[Congressional Bills 103th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 781 Introduced in Senate (IS)] 103d CONGRESS 1st Session S. 781 To require the Secretary of Energy to raise rates for Federal hydroelectric power to speed debt repayment for power projects, to increase domestic livestock grazing fees, to require a royalty for the production of locatable minerals from Federal lands, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 7 (legislative day, March 3), 1993 Mr. Lautenberg introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to raise rates for Federal hydroelectric power to speed debt repayment for power projects, to increase domestic livestock grazing fees, to require a royalty for the production of locatable minerals from Federal lands, 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. DEBT REPAYMENT FOR HYDROELECTRIC POWER PROJECTS. (a) In General.--The second sentence of section 5 of the Act entitled ``An Act authorizing the construction of certain public works on rivers and harbors for flood control, and for other purposes'', approved December 22, 1944 (16 U.S.C. 825s), is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ``through uniform annual payments that consist of equal amounts of principal and interest and that reflect a commencement of payments for each project with the 1st year in which electric power and energy is delivered to the Secretary of Energy from the project''. (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall become effective on October 1, 1994. SEC. 2. INCREASE IN DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK GRAZING FEES. (a) In General.--Section 401 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1751) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(c)(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands in the 16 contiguous Western States (except national grasslands) administered by the Forest Service where domestic livestock grazing is permitted under applicable law, and the Secretary of the Interior with respect to public domain lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management where domestic livestock grazing is permitted under applicable law, shall establish beginning with the grazing season that begins on March 1, 1994, an annual domestic livestock grazing fee equal to fair market value. ``(B) The grazing fee charged for any given year under subparagraph (A) shall not increase nor decrease by more than 33.3 percent from the grazing fee charged for the previous year. ``(2)(A) As used in this subsection, the term `fair market value' means the amount obtained in accordance with the following formula: Appraised Base Value x Forage Value Index Fair Market Value= ----------------------------------------- 100 ``(B) As used in subparagraph (A): ``(i) The term `Appraised Base Value' means the 1983 Appraisal Value conclusions for mature cattle and horses (expressed in dollars per head or per month), as determined in the 1986 report prepared jointly by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior entitled `Grazing Fee Review and Evaluation', dated February 1986, on a westwide basis using the lowest appraised value of the pricing areas adjusted for advanced payment and indexed to 1993. ``(ii) The term `Forage Value Index' means the Forage Value Index (FVI) computed annually by the Economic Research Service of the Department of Agriculture, and set with the 1993 Forage Value Index equal to 100.''. (b) Definition of 16 Contiguous Western States.--Section 103 of such Act (43 U.S.C. 1702) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(q) The term `16 contiguous Western States' means the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.''. (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 6 of the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1905) is amended by striking subsection (a). SEC. 3. ROYALTY FOR PRODUCTION OF LOCATABLE MINERALS. Production of locatable minerals (including associated minerals) from any mining claim located or converted under the general mining laws, or mineral concentrates derived from locatable minerals produced from any mining claim located or converted under the general mining laws, shall be subject to a royalty of not less than 12.5 percent of the gross income from the production of the locatable minerals or concentrates. <all>