I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3680 

To improve hydropower, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS (for herself and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a 

period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve hydropower, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 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. 


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Sec. 5. FERC authority to extend preliminary permit terms. 

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. 8. Report on memorandum of understanding on hydropower. 

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the hydropower industry currently employs 

4 approximately 300,000 workers across the United 

5 States; 

6 (2) hydropower is the largest source of clean, 

7 renewable electricity in the United States; 

8 (3) as of the date of enactment of this Act, hy9 dropower resources, including pumped storage facili10 ties, provide— 

11 (A) nearly 7 percent of the electricity gen12 erated in the United States; and 

13 (B) approximately 100,000 megawatts of 

14 electric capacity in the United States; 

15 (4) only 3 percent of the 80,000 dams in the 

16 United States generate electricity, so there is sub17 stantial potential for adding hydropower generation 

18 to nonpowered dams; and 

19 (5) by utilizing currently untapped resources, 

20 the United States could add approximately 60,000 

21 megawatts of new hydropower capacity by 2025, 


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1 which could create 700,000 new direct jobs over the 

2 next 14 years. 

3 SEC. 3. PROMOTING SMALL HYDROELECTRIC POWER 

4 PROJECTS. 

5 Subsection (d) of section 405 of the Public Utility 

6 Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705) is 

7 amended by striking ‘‘5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘10,000’’. 

8 SEC. 4. PROMOTING CONDUIT HYDROPOWER PROJECTS. 

9 (a) APPLICABILITY OF, AND EXEMPTION FROM, LI10 CENSING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 30 of the Federal 

11 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 823a) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking subsection (b); 

13 (2) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub14 section (b); 

15 (3) by inserting before subsection (b), as redes16 ignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection, the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(a)(1) A facility described in this paragraph shall 

19 not be required to be licensed under this part. A facility 

20 described in this paragraph is a facility that— 

21 ‘‘(A) is constructed, operated, or main22 tained for the generation of electric power and 

23 uses for such generation only the hydroelectric 

24 potential of a non-federally owned conduit; 


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1 ‘‘(B) is located on non-Federal lands or 

2 Federal lands; 

3 ‘‘(C) has an installed capacity that does 

4 not exceed 5 megawatts; and 

5 ‘‘(D) on or before the date of enactment of 

6 the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 

7 2011, is not licensed under, or exempted from 

8 the license requirements contained in, this part. 

9 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘conduit’ 

10 means any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, 

11 or similar manmade water conveyance that is operated for 

12 the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or in13 dustrial consumption and not primarily for the generation 

14 of electricity.’’; 

15 (4) in subsection (b), as redesignated by para16 graph (2) of this subsection— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

18 by striking ‘‘(b) or’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, and’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘or Federal lands;’’; 

21 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘man22 made conduit, which is operated for the dis23 tribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or 

24 industrial consumption and not primarily for 


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1 the generation of electricity.’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘conduit; and’’; and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) has an installed capacity that does not exceed 

6 40 megawatts.’’; 

7 (5) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 

8 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

9 (6) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 

10 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (d) of 

12 section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 

13 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705), as amended, is further amend14 ed by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of such section 30’’ and in15 serting ‘‘subsection (b) of such section 30’’. 

16 SEC. 5. FERC AUTHORITY TO EXTEND PRELIMINARY PER17 MIT TERMS. 

18 Section 5 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 798) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) by designating the first, second, and third 

21 sentences as subsections (a), (c), and (d), respec22 tively; and 

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) (as so des24 ignated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) EXTENSION.—The Commission may extend the 

2 term of a preliminary permit once for not more than 2 

3 additional years if the Commission finds that the per4 mittee has carried out activities under the permit in good 

5 faith and with reasonable diligence.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT 

7 NONPOWERED DAMS AND CLOSED LOOP 

8 PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—To improve the regulatory process 

10 and reduce delays and costs for hydropower development 

11 at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage 

12 projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (re13 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall inves14 tigate the feasibility of the issuance of a license for hydro15 power development at nonpowered dams and closed loop 

16 pumped storage projects in a 2-year period (referred to 

17 in this section as a ‘‘2-year process’’). Such a 2-year proc18 ess shall include any prefiling licensing process of the 

19 Commission. 

20 (b) WORKSHOPS AND PILOTS.—The Commission 

21 shall— 

22 (1) not later than 60 days after the date of en23 actment of this Act, hold an initial workshop to so24 licit public comment and recommendations on how 

25 to implement a 2-year process; 


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1 (2) develop criteria for identifying projects fea2 turing hydropower development at nonpowered dams 

3 and closed loop pumped storage projects that may be 

4 appropriate for licensing within a 2-year process; 

5 (3) not later than 180 days after the date of 

6 enactment of this Act, develop and implement pilot 

7 projects to test a 2-year process, if practicable; and 

8 (4) not later than 3 years after the date of im9 plementation of the final pilot project testing a 2- 

10 year process, hold a final workshop to solicit public 

11 comment on the effectiveness of each tested 2-year 

12 process. 

13 (c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Com14 mission shall, to the extent practicable, enter into a memo15 randum of understanding with any applicable Federal or 

16 State agency to implement a pilot project described in sub17 section (b). 

18 (d) REPORTS.— 

19 (1) PILOT PROJECTS NOT IMPLEMENTED.—If 

20 the Commission determines that no pilot project de21 scribed in subsection (b) is practicable because no 2- 

22 year process is practicable, not later than 240 days 

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis24 sion shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

25 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 


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1 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

2 Senate a report that— 

3 (A) describes the public comments received 

4 as part of the initial workshop held under sub5 section (b)(1); and 

6 (B) identifies the process, legal, environ7 mental, economic, and other issues that justify 

8 the determination of the Commission that no 2- 

9 year process is practicable, with recommenda10 tions on how Congress may address or remedy 

11 the identified issues. 

12 (2) PILOT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED.—If the 

13 Commission develops and implements pilot projects 

14 involving a 2-year process, not later than 60 days 

15 after the date of completion of the final workshop 

16 held under subsection (b)(4), the Commission shall 

17 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

18 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

19 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 

20 report that— 

21 (A) describes the outcomes of the pilot 

22 projects; 

23 (B) describes the public comments from 

24 the final workshop on the effectiveness of each 

25 tested 2-year process; and 


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1 (C)(i) outlines how the Commission will 

2 adopt policies under existing law (including reg3 ulations) that result in a 2-year process; 

4 (ii) outlines how the Commission will issue 

5 new regulations to adopt a 2-year process; or 

6 (iii) identifies the process, legal, environ7 mental, economic, and other issues that justify 

8 a determination of the Commission that no 2- 

9 year process is practicable, with recommenda10 tions on how Congress may address or remedy 

11 the identified issues. 

12 SEC. 7. DOE STUDY OF PUMPED STORAGE AND POTENTIAL 

13 HYDROPOWER FROM CONDUITS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

15 conduct a study— 

16 (1) of the potential megawatts of hydropower 

17 that may be obtained from conduits (as defined by 

18 the Secretary) in the United States; and 

19 (2) of land, including identification of land, that 

20 is well-suited for pumped storage sites and is located 

21 near existing or potential sites of intermittent renew22 able energy resource development, such as wind 

23 farms. 

24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall 


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1 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

2 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

3 and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that de4 scribes the results of the study conducted under subsection 

5 (a), including any recommendations. 

6 SEC. 8. REPORT ON MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING 

7 ON HYDROPOWER. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee 

10 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

11 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

12 the Senate a report on actions taken by the Department 

13 of Energy and other Federal agencies to carry out the 

14 memorandum of understanding on hydropower entered 

15 into on March 24, 2010, with particular emphasis on ac16 tions taken by the agencies to work together and inves17 tigate ways to efficiently and responsibly facilitate the 

18 Federal permitting process for Federal and non-Federal 

19 hydropower projects at Federal facilities, within existing 

20 authority. 

21 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out this 

24 Act and the amendments made by this Act, of which not 


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1 more than $1,000,000 shall be appropriated to the De2 partment of Energy. 

3 (b) OFFSET.—Section 422(f) of the Energy Inde4 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17082(f)) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para7 graph (5); 

8 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘2012; and’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘2012;’’; 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol11 lowing paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(4) $145,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and’’; 

13 and 

14 (4) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by para15 graph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘2013’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘2014’’. 

Æ 


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