,000; and

‘(iv) 20 percent or more of the population, based on the most recent census data, of each geographic area in which the private or investor-owned power facility is located, had income that did not exceed the poverty line (as defined in section 2110(c)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397jj(c)(5))) during the year before the previous major disaster.

‘(C) APPLICATION FOR FUNDS- A person that owns a private or investor-owned power facility that meets the requirements under subparagraph (B) may apply for Federal assistance on or before the earlier of--

‘(i) 30 days after the date on which the President declares the major disaster for which the person requests Federal assistance; and

‘(ii) the date upon which person has incurred costs of more than the greater of $10,000,000 and 2/3 of the average annual net income of the person for the previous 3 fiscal years relating to the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of all private or investor-owned power facilities owned by the person that were damaged or destroyed as a result of the major disaster for which the person requests Federal assistance.

‘(D) AMOUNT OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR DISASTER RELIEF- The owner of a private or investor-owned power facility may receive assistance under paragraph (1)(C) for the costs of repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of the facility and associated expenses incurred by the person that exceed the greater of $10,000,000 and the amount equal to 2/3 of the average annual net income of the person for the previous 3 fiscal years.

‘(E) AGGREGATION FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING COSTS- For purposes of determining the costs of a previous major disaster under this paragraph, the owner of the private or investor-owned power facility may aggregate the costs of all previous major disasters declared during any 12-month period.

‘(F) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS- The President shall approve or disapprove an application for assistance submitted by a person under paragraph (1)(C) for a private or investor-owned power facility not later than 30 days after the date of receipt of the application.’.

(c) Federal Share- Section 406(b)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘public facility or private nonprofit facility’ and inserting ‘public facility, private nonprofit facility, or private or investor-owned power facility’.

(d) Large In-Lieu Contributions- Section 406(c) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘(3) FOR PRIVATE OR INVESTOR-OWNED POWER FACILITIES-

‘(A) IN GENERAL- If a person that owns a private or investor-owned power facility determines that the public welfare would not best be served by repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing the facility, the person may elect to receive, in lieu of a contribution under subsection (a)(1)(C), a contribution in an amount equal to 75 percent of the Federal share of the Federal estimate of the cost of repairing, restoring, reconstructing, or replacing the facility and of associated expenses, under the conditions described in subsection (a)(4).

‘(B) USE OF FUNDS- Funds contributed to a person under this paragraph may be used only within the area affected as a result of the major disaster for which the person requests Federal assistance to--

‘(i) repair, restore, or expand other private or investor-owned power facilities owned by the person;

‘(ii) construct a new private or investor-owned power facility owned by the person; or

‘(iii) fund hazard mitigation measures that the person determines to be necessary to meet a need for the services and functions of the person in the area affected by the major disaster.’.

(e) Eligible Cost- Section 406(e)(1)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5172(e)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘public facility or private nonprofit facility’ and inserting ‘public facility, private nonprofit facility, or private or investor-owned power facility’.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.