Raúl Grijalva: “the Wells Hydroelectric Project, operated by the Public Utility District in Douglas County, provides electricity to…”

“the Wells Hydroelectric Project, operated by the Public Utility District in Douglas County, provides electricity to approximately 17,000 customers in Washington State. The central feature of the project is a dam on the Columbia River. The utility district is in the early stages of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's relicensing process. The project's current license was granted in 1962 and will expire in May 2012. An application for relicensing must be submitted by 2010. H.R. 523 directs the Secretary of the Interior to sell 662 acres of BLM land within the project boundary to the utility district and requires the district to pay the appraised fair market value of the land. Importantly, the legislation requires that, even after the conveyance takes place, the Secretary of the Interior will retain authority under the Federal Power Act to place conditions on the utility district's new license, if necessary, to protect the natural resources of the area. Mr. Speaker, we have worked closely with the sponsor and our minority colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee to improve this legislation. We thank them for that and appreciate it very much. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”