II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2655 

To amend the Federal Power Act to promote hydropower development at 

existing nonpowered dams, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mrs. MCCASKILL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to promote hydropower 

development at existing nonpowered dams, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Hydro5 power Development and Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT EX7 ISTING NONPOWERED DAMS. 

8 Part I of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et 

9 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 34. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT 

2 EXISTING NONPOWERED DAMS. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) QUALIFYING FACILITY.—The term ‘quali5 fying facility’ means a facility that the Commission 

6 determines is a qualifying facility under subsection 

7 (b)(1). 

8 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING NONPOWERED DAM.—The 

9 term ‘qualifying nonpowered dam’ means any dam, 

10 dike, embankment, or other barrier— 

11 ‘‘(A) the construction of which was com12 pleted on or before the date of enactment of 

13 this section; 

14 ‘‘(B) that is or was operated for the con15 trol, release, or distribution of water for agri16 cultural, municipal, navigational, industrial, 

17 commercial, environmental, recreational, aes18 thetic, drinking water, or flood control pur19 poses; and 

20 ‘‘(C) that, as of the date of enactment of 

21 this section, is not generating electricity with 

22 hydropower generating works that are licensed 

23 under, or exempted from the license require24 ments of, this part. 


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1 ‘‘(b) EXPEDITED LICENSING PROCESS FOR NON2 FEDERAL HYDROPOWER PROJECTS AT EXISTING NON3 POWERED DAMS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE AND AMEND LI5 CENSES AND PRELIMINARY PERMITS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may 

7 issue and amend licenses and preliminary per8 mits, as appropriate, for any facility that the 

9 Commission determines meets the qualifying 

10 criteria under subparagraph (B). 

11 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING CRITERIA.—To be con12 sidered a qualifying facility under subparagraph 

13 (A), the Commission shall determine that, with 

14 respect to the facility— 

15 ‘‘(i) as of the date of enactment of 

16 this section, the facility is not licensed 

17 under, or exempted from the license re18 quirements of, this part; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the facility will be associated 

20 with a qualifying nonpowered dam; 

21 ‘‘(iii) the facility will be constructed, 

22 operated, and maintained for the genera23 tion of electric power; 

24 ‘‘(iv) the facility will use for the gen25 eration described in clause (iii) withVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Apr 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2655.IS S2655

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1 drawals, diversions, releases, or flows from 

2 the associated qualifying nonpowered dam, 

3 including the impoundment or other infra4 structure associated with the associated 

5 qualifying nonpowered dam; and 

6 ‘‘(v) the operation of the facility will 

7 not result in any material change to the 

8 storage, release, or flow operations of the 

9 associated qualifying nonpowered dam. 

10 ‘‘(2) RULE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of enactment of this section, the Commission 

12 shall issue a rule establishing an expedited process 

13 for issuing and amending licenses and preliminary 

14 permits for qualifying facilities under this section. 

15 ‘‘(3) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In establishing the ex17 pedited process under paragraph (2), the Com18 mission shall convene an interagency task force 

19 to coordinate the regulatory processes associ20 ated with the authorizations required to con21 struct and operate a qualifying facility. 

22 ‘‘(B) REPRESENTATION.—The interagency 

23 task force convened under subparagraph (A) 

24 shall include representatives from appropriate 

25 Federal and State agencies and Indian Tribes. 


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1 ‘‘(4) LENGTH OF PROCESS.—The Commission 

2 shall ensure that the expedited process under para3 graph (2) results in a final decision on an applica4 tion for a license for a qualifying facility by not later 

5 than 2 years after the date on which the Commis6 sion receives the completed application for the li7 cense. 

8 ‘‘(c) DAM SAFETY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT.—Before issuing any license 

10 for a qualifying facility under this section, the Com11 mission shall assess the safety of existing non-Fed12 eral dams and other non-Federal structures associ13 ated with the qualifying facility, including possible 

14 consequences associated with the failure of such a 

15 structure. 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In issuing any license 

17 for a qualifying facility, the Commission shall ensure 

18 that the dam safety requirements of the Commission 

19 apply to the qualifying facility and the associated 

20 qualifying nonpowered dam over the term of the li21 cense. 

22 ‘‘(d) INTERAGENCY COMMUNICATIONS.—Interagency 

23 cooperation in the preparation of an environmental impact 

24 statement or similar analysis required under the National 

25 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 


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1 seq.) with respect to an application for a license for a 

2 qualifying facility under this section, and interagency com3 munications relating to licensing process coordination 

4 under this section, shall not— 

5 ‘‘(1) be considered to be ex parte communica6 tions under Commission rules; or 

7 ‘‘(2) preclude an agency from participating in a 

8 licensing proceeding under this part. 

9 ‘‘(e) IDENTIFICATION OF NONPOWERED DAMS FOR

10 HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of enactment of this section, the Commis13 sion, acting jointly with the Secretary of the Army, 

14 the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of 

15 Agriculture (referred to in this subsection as the 

16 ‘Secretaries’), shall develop a list of existing nonpow17 ered Federal dams that the Commission and the 

18 Secretaries agree have the greatest potential for 

19 non-Federal hydropower development. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the list 

21 under paragraph (1), the Commission and the Secre22 taries may consider— 

23 ‘‘(A) the compatibility of hydropower gen24 eration with existing purposes of the dam; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the proximity of the dam to existing 

2 transmission resources; 

3 ‘‘(C) the existence of studies to charac4 terize environmental, cultural, and historic re5 sources relating to the dam; and 

6 ‘‘(D) the effects of hydropower develop7 ment on release or flow operations of the dam. 

8 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—The Commission shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) provide the list developed under para10 graph (1) to— 

11 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Environment 

12 and Public Works and the Committee on 

13 Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen14 ate; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Energy and 

16 Commerce, the Committee on Transpor17 tation and Infrastructure, and the Com18 mittee on Natural Resources of the House 

19 of Representatives; and 

20 ‘‘(B) make the list available to the pub21 lic.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. OBLIGATION FOR PAYMENT OF ANNUAL CHARGES. 

23 Section 10(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

24 803(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) Any obligation of a licensee for payment of an2 nual charges under this subsection shall commence when 

3 the construction of the applicable facility commences.’’. 

Æ 


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