[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 267 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 4
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 267
[Report No. 113-6]
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 15, 2013
Mrs. McMorris Rodgers (for herself, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Walden, Mr. Terry,
Mr. Markey, Mr. Latta, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico,
and Mr. Dingell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce
February 4, 2013
Additional sponsor: Mr. Gardner
February 4, 2013
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Hydropower
Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Promoting small hydroelectric power projects.
Sec. 4. Promoting conduit hydropower projects.
Sec. 5. FERC authority to extend preliminary permit periods.
Sec. 6. Promoting hydropower development at nonpowered dams and closed
loop pumped storage projects.
Sec. 7. DOE study of pumped storage and potential hydropower from
conduits.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the hydropower industry currently employs approximately
300,000 workers across the United States;
(2) hydropower is the largest source of clean, renewable
electricity in the United States;
(3) as of the date of enactment of this Act, hydropower
resources, including pumped storage facilities, provide--
(A) nearly 7 percent of the electricity generated
in the United States; and
(B) approximately 100,000 megawatts of electric
capacity in the United States;
(4) only 3 percent of the 80,000 dams in the United States
generate electricity, so there is substantial potential for
adding hydropower generation to nonpowered dams; and
(5) according to one study, by utilizing currently untapped
resources, the United States could add approximately 60,000
megawatts of new hydropower capacity by 2025, which could
create 700,000 new jobs over the next 13 years.
SEC. 3. PROMOTING SMALL HYDROELECTRIC POWER PROJECTS.
Subsection (d) of section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705) is amended by striking ``5,000''
and inserting ``10,000''.
SEC. 4. PROMOTING CONDUIT HYDROPOWER PROJECTS.
(a) Applicability of, and Exemption From, Licensing Requirements.--
Section 30 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 823a) is amended--
(1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the
following:
``(a)(1) A qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall not be
required to be licensed under this part.
``(2)(A) Any person, State, or municipality proposing to construct
a qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall file with the Commission
a notice of intent to construct such facility. The notice shall include
sufficient information to demonstrate that the facility meets the
qualifying criteria.
``(B) Not later than 15 days after receipt of a notice of intent
filed under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall--
``(i) make an initial determination as to whether the
facility meets the qualifying criteria; and
``(ii) if the Commission makes an initial determination,
pursuant to clause (i), that the facility meets the qualifying
criteria, publish public notice of the notice of intent filed
under subparagraph (A).
``(C) If, not later than 45 days after the date of publication of
the public notice described in subparagraph (B)(ii)--
``(i) an entity contests whether the facility meets the
qualifying criteria, the Commission shall promptly issue a
written determination as to whether the facility meets such
criteria; or
``(ii) no entity contests whether the facility meets the
qualifying criteria, the facility shall be deemed to meet such
criteria.
``(3) For purposes of this section:
``(A) 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) The term `qualifying conduit hydropower facility'
means a facility (not including any dam or other impoundment)
that is determined or deemed under paragraph (2)(C) to meet the
qualifying criteria.
``(C) The term `qualifying criteria' means, with respect to
a facility--
``(i) the facility is constructed, operated, or
maintained for the generation of electric power and
uses for such generation only the hydroelectric
potential of a non-federally owned conduit;
``(ii) the facility has an installed capacity that
does not exceed 5 megawatts; and
``(iii) on or before the date of enactment of the
Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013, the
facility is not licensed under, or exempted from the
license requirements contained in, this part.
``(b) Subject to subsection (c), the Commission may grant an
exemption in whole or in part from the requirements of this part,
including any license requirements contained in this part, to any
facility (not including any dam or other impoundment) constructed,
operated, or maintained for the generation of electric power which the
Commission determines, by rule or order--
``(1) utilizes for such generation only the hydroelectric
potential of a conduit; and
``(2) has an installed capacity that does not exceed 40
megawatts.'';
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``subsection (b)''; and
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``subsection (b)''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (d) of section 405 of the
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705), as
amended, is further amended by striking ``subsection (a) of such
section 30'' and inserting ``subsection (b) of such section 30''.
SEC. 5. FERC AUTHORITY TO EXTEND PRELIMINARY PERMIT PERIODS.
Section 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 period of a preliminary permit
once for not more than 2 additional years beyond the 3 years permitted
by subsection (a) if the Commission finds that the permittee has
carried out activities under such permit in good faith and with
reasonable diligence.''.
SEC. 6. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT NONPOWERED DAMS AND CLOSED
LOOP PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS.
(a) In General.--To improve the regulatory process and reduce
delays and costs for hydropower development at nonpowered dams and
closed loop pumped storage projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (referred to in this section as the ``Commission'') shall
investigate the feasibility of the issuance of a license for hydropower
development at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage projects
in a 2-year period (referred to in this section as a ``2-year
process''). Such a 2-year process shall include any prefiling licensing
process of the Commission.
(b) Workshops and Pilots.--The Commission shall--
(1) not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, hold an initial workshop to solicit public comment
and recommendations on how to implement a 2-year process;
(2) develop criteria for identifying projects featuring
hydropower development at nonpowered dams and closed loop
pumped storage projects that may be appropriate for licensing
within a 2-year process;
(3) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, develop and implement pilot projects to test a 2-year
process, if practicable; and
(4) not later than 3 years after the date of implementation
of the final pilot project testing a 2-year process, hold a
final workshop to solicit public comment on the effectiveness
of each tested 2-year process.
(c) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Commission shall, to the
extent practicable, enter into a memorandum of understanding with any
applicable Federal or State agency to implement a pilot project
described in subsection (b).
(d) Reports.--
(1) Pilot projects not implemented.--If the Commission
determines that no pilot project described in subsection (b) is
practicable because no 2-year process is practicable, not later
than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a report that--
(A) describes the public comments received as part
of the initial workshop held under subsection (b)(1);
and
(B) identifies the process, legal, environmental,
economic, and other issues that justify the
determination of the Commission that no 2-year process
is practicable, with recommendations on how Congress
may address or remedy the identified issues.
(2) Pilot projects implemented.--If the Commission develops
and implements pilot projects involving a 2-year process, not
later than 60 days after the date of completion of the final
workshop held under subsection (b)(4), the Commission shall
submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate a report that--
(A) describes the outcomes of the pilot projects;
(B) describes the public comments from the final
workshop on the effectiveness of each tested 2-year
process; and
(C)(i) outlines how the Commission will adopt
policies under existing law (including regulations)
that result in a 2-year process for appropriate
projects;
(ii) outlines how the Commission will issue new
regulations to adopt a 2-year process for appropriate
projects; or
(iii) identifies the process, legal, environmental,
economic, and other issues that justify a determination
of the Commission that no 2-year process is
practicable, with recommendations on how Congress may
address or remedy the identified issues.
SEC. 7. DOE STUDY OF PUMPED STORAGE AND POTENTIAL HYDROPOWER FROM
CONDUITS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy shall conduct a study--
(1)(A) of the technical flexibility that existing pumped
storage facilities can provide to support intermittent
renewable electric energy generation, including the potential
for such existing facilities to be upgraded or retrofitted with
advanced commercially available technology; and
(B) of the technical potential of existing pumped storage
facilities and new advanced pumped storage facilities, to
provide grid reliability benefits; and
(2)(A) to identify the range of opportunities for
hydropower that may be obtained from conduits (as defined by
the Secretary) in the United States; and
(B) through case studies, to assess amounts of potential
energy generation from such conduit hydropower projects.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that describes
the results of the study conducted under subsection (a), including any
recommendations.
Union Calendar No. 4
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 267
[Report No. 113-6]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
February 4, 2013
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed