1.Short
title; table of contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Hydropower Improvement Act of
2010
.
(b)The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of
contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Sense of Congress on the use of hydropower renewable
resources.
Sec. 5. Grants for improvements for increased hydropower
production.
Sec. 6. Plan for research, development, and demonstration to
increase hydropower capacity.
Sec. 7. Notice of inquiry for minimal impact hydropower
projects.
Sec. 8. FERC authority to extend preliminary permit
terms.
Sec. 9. Streamlining review process for conduit hydropower
projects.
Sec. 10. Non-Federal hydropower development at Bureau of
Reclamation projects.
Sec. 11. Pumped storage study.
Sec. 12. National Renewable Energy Deployment
Program.
Sec. 13. Hydroelectric power worker training.
Sec. 14. Report on memorandum of understanding on
hydropower.
Sec. 15. Nonapplication to Federal Power Marketing
Administrations.
Sec. 16. Budgetary effects.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)hydropower is the largest source of clean,
renewable electricity in the United States;
(2)as of the date of enactment of this Act,
hydropower resources, including pumped storage facilities, provide—
(A)7 percent of the electricity generated in
the United States, avoiding 225,000,000 metric tons of carbon emissions each
year; and
(B)approximately 96,000 megawatts of electric
capacity in the United States;
(3)only 3 percent of
the 80,000 dams in the United States generate electricity so there is
substantial potential for adding hydropower generation to nonpower dams;
(4)in every State, a tremendous untapped
growth potential exists in hydropower resources, including—
(A)efficiency improvements and capacity
additions;
(B)adding generation to nonpower dams;
(C)conduit hydropower;
(D)conventional hydropower;
(E)pumped storage facilities; and
(F)new marine and hydrokinetic resources;
and
(5)improvements in
increased hydropower production in the United States have the potential—
(A)to create hundreds of thousands of new
green jobs during the next 15 years;
(B)to increase the clean energy generation of
the United States; and
(C)to provide ancillary benefits that include
grid reliability, energy storage, and integration services for variable
renewable resources.
3.In this Act:
(1)The
term conduit means any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume,
ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance that is operated for the
distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption
and not primarily for the generation of electricity.
(2)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of Energy.
4.Sense of
Congress on the use of hydropower renewable resourcesIt is the sense of Congress that the United
States should increase substantially the capacity and generation of clean,
renewable hydropower resources which will improve environmental quality in the
United States and support hundreds of thousands of green energy jobs.
5.Grants for
improvements for increased hydropower production
(a)As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall establish in the Department of Energy a program
under which the Secretary shall make competitive grants to eligible entities
that—
(1)make efficiency
improvements or capacity additions at an existing hydroelectric power
generating facility;
(2)add hydropower
generation to a nonpower dam;
(3)develop pumped
storage facilities;
(4)address aging
infrastructure at existing hydroelectric power generating facilities;
and
(5)develop
hydroelectric generation within existing conduits.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall establish terms and conditions,
including eligibility, for the receipt of grants under this section.
(2)In
carrying out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that powerhouses and
projects that require new dam infrastructure are included among the eligible
entities that may receive grants under this section.
(c)The Secretary shall carry out the program under this
section in compliance with sections 988 and 989 of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352, 16353).
(d)From
amounts made available under section 625(e) of the Energy Independence and
Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17204(e)), the Secretary may use to carry out
this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015, of which
not more than 20 percent of the amount made available for a fiscal year may be
used to carry out an individual project.
6.Plan for
research, development, and demonstration to increase hydropower
capacity
(a)Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall establish, and submit to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of
the House of Representatives, a plan—
(1)to facilitate
through technology research, development, and demonstration the increased use
of hydropower renewable resources in accordance with section 4; and
(2)to coordinate
research and development on advanced hydropower technologies.
(b)The
Secretary shall—
(1)implement the
plan established under this section as soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act; and
(2)review and update
the plan on an annual basis.
(c)The Secretary shall carry out the program under this
section in compliance with sections 988 and 989 of the Energy Policy Act of
2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352, 16353).
(d)The
Secretary shall coordinate, to the maximum extent practicable, activities under
this section with other programs of the Department of Energy and other Federal
research programs.
(e)From
amounts made available under section 401(a) of the American Clean Energy
Leadership Act of 2009, the Secretary may use to carry out this section
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015.
7.Notice of
inquiry for minimal impact hydropower projects
(a)In
this section:
(1)The
term Commission means the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
(2)Minimal impact
hydropower projectThe term minimal impact hydropower
project means—
(A)the addition of
hydropower generation to an existing nonpower dam if the addition of the
project will not cause any significant environmental impact; or
(B)closed-loop
hydropower storage that does not require any change in an existing diversion or
impoundment of a river, and otherwise will not cause any significant
environmental impacts under applicable law.
(b)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this section, the Commission shall issue a notice of inquiry for the licensing
of proposed minimal impact hydropower projects that take not more than 2 years
from the beginning of the prefiling licensing process to the issuance of a
license by the Commission.
(c)Not
later than 180 days after the completion of the notice of inquiry under
subsection (b), the Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives a report that describes the results of the notice of
inquiry.
8.FERC authority
to extend preliminary permit termsSection 5 of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 798) is amended—
(1)by designating the first, second, and third
sentences as subsections (a), (c), and (d), respectively; and
(2)by inserting after subsection (a) (as so
designated) the following:
(b)The
Commission may extend the term of a preliminary permit once for not more than 2
additional years if the Commission finds that the permittee has carried out
activities under the permit in good faith and with reasonable
diligence.
.
9.Streamlining
review process for conduit hydropower projects
(a)Section 30 of the
Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 823a) is amended—
(1)in subsection (a), by striking paragraphs
(1) and (2) and inserting the following:
(1)is located on
non-Federal lands or Federal lands; and
(2)uses for the
generation only the hydroelectric potential of a
conduit.
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(f)This section shall not apply to any reclamation projects
under which hydroelectric power development has been reserved—
(1)under Federal law
or by regulation or order, exclusively for development under Federal
reclamation law; or
(2)for non-Federal
development under reclamation law.
(g)In this section, the term conduit means any
tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water
conveyance that is operated for the distribution of water for agricultural,
municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of
electricity.
.
(b)Memorandum of
understanding on conduit hydropower projectsNot later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall enter
into a memorandum of understanding with relevant Federal agencies that have
conditioning authority under section 30(c)(1) of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 823a(c)(1))—
(1)to establish a coordinated and streamlined
approach to any environmental impact statement or similar analysis required
under the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) relating to the consideration of
conduit hydropower projects; and
(2)to develop and
carry out an expedited approval process for conduit hydropower projects.
(c)Public
workshops and pilot projects on conduit hydropower projects
(1)As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Commissioner of Reclamation and the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission shall conduct 3 public workshops with relevant stakeholders,
including water users and the environmental community, to identify ways in
which the conduit approval process may be modified—
(A)to reduce
barriers to conduit hydropower projects, including barriers created by project
costs or the timeframe for approval and maintain adequate environmental,
health, and safety protections; and
(B)to develop pilot
projects in conjunction with voluntary participants to demonstrate flexible and
innovative ways to reduce barriers to conduit hydropower while maintaining
adequate environmental, health, and safety protections.
(2)Not
later than 180 days after the date of the completion of the workshops under
paragraph (1), the Commissioner of Reclamation and the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report that describes any recommendations for the conduit approval process
developed in the workshops and pilot projects described in paragraph
(1).
(3)From
amounts made available under section 9503(f) of the Omnibus Public Land
Management Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10363(f)), the Secretary may use to carry out
pilot projects described in paragraph (1)(B) $5,000,000 for the period of
fiscal years 2011 through 2015, to remain available until expended.
10.Non-Federal
hydropower development at Bureau of Reclamation projects
(a)Study of
non-Federal hydropower development at Bureau of Reclamation
projectsNot later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this section, the Commissioner of Reclamation (in consultation with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, preference power customers, water users, and
other interested stakeholders) shall—
(1)conduct a study
of barriers to non-Federal hydropower development at Bureau of Reclamation
projects; and
(2)report to
Congress the results of the study.
(b)Memorandum of
understandingNot later than 180 days after the date of enactment
of this section, the Commissioner of Reclamation and the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission shall develop and issue a revised interagency memorandum
of understanding to improve the coordination and timeliness of the non-Federal
development of hydropower resources at Bureau of Reclamation projects.
11.
(a)The Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the
United States Geological Survey, shall conduct a study (including
identification) of Federal land that is well-suited for pumped storage sites
and is located near existing or potential sites of intermittent renewable
resource development, such as wind farms.
(b)Not
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report that
describes the results of the study conducted under subsection (a), including
any recommendations.
12.National
Renewable Energy Deployment Program
(a)Section 803 of the Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17282) is amended by striking the section heading and
inserting National Renewable
Energy Deployment Program
.
(b)Section
803(a) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17282(a))
is amended—
(1)by striking
paragraph (1);
(2)by redesignating
paragraphs (2) through (4) as paragraphs (1) through (3), respectively;
and
(3)in paragraph
(3)(B)(iv) (as so redesignated), by striking Alaska
small
.
(c)Renewable
energy construction grantsSection 803(b) of the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17282(b)) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (1),
by inserting establish a national renewable energy construction grants
program under which the Secretary shall
after shall
;
and
(2)by adding at the
end the following:
(5)In
making grants to eligible applicants to carry out renewable energy projects
under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants
that—
(A)have power costs
that are 125 percent or more of average national retail costs; or
(B)will use the
grant to construct renewable electricity projects to replace fossil fuel
projects.
.
13.Hydroelectric
power worker trainingSection
439(b) of the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009 is amended in the
second sentence—
(1)in paragraph (6), by striking
and
after the semicolon at the end;
(2)in paragraph (7), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ; and
; and
(3)by adding at the end the following:
(8)hydroelectric
power
technology.
.
14.Report on
memorandum of understanding on hydropowerNot later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of
the House of Representatives a report on actions taken by the Department of
Energy, the Department of the Interior, and the Corps of Engineers to carry out
the memorandum of understanding on hydropower entered into on March 24, 2010,
with particular emphasis on actions taken by the agencies to work together and
investigate ways to efficiently and responsibly facilitate the Federal
permitting process for Federal and non-Federal hydropower projects at Federal
facilities, within existing authority.
15.Nonapplication
to Federal Power Marketing Administrations
(a)This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall
not—
(1)apply to a hydroelectric project that
provides power marketed by a Federal Power Marketing Administration; or
(2)impact any additions, improvements, or
replacements of hydroelectric generation at Federal projects carried out by a
Federal Power Marketing Administration;
(b)Nothing in this Act limits the authority
under existing law of a Federal Power Marketing Administrator in the event that
operations at Federal projects with hydropower facilities are modified.
16.The budgetary effects
of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act
of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation
for this Act, submitted
for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget
Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on
passage.