I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 267 

To improve hydropower, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2013 

Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS (for herself, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. 

TERRY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. LATTA, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N

of New Mexico, and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

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 2013’’. 

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. 

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. 

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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) according to one study, by utilizing cur20 rently untapped resources, the United States could 

21 add approximately 60,000 megawatts of new hydro22 power capacity by 2025, which could create 700,000 

23 new jobs over the next 13 years. 

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1 SEC. 3. PROMOTING SMALL HYDROELECTRIC POWER 

2 PROJECTS. 

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

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

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

6 SEC. 4. PROMOTING CONDUIT HYDROPOWER PROJECTS. 

7 (a) APPLICABILITY OF, AND EXEMPTION FROM, LI8 CENSING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 30 of the Federal 

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

10 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in11 serting the following: 

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

13 not be required to be licensed under this part. 

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

15 to construct a qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall 

16 file with the Commission a notice of intent to construct 

17 such facility. The notice shall include sufficient informa18 tion to demonstrate that the facility meets the qualifying 

19 criteria. 

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

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

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) make an initial determination as to wheth24 er the facility meets the qualifying criteria; and 

25 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission makes an initial deter26 mination, pursuant to clause (i), that the facility 

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1 meets the qualifying criteria, publish public notice of 

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

3 ‘‘(C) If, not later than 45 days after the date of publi4 cation of the public notice described in subparagraph 

5 (B)(ii)— 

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

7 meets the qualifying criteria, the Commission shall 

8 promptly issue a written determination as to wheth9 er the facility meets such criteria; or 

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

11 meets the qualifying criteria, the facility shall be 

12 deemed to meet such criteria. 

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

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

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

16 manmade water conveyance that is operated for the 

17 distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or 

18 industrial consumption and not primarily for the 

19 generation of electricity. 

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

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

22 other impoundment) that is determined or deemed 

23 under paragraph (2)(C) to meet the qualifying cri24 teria. 

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

2 respect to a facility— 

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

4 maintained for the generation of electric power 

5 and uses for such generation only the hydro6 electric potential of a non-federally owned con7 duit; 

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

9 that does not exceed 5 megawatts; and 

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

11 the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 

12 2013, the facility is not licensed under, or ex13 empted from the license requirements contained 

14 in, this part. 

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

16 grant an exemption in whole or in part from the require17 ments of this part, including any license requirements con18 tained in this part, to any facility (not including any dam 

19 or other impoundment) constructed, operated, or main20 tained for the generation of electric power which the Com21 mission determines, by rule or order— 

22 ‘‘(1) utilizes for such generation only the hydro23 electric potential of a conduit; and 

24 ‘‘(2) has an installed capacity that does not ex25 ceed 40 megawatts.’’; 

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

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

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

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

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

6 section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 

7 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705), as amended, is further amend8 ed by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of such section 30’’ and in9 serting ‘‘subsection (b) of such section 30’’. 

10 SEC. 5. FERC AUTHORITY TO EXTEND PRELIMINARY PER11 MIT PERIODS. 

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

13 is amended— 

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

15 sentences as subsections (a), (c), and (d), respec16 tively; and 

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) (as so des18 ignated) the following: 

19 ‘‘(b) The Commission may extend the period of a pre20 liminary permit once for not more than 2 additional years 

21 beyond the 3 years permitted by subsection (a) if the Com22 mission finds that the permittee has carried out activities 

23 under such permit in good faith and with reasonable dili24 gence.’’. 

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1 SEC. 6. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT 

2 NONPOWERED DAMS AND CLOSED LOOP 

3 PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS. 

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

5 and reduce delays and costs for hydropower development 

6 at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage 

7 projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (re8 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall inves9 tigate the feasibility of the issuance of a license for hydro10 power development at nonpowered dams and closed loop 

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

12 in this section as a ‘‘2-year process’’). Such a 2-year proc13 ess shall include any prefiling licensing process of the 

14 Commission. 

15 (b) WORKSHOPS AND PILOTS.—The Commission 

16 shall— 

17 (1) not later than 60 days after the date of en18 actment of this Act, hold an initial workshop to so19 licit public comment and recommendations on how 

20 to implement a 2-year process; 

21 (2) develop criteria for identifying projects fea22 turing hydropower development at nonpowered dams 

23 and closed loop pumped storage projects that may be 

24 appropriate for licensing within a 2-year process; 

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

2 enactment of this Act, develop and implement pilot 

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

4 (4) not later than 3 years after the date of im5 plementation of the final pilot project testing a 2- 

6 year process, hold a final workshop to solicit public 

7 comment on the effectiveness of each tested 2-year 

8 process. 

9 (c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Com10 mission shall, to the extent practicable, enter into a memo11 randum of understanding with any applicable Federal or 

12 State agency to implement a pilot project described in sub13 section (b). 

14 (d) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) PILOT PROJECTS NOT IMPLEMENTED.—If 

16 the Commission determines that no pilot project de17 scribed in subsection (b) is practicable because no 2- 

18 year process is practicable, not later than 240 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis20 sion shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 

21 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 

22 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

23 Senate a report that— 

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1 (A) describes the public comments received 

2 as part of the initial workshop held under sub3 section (b)(1); and 

4 (B) identifies the process, legal, environ5 mental, economic, and other issues that justify 

6 the determination of the Commission that no 2- 

7 year process is practicable, with recommenda8 tions on how Congress may address or remedy 

9 the identified issues. 

10 (2) PILOT PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED.—If the 

11 Commission develops and implements pilot projects 

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

13 after the date of completion of the final workshop 

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

15 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

17 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 

18 report that— 

19 (A) describes the outcomes of the pilot 

20 projects; 

21 (B) describes the public comments from 

22 the final workshop on the effectiveness of each 

23 tested 2-year process; and 

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

25 adopt policies under existing law (including regmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with 

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1 ulations) that result in a 2-year process for ap2 propriate projects; 

3 (ii) outlines how the Commission will issue 

4 new regulations to adopt a 2-year process for 

5 appropriate projects; 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)(A) of the technical flexibility that existing 

17 pumped storage facilities can provide to support 

18 intermittent renewable electric energy generation, in19 cluding the potential for such existing facilities to be 

20 upgraded or retrofitted with advanced commercially 

21 available technology; and 

22 (B) of the technical potential of existing 

23 pumped storage facilities and new advanced pumped 

24 storage facilities, to provide grid reliability benefits; 

25 and 

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

2 hydropower that may be obtained from conduits (as 

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

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

5 potential energy generation from such conduit hy6 dropower projects. 

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

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

9 submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

11 and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that de12 scribes the results of the study conducted under subsection 

13 (a), including any recommendations. 

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