22 



Mr. DeFazio. I certainly didn't mean to exclude the Power Coun- 

 cil in my list there. 



Mr. BOTTIGER. Of course our congressional mandate that you 

 have sent us is to involve the public, and we would stand ready to 

 help Bonneville and the Department of Energy in that field at any 

 time. We have the machinery that sits there waiting to be used. 



Mr. DeFazio. If perhaps a draft proposal were produced by the 

 administration, the Council would be willing to go out and ask for 

 public comment? 



Mr. BOTTIGER. Absolutely. I am sure I can speak for my col- 

 leagues; we would insist upon it. 



Mr. DeFazio. One of the primary concerns, as we develop that 

 legislation, will be accountability, as both of you have mentioned. 

 A key is going to be, what is the relationship of the Administrator, 

 either to the Council or to some other authority, and whether or 

 not the Administrator would be given a fixed term or serve at the 

 pleasure of the President. Have those issues been resolved yet in 

 your mind, Mr. White? 



Mr. White. No, I believe that issues involving policy are envi- 

 sioned to be the responsibility of the Department of Energy, that 

 has been trying to serve as a vehicle for these various concerns. 



And over and above that, I hope that there could be some kind 

 of more formal procedure. Ultimately this is a regional issue and 

 a regional question of governance that can't be dictated out of the 

 Forrestal Building in Washington. And how do we use the Council 

 and other resources in the region to help guide decisions in a more 

 formal way? 



Something that I have told Mr. Hardy and the 0MB is that I 

 want that question answered before the Secretary of Energy and I 

 put their wholehearted support behind that something. 



And there is a whole host of considerations — ^using existing 

 mechanisms, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a board of direc- 

 tors like TVA — that need to be explored to figure out what would 

 best allow that regional accountability to exist in a way that is no 

 different from or perhaps improved from current status. 



Mr. DeFazio. Thank you. 



Mr. Smith, do you have any questions? 



Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. White, what are the reasons for the debt buyout? 



Mr. White. What are the reasons? 



Mr. Smith. From your point of view. 



Mr. White. I would say there are several. First, for some time 

 the Treasury and others have criticized the fact that loans made 

 to BPA were made at below the then-market interest rates, that is 

 pre- 1974 debt, and that this was 



Mr. Smith. Previous administrations, this administration, all 

 have criticized? 



Mr. White. Exactly. You probably have some of the same people 

 within Treasury and 0MB. 



Mr. Smith. Exactly. The same people at 0MB. 



Mr. White. We asked. What does a private company do if it has 

 debt with uncertain repayment terms and costs? They take out the 

 debt and create a benefit to the public. Regardless of how it is 

 scored, your cash goes up by some $4 billion. It creates a benefit 



