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            Young’s legislation (H.R. 865) was approved by a voice vote.

“H.R. 865 resolves an ongoing conflict between two of my constituencies, an electric cooperative serving several thousand Alaskans and several Alaska Native landowners,” Young said during the floor debate on the legislation.  “Because of an unusual set of historical and legal circumstances, rights-of-way for electrical transmission lines used by the Copper Valley Electric Association are considered to be in trespass by the Bureau of Indian Affairs across 14 Native allotments.

            “Copper Valley is a rural electric cooperative and can ill afford to fight this battle.  Nor should it have to, because it’s not at fault.  And certainly, the Native land owners aren’t at fault, either.  This is a dispute that originated from inconsistent federal policies and laws dating up to 100 years ago.  Both sides are in a bind and the Interior Department has not been willing or able to fix the problem administratively.

            “H.R. 865 adopts a recommendation by the GAO to pay for the rights-of-way.  The Congressional Budget Office has scored this at a very low cost – not more than $150,000 – because the lands at issue are in an isolated area of Alaska.

            “With a couple exceptions, the bill is the same as H.R. 5781, which I sponsored in the last Congress.  Late last year, the Committee on Resources held a hearing on H.R. 5781 and we received positive testimony from the Department of the Interior.  The Administration witness recommended some changes to address certain legitimate concerns, and I have made the appropriate changes in H.R. 865.

            “This bill treats both sides in the conflict equitably and I urge the House to support it today,” Young said.

Background Information

The CVEA is a rural nonprofit electric cooperative formed in 1954.  It serves about 3,550 customers in a 240-mile area in the Copper River Basin and Valdez areas spanning the Glenn and Richardson highways.

          A General Accountability Office (GAO) study was conducted on the issue, after which Young’s legislation was developed.  A similar bill was the subject of a Resources Committee hearing in 2006, but time expired in the 109^th Congress before it could be considered further.

         H.R. 865 enables CVEA to serve its customers, promotes future infrastructure development in Alaska, and protects the value of Native allotments.

The legislation Young introduced is similar to companion legislation in the U.S. Senate (S. 205), sponsored by Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

For more information, access the Committee on Natural Resources’ Minority website at:

http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.shtml