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Congresswoman Lauren Boebert introduced the Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act to permanently authorize a provision that allows agriculture and municipal water users to prepay what they owe to the federal government.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) stated, “My Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act is a win-win for water users and fiscal responsibility. My bill allows water users to be free of burdensome federal regulations and paperwork requirements if they repay their debt to the government early. It also expedites payments while generating hundreds of millions for the Treasury. Without my bill, nearly 85% of irrigation districts have no way to make an early repayment. Just like homeowners can pay off their mortgage early if they want to, my bill allows agriculture and municipal water users to use a similar authority to prepay construction and other costs they owe to the federal government.”

Background:

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert introduced H.R. 3675, the Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act, to permanently authorize Section 4011 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (P.L. 114-322), a provision that allows some agriculture and municipal water users to prepay what they owe to the federal government. This prepayment adds early revenue to the U.S. Treasury while also decreasing federal paperwork requirements and operating costs for water users.

Under federal law, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) water storage and delivery project costs are allocated to the beneficiaries of such projects. Water users must repay those costs allocated to them under the federal “beneficiaries pay” principal. Those costs are repaid through what are called multi-year “repayment contracts” that are analogous to homeowner mortgage payments. As long as a repayment obligation exists, federal strings are attached (such as onerous paperwork requirements and limitations on how much acreage a farmer can plant).

Prior to 2016, if some water users wanted to repay what they owed early and/or in a lump sum, Congress would have to enact a federal law authorizing the repayment. This usually took years despite the fact the federal government would have been receiving early revenue. As a result, many water users simply decided it wasn’t worth the effort. To help remedy this situation, Section 4011 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (P.L. 114-322) authorized these agricultural and municipal water users to prepay outstanding construction costs through a single lump sum payment or over a period of three years. This policy was similar to allowing a borrower to pay his/her mortgage off earlier to the lender. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected at the time that Section 4011 would expedite payments and generate $639 million in receipts for the Treasury from repayment over the FY2015-FY2024 period. These revenues went into a discretionary account dedicated to building new water storage and delivery projects.

This program was successful, with more than 75 entities deciding to prepay what they owed the federal government, with many of those water users no longer having to deal with excessive federal paperwork and acreage limitation edicts. While the water users would no longer have to negotiate water contracts as a result of owing nothing to the federal government, water availability would still be subject to drought and state and federal environmental rules.

This prepayment authority expired in 2020. Congresswoman Boebert’s Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act permanently reauthorizes Section 4011 of the WIIN Act to allow the federal government to receive early revenue from water users who have the ability to prepay what they owe and want to be free of onerous federal rules and restrictions.

Supporters of Congresswoman Boebert’s Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act include: the Mesa County Commissioners, Family Farm Alliance, Mesa County Farm Bureau, Delta County Commissioner Wendell A. Koontz, the Friant Water Authority, and the California Agricultural Irrigation Association.

Cosponsors of Congresswoman Boebert’s Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act include: Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Rep. Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ-09), Rep. Michael Lawler (NY-17), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Rep. Ryan Zinke (MT-01), Rep. Matt Rosendale (MT-02), and Rep. Troy Nehls (TX-22).

The full text of Congresswoman Boebert’s Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act is available here.

Issues: Standing up for Local Communities Agriculture Energy and Natural Resources Water 

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