[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4992 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4992
To require the Secretary of the Army to issue guidance relating to the
review of applications for alteration or temporary or permanent
occupation or use of certain hydropower projects, and for other
purposes.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 15, 2026
Mr. Daines (for himself and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and
Public Works
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A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Army to issue guidance relating to the
review of applications for alteration or temporary or permanent
occupation or use of certain hydropower projects, 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. STANDARDIZED REVIEW PROCEDURES FOR HYDROPOWER PROJECTS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Completeness review.--The term ``completeness review''
means a review by the Secretary (or a designee) regarding
whether a section 408 application is complete.
(2) Hydropower project.--The term ``hydropower project''
means any non-Federal hydropower project requiring a license or
exemption under the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.).
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Army.
(4) Section 408 application.--The term ``section 408
application'' means an application relating to a hydropower
project for permission under section 14 of the Act of March 3,
1899 (30 Stat. 1152, chapter 425; 33 U.S.C. 408), for an
alteration, or temporary or permanent occupation or use,
described in subsection (a) of that section.
(b) Standardized Review Procedures.--
(1) Mandatory guidance.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue
guidance establishing the following:
(A) Application checklist.--A standardized
checklist of required materials for section 408
applications, to be developed in consultation with--
(i) the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission;
(ii) the Hydroelectric Design Center of the
Corps of Engineers;
(iii) hydropower project operators; and
(iv) relevant industry associations.
(B) Completeness criteria.--A clear description of
what constitutes a complete section 408 application,
including with respect to--
(i) required documents and analyses;
(ii) formatting and submission
requirements; and
(iii) evidence of compliance with any
applicable Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
license.
(C) Phased review procedures.--For section 408
applications for which a phased design review is
required--
(i) the specific scope and objectives of
each review phase;
(ii) a timeline for each review phase;
(iii) an applicable definition of the terms
``fatal flaw'', ``final quality assurance'',
and ``technical review''; and
(iv) a clear statement that a completeness
review shall not include--
(I) detailed technical analysis; or
(II) any engineering-related
judgment with respect to design
adequacy.
(D) Escalation procedures.--Procedures for
referring a section 408 application to the head of the
applicable Division Office of the Corps of Engineers or
an official at the Corps of Engineers headquarters in
any case in which a deadline applicable to the section
408 application is not met.
(2) Scope of completeness reviews.--The guidance issued
under paragraph (1) shall establish that a completeness review
shall be limited to verification that--
(A) all required documents have been submitted;
(B) those documents are in the required format; and
(C) the section 408 application addresses the
applicable requirements of the checklist under
paragraph (1)(A).
(3) Prohibitions.--In conducting a completeness review, the
Secretary (or a designee) may not--
(A) conduct a detailed technical review of any
engineering calculations;
(B) evaluate the design adequacy of, or alternative
approaches to, the hydropower project that is the
subject of the section 408 application;
(C) request any design modification to, or
additional analysis of, the hydropower project that is
the subject of the section 408 application;
(D) consider any factor other than a factor
included in the standardized checklist under paragraph
(1)(A); or
(E) require compliance with any environmental
standard that was not established by a Federal or
relevant State agency before the date of submission of
the section 408 application.
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