Notice2025-15235
Proposed Collections From Central Valley Project Power Contractors To Carry Out the Restoration, Improvement and Acquisition of Environmental Habitat Provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 12, 2025
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentWestern Area Power Administration
Abstract
The Sierra Nevada (SN) region of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) proposes unchanged procedures for the Collection of Restoration Fund payments from the Central Valley Project (CVP) Power Contractors. These collection procedures supersede those previously published in the Federal Register on April 16, 2003 (68 FR 18621). The collection procedures remain unchanged but are being republished, for administrative purposes, to remove references to a specific WAPA-SN Power Marketing Plan (PMP).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 153 (Tuesday, August 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 12, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38781-38783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15235]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Western Area Power Administration
Proposed Collections From Central Valley Project Power
Contractors To Carry Out the Restoration, Improvement and Acquisition
of Environmental Habitat Provisions of the Central Valley Project
Improvement Act of 1992
AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of proposed collection procedures.
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SUMMARY: The Sierra Nevada (SN) region of the Western Area Power
Administration (WAPA) proposes unchanged procedures for the Collection
of Restoration Fund payments from the Central Valley Project (CVP)
Power Contractors. These collection procedures supersede those
previously published in the Federal Register on April 16, 2003 (68 FR
18621). The collection procedures remain unchanged but are being
republished, for administrative purposes, to remove references to a
specific WAPA-SN Power Marketing Plan (PMP).
DATES: A consultation and comment period will begin August 12, 2025 and
end September 11, 2025.
WAPA-SN will accept comments any time during the consultation and
comment period.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests concerning the proposed
collection procedures should be sent to: Michelle R. Williams, Regional
Manager, Sierra Nevada Region, Western Area Power Administration, 114
Parkshore Drive, Folsom, CA 95630, or email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#31627f631c635045547250425471465041501f565e47"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3d6e736f106f5c49587e5c4e587d4a5c4d5c135a524b">[email protected]</span></a>.
WAPA-SN will post information about the proposed collection procedures
and written comments received to its website at: <a href="http://www.wapa.gov/about-wapa/regions/sn/sn-rates/restoration-fund/">www.wapa.gov/about-wapa/regions/sn/sn-rates/restoration-fund/</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Autumn Wolfe, Rates Manager, Sierra
Nevada Region, Western Area Power Administration, (916) 353-4686 or
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e3b0adb1ceb1829786a0829086a394829382cd848c95"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6b38253946390a1f0e280a180e2b1c0a1b0a450c041d">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 3407 of the Central Valley Project
Improvement Act (CVPIA) (Pub. L. 102-
[[Page 38782]]
575, 106 Stat. 4706, 4726) establishes in the Treasury of the United
States the CVP Restoration Fund to carry out the habitat restoration,
improvement, and acquisition provisions of the CVPIA. The CVPIA further
requires the Secretary of the Interior to assess and collect annual
mitigation and restoration payments from CVP Water and Power
Contractors (Restoration Payments). The Secretary of the Interior,
through the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), is responsible for
determining and collecting CVP Water and Power Contractors' share of
the annual Total Restoration Fund Payment Obligation.
Because WAPA-SN markets and transmits CVP power and maintains all
CVP power contracts, WAPA-SN agreed to collect the Restoration Payments
from CVP Power Contractors. WAPA-SN executed a letter of agreement with
Reclamation to establish procedures for depositing collections from CVP
Power Contractors into the Restoration Fund.
Proposed Procedures
The proposed procedures for the collection of the Restoration
Payments are detailed below. These collection procedures remain
unchanged but are being republished, for administrative purposes, to
remove references to a specific WAPA-SN PMP.
Determination of the Power Restoration Payment Obligation (PRPO)
Reclamation is responsible for assigning the PRPO for the CVP Power
Contractors. On or about July 1 of each year, Reclamation will provide
a letter to WAPA-SN with the determined PRPO amount and a detailed
explanation of the computation for the upcoming fiscal year (FY). Upon
receiving the letter from Reclamation, WAPA-SN will notify CVP Power
Contractors of the annual PRPO and the monthly amount to be collected.
Allocating the PRPO
WAPA-SN will allocate the PRPO among the CVP Power Contractors each
FY. After notification by Reclamation, WAPA-SN will calculate the
annual obligation for each CVP Power Contractor based on their assigned
Base Resource percentage as specified in their power contracts. Each
CVP Power Contractor's annual obligation will be divided by twelve (12)
months and billed equally over the FY.
Collection of CVP Power Contractors' Restoration Payments
Each CVP Power Contractor will receive a Restoration Fund bill
monthly on or about the twenty-fifth (25th) but no later than the last
day of the month. The Restoration Fund billing cycle for each FY will
begin within thirty (30) days following August 1 or the date written
notification of the annual PRPO is received from Reclamation, whichever
occurs later.
Payment Due Date
All CVP Power Contractors' Restoration Payments are due and payable
before the close of business twenty (20) calendar days after each
Restoration Fund bill is issued, or the next business day thereafter,
if said day is a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday.
Late Payment Charges Assessed to Delinquent Restoration Payments
WAPA-SN will add a late payment charge of five hundredths percent
(0.05%) of the principal amount unpaid for each day the Restoration
Payment is delinquent. Payments received will be first applied to the
charges for the late payment assessed on the principal and then to the
payment of the principal.
Deposit of CVP Power Contractors' Restoration Payments into the
Restoration Fund
On or about the twenty-seventh (27th) calendar day of the month
following each billing month, WAPA-SN will transfer all Restoration
Payments received, including late payment charges, to Reclamation for
deposit into the Restoration Fund. The thirtieth (30th) of September of
each FY is the last day WAPA-SN will transfer Restoration Payments,
including late payment charges, to Reclamation for that FY.
Exchange Program and Year-End Reconciliation Process
The Exchange Program may result in some CVP Power Contractors
receiving small amounts of energy in excess of their contractual Base
Resource percentage in some months. Although recipients of this
exchange energy will pay for this power, Restoration Fund obligations
are based on each CVP Power Contractor's percentage of the contractual
Base Resource excluding exchange energy. Alternatively, some CVP Power
Contractors that are not able to use all their contractual Base
Resource and return it as exchange energy could be overpaying their
Restoration Fund obligations, since their actual power usage might be
less than their contractual Base Resource percentage in a given month.
To rectify underpayments made by recipients of the exchange energy
and overpayments by other CVP Power Contractors, WAPA-SN will conduct a
reconciliation process, otherwise known as an annual true-up, before
preparing August Restoration Fund bills. This reconciliation will
require WAPA-SN to identify energy amounts exchanged among individual
CVP Power Contractors monthly. The applicable billing periods will
track exchange energy associated with power deliveries from July to
June service months. This information will provide the basis for
determining the amount of energy exchanged during the billing year.
WAPA-SN will add an additional charge, or a balloon payment, to the
August Restoration Fund bills for each CVP Power Contractor who
received exchange energy during the past year that exceeded their
contractual Base Resource percentage. Conversely, WAPA-SN will also
post an offsetting credit on their August bills for those CVP Power
Contractors that provided exchange energy, thus decreasing the amount
of contractual Base Resource energy received.
Exclusion of First Preference Contractors From the Power Restoration
Payment Obligation
WAPA-SN reviewed the contributions the Trinity River Division (TRD)
and New Melones projects provide, either directly or indirectly, to
environmental mitigation in support of CVPIA and/or projects supported
by the CVPIA Restoration Fund. The TRD and New Melones projects deliver
significant environmental benefits toward the CVPIA Restoration Fund
programs.
Since CVPIA was enacted, these facilities have been reoperated, so
CVP meets the standards and guidelines set forth by CVPIA. With the
reoperation of these facilities and the fact that the First Preference
(FP) customers' energy entitlements are based on the generation output
of these facilities, their reoperation ultimately affects these
customers. These circumstances provide a basis by which to exclude
Restoration Fund collections from any FP customers within the affected
areas.
Review Process
WAPA-SN will review the procedures for the assessing and collecting
of Restoration Payments from the CVP Power Contractors every five (5)
years or if one of the following occurs: (1) if there is a significant
change to or suspension of the legislation, (2) if a material issue
arises, (3) if an apparent inequity in the procedures is discovered, or
(4) if any significant change occurs that affects the procedures.
[[Page 38783]]
WAPA-SN intends the collection procedures go into effect March 1,
2026, and remain in effect until superseded.
Availability of Information
All studies, comments, letters, memorandums, or other documents
that WAPA-SN initiates or uses to develop the proposed collection
procedures are available for inspection and copying at the Sierra
Nevada Regional Office, located at 114 Parkshore Drive, Folsom, CA.
Many of these documents and supporting information are also available
on WAPA-SN's website at: <a href="http://www.wapa.gov/about-wapa/regions/sn/sn-rates/restoration-fund/">www.wapa.gov/about-wapa/regions/sn/sn-rates/restoration-fund/</a>.
Procedure Requirements
Environmental Compliance
WAPA is in the process of determining whether an environmental
assessment or an environmental impact statement should be prepared or
if this action can be categorically excluded from those
requirements.\1\
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\1\ In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347; the Council on
Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR
parts 1500-1508); and DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures and
Guidelines (10 CFR part 1021).
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Determination Under Executive Order 12866
WAPA has an exemption from centralized regulatory review under
Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance of this notice by the
Office of Management and Budget is required.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on August 7,
2025, by Tracey A. LeBeau, Administrator, Western Area Power
Administration, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of
Energy. That document, with the original signature and date, is
maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon
publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC on August 7, 2025.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2025-15235 Filed 8-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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