RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Congressional ethics investigators say North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler did not act inappropriately when a residential development that he was involved in sought lake-access rights from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Top lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee said in a letter to Shuler that it was closing the matter after reviewing a TVA investigative report. The lawmakers said that report concluded that TVA's inspector general found no evidence that Shuler or staff used his position to exert influence over the approval process.

Shuler was once a member of a House committee with oversight of TVA. He is an investor in The Cove development that has a deal pending with TVA for 145 feet of water-access rights on Watts Bar Lake near Knoxville, Tenn.

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