[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3122-3123]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 EXTENDING DEADLINE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT NUMBERED 
                                 12740

  Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4412) to extend the deadline for commencement of 
construction of a hydroelectric project.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4412

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EXTENSION.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding the time period specified 
     in section 13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806) that 
     would otherwise apply to the Federal Energy Regulatory 
     Commission project numbered 12740, the Commission may, at the 
     request of the licensee for the project, and after reasonable 
     notice, in accordance with the good faith, due diligence, and 
     public interest requirements of that section and the 
     Commission's procedures under that section, extend the time 
     period during which the licensee is required to commence the 
     construction of the project for up to 3 consecutive 2-year 
     periods from the date of the expiration of the extension 
     originally issued by the Commission.
       (b) Reinstatement of Expired License.--If the period 
     required for commencement of construction of the project 
     described in subsection (a) has expired prior to the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Commission may reinstate the 
     license for the project effective as of the date of its 
     expiration and the first extension authorized under 
     subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of such 
     expiration.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Kennedy) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Kentucky?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Before I get into a specific discussion of this legislation, I do 
want to thank the staff on both the Republican and Democratic side of 
the Energy and Commerce Committee.
  I certainly want to thank Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Rush, and Mr. Pallone for 
working with us on all of these important pieces of legislation.
  Once again, this particular bill relates to a hydropower project at 
the Flannagan Dam in Virginia. I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Griffith) for his work on this legislation.
  I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith).
  Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, like the previous bills, this is a dam 
project in which the license was issued, but for various reasons, the 
timeline has expired or is about to expire, and this would give it up 
to an additional 6 years in which to get the project completed.
  This, like the other one I mentioned, is also a run-of-river 
hydroelectric project, which means it won't change the flow of the 
river. None of the sports and recreational activities will be affected 
negatively in any way.
  This is located in Dickenson County. It is the Flannagan project. I 
ask the House to approve this extension.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I just want to conclude today by thanking committee 
staff from both sides of the aisle, again, on

[[Page 3123]]

the Energy and Commerce Committee for all the work they put into making 
sure that the legislation today is possible. A tremendous amount of 
hours went into those efforts.
  I also want to commend Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Rush, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. 
Upton for working in such a collaborative manner to get these bills to 
the floor today as well as the individual sponsors of the bill. Mr. 
Griffith had two important pieces of legislation for his district.
  Mr. Speaker, this specific piece of legislation was reported, again, 
unanimously by the Energy and Commerce Committee. I know of no 
objections to the bill. I urge its passage.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I also urge passage of H.R. 4412.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4412.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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