II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1029 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to exempt 

certain small hydroelectric power projects that are applying for relicensing under the Federal Power Act from the licensing requirements 

of that Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2017 

Mr. KING (for himself and Mr. FLAKE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to exempt certain small hydroelectric power projects that 

are applying for relicensing under the Federal Power 

Act from the licensing requirements of that Act. 

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


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1029 IS

1 SECTION 1. EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING REQUIRE2 MENTS FOR CERTAIN SMALL HYDRO3 ELECTRIC POWER PROJECTS. 

4 Section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

5 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705) is amended by striking sub6 section (d) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) EXEMPTIONS FROM LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

8 IN CERTAIN CASES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

10 and (3), the Commission may in its discretion (by 

11 rule or order), on a case-by-case basis or on the 

12 basis of classes or categories of projects, grant an 

13 exemption in whole or in part from the requirements 

14 (including the licensing requirements) of part I of 

15 the Federal Power Act to any small hydroelectric 

16 power projects— 

17 ‘‘(A) having a proposed installed capacity 

18 of 10,000 kilowatts or less; or 

19 ‘‘(B) for which a license was issued under 

20 part I of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 

21 et seq.) and that files for an exemption under 

22 this subsection, if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the original or new license was 

24 issued after June 19, 1991; 

25 ‘‘(ii) the project is in an area that has 

26 not been determined to be critical to a speVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1029.IS S1029

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1029 IS

1 cies listed as threatened or endangered 

2 under section 4 of the Endangered Species 

3 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533) as of the 

4 date of the filing for an exemption under 

5 this subsection; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the project has an installed ca7 pacity of 15 megawatts or less; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) an exemption issued by the Com9 mission under this subsection does not 

10 take effect until the expiration of the exist11 ing license. 

12 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The exemptions granted 

13 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) 

14 shall be subject to the same limitations (to ensure 

15 protection for fish and wildlife as well as other envi16 ronmental concerns) as those which are set forth in 

17 subsections (c) and (d) of section 30 of the Federal 

18 Power Act with respect to determinations made and 

19 exemptions granted under subsection (b) of such sec20 tion 30; and subsections (c) and (d) of such section 

21 30 shall apply with respect to actions taken and ex22 emptions granted under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(3) EFFECTS.—Except as specifically provided 

24 in this subsection, the granting of an exemption to 

25 a project under this subsection shall in no case have 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1029 IS

1 the effect of waiving or limiting the application (to 

2 such project) of the second sentence of subsection 

3 (b) of this section.’’. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS