IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 267 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013’’. 

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

5 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. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the hydropower industry currently employs 

9 approximately 300,000 workers across the United 

10 States; 

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

12 renewable electricity in the United States; 

13 (3) as of the date of enactment of this Act, hy14 dropower resources, including pumped storage facili15 ties, provide— 

16 (A) nearly 7 percent of the electricity gen17 erated in the United States; and 

18 (B) approximately 100,000 megawatts of 

19 electric capacity in the United States; 

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

21 United States generate electricity, so there is subVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:08 Feb 14, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H267.RFS H267

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1 stantial potential for adding hydropower generation 

2 to nonpowered dams; and 

3 (5) according to one study, by utilizing cur4 rently untapped resources, the United States could 

5 add approximately 60,000 megawatts of new hydro6 power capacity by 2025, which could create 700,000 

7 new jobs over the next 13 years. 

8 SEC. 3. PROMOTING SMALL HYDROELECTRIC POWER 

9 PROJECTS. 

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

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

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

13 SEC. 4. PROMOTING CONDUIT HYDROPOWER PROJECTS. 

14 (a) APPLICABILITY OF, AND EXEMPTION FROM, LI15 CENSING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 30 of the Federal 

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

17 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘(a)(1) A qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall 

20 not be required to be licensed under this part. 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) Any person, State, or municipality proposing 

22 to construct a qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall 

23 file with the Commission a notice of intent to construct 

24 such facility. The notice shall include sufficient informaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:08 Feb 14, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H267.RFS H267

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1 tion to demonstrate that the facility meets the qualifying 

2 criteria. 

3 ‘‘(B) Not later than 15 days after receipt of a notice 

4 of intent filed under subparagraph (A), the Commission 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) make an initial determination as to wheth7 er the facility meets the qualifying criteria; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission makes an initial deter9 mination, pursuant to clause (i), that the facility 

10 meets the qualifying criteria, publish public notice of 

11 the notice of intent filed under subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(C) If, not later than 45 days after the date of publi13 cation of the public notice described in subparagraph 

14 (B)(ii)— 

15 ‘‘(i) an entity contests whether the facility 

16 meets the qualifying criteria, the Commission shall 

17 promptly issue a written determination as to wheth18 er the facility meets such criteria; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) no entity contests whether the facility 

20 meets the qualifying criteria, the facility shall be 

21 deemed to meet such criteria. 

22 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this section: 

23 ‘‘(A) The term ‘conduit’ means any tunnel, 

24 canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar 

25 manmade water conveyance that is operated for the 


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1 distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or 

2 industrial consumption and not primarily for the 

3 generation of electricity. 

4 ‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying conduit hydropower 

5 facility’ means a facility (not including any dam or 

6 other impoundment) that is determined or deemed 

7 under paragraph (2)(C) to meet the qualifying cri8 teria. 

9 ‘‘(C) The term ‘qualifying criteria’ means, with 

10 respect to a facility— 

11 ‘‘(i) the facility is constructed, operated, or 

12 maintained for the generation of electric power 

13 and uses for such generation only the hydro14 electric potential of a non-federally owned con15 duit; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the facility has an installed capacity 

17 that does not exceed 5 megawatts; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) on or before the date of enactment of 

19 the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 

20 2013, the facility is not licensed under, or ex21 empted from the license requirements contained 

22 in, this part. 

23 ‘‘(b) Subject to subsection (c), the Commission may 

24 grant an exemption in whole or in part from the require25 ments of this part, including any license requirements conVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:08 Feb 14, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H267.RFS H267

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1 tained in this part, to any facility (not including any dam 

2 or other impoundment) constructed, operated, or main3 tained for the generation of electric power which the Com4 mission determines, by rule or order— 

5 ‘‘(1) utilizes for such generation only the hydro6 electric potential of a conduit; and 

7 ‘‘(2) has an installed capacity that does not ex8 ceed 40 megawatts.’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 

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

11 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 

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

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

14 section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 

15 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705), as amended, is further amend16 ed by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of such section 30’’ and in17 serting ‘‘subsection (b) of such section 30’’. 

18 SEC. 5. FERC AUTHORITY TO EXTEND PRELIMINARY PER19 MIT PERIODS. 

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

21 is amended— 

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

23 sentences as subsections (a), (c), and (d), respec24 tively; and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) (as so des2 ignated) the following: 

3 ‘‘(b) The Commission may extend the period of a pre4 liminary permit once for not more than 2 additional years 

5 beyond the 3 years permitted by subsection (a) if the Com6 mission finds that the permittee has carried out activities 

7 under such permit in good faith and with reasonable dili8 gence.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT 

10 NONPOWERED DAMS AND CLOSED LOOP 

11 PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS. 

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

13 and reduce delays and costs for hydropower development 

14 at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage 

15 projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (re16 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall inves17 tigate the feasibility of the issuance of a license for hydro18 power development at nonpowered dams and closed loop 

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

20 in this section as a ‘‘2-year process’’). Such a 2-year proc21 ess shall include any prefiling licensing process of the 

22 Commission. 

23 (b) WORKSHOPS AND PILOTS.—The Commission 

24 shall— 


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1 (1) not later than 60 days after the date of en2 actment of this Act, hold an initial workshop to so3 licit public comment and recommendations on how 

4 to implement a 2-year process; 

5 (2) develop criteria for identifying projects fea6 turing hydropower development at nonpowered dams 

7 and closed loop pumped storage projects that may be 

8 appropriate for licensing within a 2-year process; 

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

10 enactment of this Act, develop and implement pilot 

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

12 (4) not later than 3 years after the date of im13 plementation of the final pilot project testing a 2- 

14 year process, hold a final workshop to solicit public 

15 comment on the effectiveness of each tested 2-year 

16 process. 

17 (c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Com18 mission shall, to the extent practicable, enter into a memo19 randum of understanding with any applicable Federal or 

20 State agency to implement a pilot project described in sub21 section (b). 

22 (d) REPORTS.— 

23 (1) PILOT PROJECTS NOT IMPLEMENTED.—If 

24 the Commission determines that no pilot project de25 scribed in subsection (b) is practicable because no 2- 


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1 year process is practicable, not later than 240 days 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis3 sion shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

4 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

5 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

6 Senate a report that— 

7 (A) describes the public comments received 

8 as part of the initial workshop held under sub9 section (b)(1); and 

10 (B) identifies the process, legal, environ11 mental, economic, and other issues that justify 

12 the determination of the Commission that no 2- 

13 year process is practicable, with recommenda14 tions on how Congress may address or remedy 

15 the identified issues. 

16 (2) PILOT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED.—If the 

17 Commission develops and implements pilot projects 

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

19 after the date of completion of the final workshop 

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

21 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

22 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

23 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 

24 report that— 


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1 (A) describes the outcomes of the pilot 

2 projects; 

3 (B) describes the public comments from 

4 the final workshop on the effectiveness of each 

5 tested 2-year process; and 

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

7 adopt policies under existing law (including reg8 ulations) that result in a 2-year process for ap9 propriate projects; 

10 (ii) outlines how the Commission will issue 

11 new regulations to adopt a 2-year process for 

12 appropriate projects; or 

13 (iii) identifies the process, legal, environ14 mental, economic, and other issues that justify 

15 a determination of the Commission that no 2- 

16 year process is practicable, with recommenda17 tions on how Congress may address or remedy 

18 the identified issues. 

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

20 HYDROPOWER FROM CONDUITS. 

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

22 conduct a study— 

23 (1)(A) of the technical flexibility that existing 

24 pumped storage facilities can provide to support 

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1 cluding the potential for such existing facilities to be 

2 upgraded or retrofitted with advanced commercially 

3 available technology; and 

4 (B) of the technical potential of existing 

5 pumped storage facilities and new advanced pumped 

6 storage facilities, to provide grid reliability benefits; 

7 and 

8 (2)(A) to identify the range of opportunities for 

9 hydropower that may be obtained from conduits (as 

10 defined by the Secretary) in the United States; and 

11 (B) through case studies, to assess amounts of 

12 potential energy generation from such conduit hy13 dropower projects. 

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

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

16 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

18 and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that de19 scribes the results of the study conducted under subsection 

20 (a), including any recommendations. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 13, 

2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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