II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1236 

To amend the Federal Power Act to modify certain requirements relating 

to trial-type hearings with respect to certain license applications before 

the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

Ms. MURKOWSKI 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 modify certain requirements relating to trial-type hearings with respect to certain license applications before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 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 ‘‘Hydropower Improve5 ment Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) according to the Energy Information Ad2 ministration, hydropower is the largest renewable 

3 energy source for electricity generation in the United 

4 States; 

5 (2) as of the date of enactment of this Act— 

6 (A) hydropower accounted for— 

7 (i) 52 percent of electricity generation 

8 from renewable resources in the United 

9 States; and 

10 (ii) approximately 6 percent of total 

11 electricity generation in the United States; 

12 and 

13 (B) the use of hydropower results in a re14 duction of 200,000,000 metric tons of carbon 

15 emissions each year; 

16 (3) with approximately 100,000 megawatts of 

17 electric capacity, hydropower provides low-cost power 

18 to 30,000,000 homes in the United States; 

19 (4) hydropower provides— 

20 (A) baseload power; 

21 (B) ancillary benefits that include grid reli22 ability and energy storage; and 

23 (C) integration and balancing services for 

24 variable renewable electricity resources, such as 

25 wind and solar; 


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1 (5) the Department of Energy estimates that 

2 an additional 300 gigawatts of hydropower could be 

3 realized in the United States through— 

4 (A) efficiency and capacity upgrades at ex5 isting facilities; 

6 (B) powering nonpowered dams; 

7 (C) the development of new small hydro8 power projects; and 

9 (D) pumped storage hydropower; and 

10 (6) the electric power systems in the United 

11 States and Canada form a highly integrated North 

12 American grid as— 

13 (A) the systems are connected at over 35 

14 points; 

15 (B) on average, Canada exports 5 to 10 

16 percent of its total electric generation to United 

17 States markets, with hydropower resources 

18 comprising over 80 percent of the exports; and 

19 (C) hydropower imports into the United 

20 States from Canada help stabilize the electric 

21 system during— 

22 (i) sudden disturbances, such as the 

23 2003 Northeast blackout; and 

24 (ii) severe weather events, such as the 

25 2014 polar vortex. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE USE OF HYDRO2 POWER RENEWABLE RESOURCES. 

3 It is the sense of Congress that— 

4 (1) hydropower is a renewable resource for pur5 poses of all Federal programs and is an essential 

6 source of energy in the United States; and 

7 (2) the United States should increase substan8 tially the capacity and generation of clean, renewable 

9 hydropower resources that would improve environ10 mental quality in the United States and support 

11 over 1,000,000 clean energy jobs. 

12 SEC. 4. MODIFYING THE DEFINITION OF RENEWABLE EN13 ERGY TO INCLUDE HYDROPOWER. 

14 Section 203(b)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

15 (42 U.S.C. 15852(b)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘new hy16 droelectric generation capacity achieved from increased ef17 ficiency or additions of new capacity at an existing hydro18 electric project’’ and inserting ‘‘hydropower’’. 

19 SEC. 5. LICENSES FOR CONSTRUCTION. 

20 The first proviso of section 4(e) of the Federal Power 

21 Act (16 U.S.C. 797(e)) is amended— 

22 (1) in the first sentence— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘deem’’ and inserting ‘‘de24 termine to be’’; and 

25 (B) by striking ‘‘utilization of such res26 ervation.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘utilizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 May 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236

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1 tion of such reservation, but only if the condi2 tions pertain to reservation land on which 

3 project works are located, have a clear and di4 rect nexus to the presence or operations of the 

5 project being licensed, as determined by the 

6 Commission, and are submitted in accordance 

7 with the schedule established under section 35’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) by striking the second, third, and fourth 

10 sentences. 

11 SEC. 6. PRELIMINARY PERMITS. 

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

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘three’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘4’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘Commission may extend 

18 the period of a preliminary permit once for not 

19 more than 2 additional years beyond the 3 

20 years’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘Commis21 sion may— 

22 ‘‘(1) extend the period of a preliminary permit 

23 once for not more than 4 additional years beyond 

24 the 4 years’’; 


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1 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

2 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(2) after the end of an extension period grant5 ed under paragraph (1), issue an additional permit 

6 to the permittee if the Commission determines that 

7 there are extraordinary circumstances that warrant 

8 the issuance of the additional permit.’’. 

9 SEC. 7. TIME LIMIT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECT 

10 WORKS. 

11 Section 13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806) 

12 is amended in the second sentence by striking ‘‘once but 

13 not longer than two additional years’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

14 not more than 8 additional years,’’. 

15 SEC. 8. LICENSE TERM. 

16 Section 15(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

17 808(e)) is amended— 

18 (a) by striking ‘‘(e) Except’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(e) LICENSE TERM ON RELICENSING.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except’’; and 

22 (b) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION.—In determining the 

24 term of a license under paragraph (1), the Commis25 sion shall consider project-related investments by the 


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1 licensee over the term of the existing license (includ2 ing any terms under annual licenses) that resulted 

3 in new development, construction, capacity, effi4 ciency improvements, or environmental measures, 

5 but which did not result in the extension of the term 

6 of the license by the Commission.’’. 

7 SEC. 9. OPERATION OF NAVIGATION FACILITIES. 

8 Section 18 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 811) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting after the 

11 ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’ the following: ‘‘or the Sec12 retary of the Interior, as appropriate, but only if the 

13 fishways are necessary to mitigate effects of the 

14 project on fish populations, have a clear and direct 

15 nexus to the presence or operations of the project 

16 being licensed, as determined by the Commission, 

17 and are submitted in accordance with the schedule 

18 established under section 35’’; and 

19 (2) by striking the second, third, and fourth 

20 sentences. 

21 SEC. 10. ALTERNATIVE CONDITIONS AND PRESCRIPTIONS. 

22 Section 33 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

23 823d) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘deems’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘determines’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in the matter preceding subpara5 graph (A)— 

6 (I) by striking ‘‘in paragraph (1), 

7 and’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraph (1), 

8 as submitted and without modifica9 tion, and’’; 

10 (II) by striking ‘‘if the Secretary 

11 determines,’’ and inserting ‘‘if the 

12 Commission determines,’’; and 

13 (III) by striking ‘‘otherwise avail14 able to the Secretary’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘otherwise available to the Commis16 sion’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘provides for the adequate protection and 

19 utilization of the reservation’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘adequately protects the reservation 

21 from adverse effects of the project’’; and 

22 (iii) in subparagraph (B), in the mat23 ter preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘de24 termined to be necessary’’ before ‘‘by the 

25 Secretary’’; 


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1 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ each place 

3 it appears and inserting ‘‘Commission’’; 

4 and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘evidence provided by 

6 the Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘evidence 

7 provided by the Secretary’’; 

8 (D) by striking paragraph (4); and 

9 (E) by striking paragraph (5); 

10 (2) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre12 ceding subparagraph (A)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘referred to in para14 graph (1), if the Secretary of the appro15 priate department’’ and inserting ‘‘referred 

16 to in paragraph (1), as submitted and 

17 without modification, if the Commission’’; 

18 and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘otherwise available to 

20 the Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘otherwise 

21 available to the Commission’’; 

22 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘the Secretary shall 

24 consider’’ and inserting ‘‘the Commission 

25 shall consider’’; 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘otherwise available to 

2 the Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘otherwise 

3 available to the Commission’’; and 

4 (iii) by striking ‘‘evidence provided by 

5 the Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘evidence 

6 provided by the Secretary concerned’’; 

7 (C) by striking paragraph (4); and 

8 (D) by striking paragraph (5); and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to— 

11 ‘‘(1) any proceeding under this part in which a 

12 Secretary proposes a condition to a license under the 

13 first proviso of section 4(e); 

14 ‘‘(2) any proceeding under this part in which a 

15 Secretary proposes a prescription for a fishway 

16 under section 18; and 

17 ‘‘(3) any instance in which a Secretary seeks to 

18 exercise reserved authority under a license to pre19 scribe, submit, or revise any condition to a license, 

20 under the first provision of section 4(e) or a fishway 

21 prescribed under section 18, as appropriate.’’. 

22 SEC. 11. LICENSING PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS AND CO23 ORDINATION. 

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

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


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1 ‘‘SEC. 34. LICENSING PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) LICENSE STUDIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate the timely and 

4 efficient completion of the license proceedings under 

5 this part, the Commission shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) conduct an investigation of best prac7 tices in performing licensing studies, including 

8 methodologies and the design of studies to as9 sess the full range of environmental impacts of 

10 a project; and 

11 ‘‘(B) compile a comprehensive collection of 

12 studies and data accessible to the public that 

13 could be used to inform license proceedings 

14 under this paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(2) USE OF EXISTING STUDIES.—To the max16 imum extent practicable, the Commission shall use 

17 existing studies and data in individual licensing pro18 ceedings under this part in accordance with para19 graph (1). 

20 ‘‘(3) NONDUPLICATION REQUIREMENT.—To the 

21 maximum extent practicable, the Commission shall 

22 ensure that studies and data required for any Fed23 eral authorization (as defined in section 35(a)) ap24 plicable to a particular project or facility are not du25 plicated in other licensing proceedings under this 

26 part. 


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1 ‘‘(b) INFORMAL MEETINGS WITH COMMISSION

2 STAFF.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the request of a li4 censee, applicant, or party to any license proceeding 

5 under this part, the Commission may designate staff 

6 to hold informal meetings to discuss technical or 

7 procedural matters relating to any ongoing license 

8 proceeding. 

9 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Commission— 

10 ‘‘(A) shall not be required to provide public 

11 notice in advance of a meeting held under para12 graph (1); and 

13 ‘‘(B) after a meeting is held under para14 graph (1), shall provide, on the record, to the 

15 public— 

16 ‘‘(i) notice regarding the subject mat17 ter of the meeting; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) a summary of the meeting. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 35. LICENSING PROCESS COORDINATION. 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION.—In 

21 this section, the term ‘Federal authorization’ means any 

22 authorization required under Federal law (including any 

23 license, permit, special use authorization, certification, 

24 opinion, consultation, determination, or other approval) 

25 with respect to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a project licensed under section 4 or 15; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(2) a facility exempted under— 

4 ‘‘(A) section 30; or 

5 ‘‘(B) section 405(d) of the Public Utility 

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

7 2705(d)). 

8 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION AS LEAD AGENCY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall act 

10 as the lead agency for the purposes of coordinating 

11 all applicable Federal authorizations. 

12 ‘‘(2) OTHER AGENCIES.—Each Federal and 

13 State agency considering an aspect of an application 

14 for Federal authorization shall cooperate with the 

15 Commission. 

16 ‘‘(c) SCHEDULE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) TIMING FOR ISSUANCE.—It is the sense of 

18 Congress that all Federal authorizations required for 

19 a project or facility, including a license or exemption 

20 order of the Commission, should be issued by the 

21 date that is 3 years after the date on which an ap22 plication is considered to be complete by the Com23 mission. 

24 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION SCHEDULE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

2 establish a schedule for the issuance of all Fed3 eral authorizations. 

4 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In establishing the 

5 schedule under subparagraph (A), the Commis6 sion shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) consult and cooperate with the 

8 Federal and State agencies responsible for 

9 a Federal authorization; 

10 ‘‘(ii) ensure the expeditious comple11 tion of all proceedings relating to a Fed12 eral authorization; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) comply with applicable schedules 

14 established by Federal law with respect to 

15 a Federal authorization. 

16 ‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If a Federal au17 thorization is not issued by the applicable deadline 

18 established under paragraph (2)— 

19 ‘‘(A) the license or exemption order of the 

20 Commission shall be considered to satisfy the 

21 required Federal authorization; and 

22 ‘‘(B) any subsequent submission by the 

23 agency responsible for the Federal authoriza24 tion shall be treated as a recommendation for 


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1 potential inclusion in the license under section 

2 10(a). 

3 ‘‘(d) CONSOLIDATED RECORD.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

5 maintain official consolidated records of all license 

6 proceedings under this part. 

7 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

8 Any Federal or State agency that is providing rec9 ommendations with respect to a license proceeding 

10 under this part shall submit to the Commission for 

11 inclusion in the consolidated record relating to the li12 cense proceeding maintained under paragraph (1)— 

13 ‘‘(A) the recommendations; 

14 ‘‘(B) the rationale for the recommenda15 tions; and 

16 ‘‘(C) any supporting materials relating to 

17 the recommendations. 

18 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN STATEMENT.—In a case in 

19 which a Federal agency is making a determination 

20 with respect to a covered measure (as defined in sec21 tion 36(a)), the head of the Federal agency shall in22 clude in the consolidated record a written statement 

23 demonstrating that the Federal agency gave equal 

24 consideration to the effects of the covered measure 

25 on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) energy supply, distribution, cost, and 

2 use; 

3 ‘‘(B) flood control; 

4 ‘‘(C) navigation; 

5 ‘‘(D) water supply; and 

6 ‘‘(E) air quality and the preservation of 

7 other aspects of environmental quality. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 36. TRIAL-TYPE HEARINGS. 

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

10 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVE CONDITION.—The term ‘al11 ternative condition’ means an alternative condition 

12 proposed under section 33(a)(1). 

13 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE PRESCRIPTION.—The term 

14 ‘alternative prescription’ means an alternative pre15 scription proposed under section 33(b)(1). 

16 ‘‘(3) COVERED MEASURE.—The term ‘covered 

17 measure’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) an original condition; 

19 ‘‘(B) an original prescription; 

20 ‘‘(C) an alternative condition; and 

21 ‘‘(D) an alternative prescription. 

22 ‘‘(4) ORIGINAL CONDITION.—The term ‘original 

23 condition’ means a condition to a license proposed 

24 under the first proviso of section 4(e). 


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1 ‘‘(5) ORIGINAL PRESCRIPTION.—The term 

2 ‘original prescription’ means a prescription for a 

3 fishway proposed under section 18. 

4 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF TRIAL-TYPE HEARING.— 

5 The license applicant (including an applicant for a license 

6 under section 15) and any party to the proceeding shall 

7 be entitled to a determination on the record, after oppor8 tunity for a trial-type hearing of not more than 120 days, 

9 on any disputed issues of material fact with respect to an 

10 applicable covered measure. 

11 ‘‘(c) EFFECT OF REVISION OR SUPPLEMEN12 TATION.—The fact that an existing license is revised or 

13 supplemented under the reserved authority of a resource 

14 agency shall not affect the eligibility of the license appli15 cant for a trial-type hearing under this section. 

16 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE FOR REQUEST.—A request for a 

17 trial-type hearing under this section shall be submitted not 

18 later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(1) submits an original condition or original 

20 prescription; or 

21 ‘‘(2) exercises reserved authority under the li22 cense to prescribe, submit, or revise any condition to 

23 a license under the first proviso of section 4(e) or 

24 fishway prescribed under section 18, as appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NO REQUIREMENT TO EXHAUST.—By electing 

2 not to request a trial-type hearing under subsection (d), 

3 a license applicant and any other party to a license pro4 ceeding shall not be considered to have waived the right 

5 of the applicant or other party to raise any issue of fact 

6 or law on rehearing or judicial review of the license deci7 sion of the Commission. 

8 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE.—All disputed 

9 issues of material fact raised by a party in a request for 

10 a trial-type hearing submitted under subsection (d) shall 

11 be determined in a single trial-type hearing to be con12 ducted by an Administrative Law Judge within the Office 

13 of Administrative Law Judges and Dispute Resolution of 

14 the Commission, in accordance with the Commission rules 

15 of practice and procedure under part 385 of title 18, Code 

16 of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), and 

17 within the timeframe established by the Commission for 

18 each license proceeding (including a proceeding for a li19 cense under section 15). 

20 ‘‘(g) STAY.—The Administrative Law Judge may im21 pose a stay of a trial-type hearing under this section for 

22 a period of not more than 120 days to facilitate settlement 

23 negotiations relating to resolving the disputed issues of 

24 material fact with respect to the covered measure. 


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1 ‘‘(h) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In any trial-type hearing 

2 under this section, the party advocating for the adoption 

3 of the covered measure shall have the burden of proof to 

4 support the facts at issue in the covered measure, by a 

5 preponderance of evidence. 

6 ‘‘(i) ISSUANCE OF DECISION RELATING TO COVERED

7 MEASURES.—On conclusion of a trial-type hearing under 

8 this section, the Administrative Law Judge shall issue 

9 findings of fact, which shall be binding on all participants 

10 in the trial-type hearing. 

11 ‘‘(j) SECRETARIAL DETERMINATION.—The Secretary 

12 that issued the original condition or original prescription 

13 shall not later than 60 days after the date on which the 

14 Administrative Law Judge issues the decision and, in ac15 cordance with the schedule established by the Commission, 

16 propose a modified condition or modified prescription ap17 plicable to the license, based on the decision issued by the 

18 Administrative Law Judge. 

19 ‘‘(k) ALTERNATIVE.—A party to the trial-type hear20 ing may propose to the Commission an alternative to a 

21 modified condition or modified prescription proposed by 

22 the Secretary under subsection (j), in accordance with the 

23 schedule established by the Commission. 

24 ‘‘(l) DETERMINATION BY COMMISSION.—After con25 sidering the modified condition or modified prescription 


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1 proposed under subsection (j) and any alternative to the 

2 modified condition or modified prescription proposed 

3 under subsection (k), the Commission shall include in the 

4 license the modified condition or modified prescription, un5 less the Commission determines that the alternative to the 

6 modified condition or modified prescription— 

7 ‘‘(1)(A) in the case of an alternative to the 

8 modified condition, provides for the adequate protec9 tion and utilization of the reservation; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of an alternative to the modi11 fied prescription, would be no less protective than 

12 the modified prescription; and 

13 ‘‘(2) as compared to the modified condition or 

14 modified prescription, would— 

15 ‘‘(A) cost significantly less to implement; 

16 or 

17 ‘‘(B) result in improved operation of the 

18 project works for electricity production. 

19 ‘‘(m) APPEAL TO COMMISSION.—A decision of an Ad20 ministrative Law Judge issued under this section may be 

21 appealed to the Commission only as part of a request for 

22 rehearing filed within 30 days of a Commission order act23 ing on the application at issue. 

24 ‘‘(n) RESOLUTION OF INCONSISTENCIES.—The Com25 mission shall have the final authority to resolve any inconVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236

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1 sistencies between requirements imposed pursuant to Fed2 eral authorizations (as defined in section 35(a)). 

3 ‘‘SEC. 37. PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS. 

4 ‘‘In carrying out section 6(a) of the Hydropower Reg5 ulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 (16 U.S.C. 797 note; Pub6 lic Law 113–23), the Commission shall consider a closed 

7 loop pumped storage project to include a project— 

8 ‘‘(1) in which the upper and lower reservoirs do 

9 not impound or directly withdraw water from a navi10 gable stream; and 

11 ‘‘(2) that is not continuously connected to a 

12 naturally flowing water feature. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 38. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall sub16 mit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re17 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy 

18 and Commerce of the House of Representatives an 

19 annual report that— 

20 ‘‘(A) describes and quantifies, for each li21 censed, exempted, or proposed project under 

22 this part or section 405(d) of the Public Utility 

23 Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

24 2705(d)) (referred to in this subsection as the 

25 ‘covered project’), the quantity of energy and 


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1 capacity authorized for new development and 

2 reauthorized for continued operation during the 

3 reporting year, including an assessment of the 

4 economic, climactic, air quality, and other envi5 ronmental benefits achieved by the new and re6 authorized energy and capacity; 

7 ‘‘(B) describes and quantifies the loss of 

8 energy, capacity, or ancillary services as a re9 sult of any licensing action under this part or 

10 other requirement under Federal law during the 

11 reporting year; 

12 ‘‘(C) identifies any application to license, 

13 relicense, or expand a covered project pending 

14 as of the date of the annual report, including 

15 a quantification of the new energy and capacity 

16 with the potential to be gained or lost by action 

17 relating to the covered project; and 

18 ‘‘(D) lists all proposed covered projects 

19 that, as of the date of the annual report, are 

20 subject to a preliminary permit issued under 

21 section 4(f), including a description of the 

22 quantity of new energy and capacity that would 

23 be achieved through the development of each 

24 proposed covered project. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—The Commission shall es2 tablish and maintain a publicly available website or 

3 comparable resource that tracks all information re4 quired for the annual report under paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(b) RESOURCE AGENCY ANNUAL REPORT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any Federal or State re7 source agency that is participating in any Commis8 sion proceeding under this part or that has respon9 sibilities for any Federal authorization shall submit 

10 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

11 of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 

12 Commerce of the House of Representatives a report 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) describes each term, condition, or 

15 other requirement prepared by the resource 

16 agency during the reporting year with respect 

17 to a Commission proceeding under this part, in18 cluding— 

19 ‘‘(i) an assessment of whether imple20 mentation of the term, condition, or other 

21 requirement would result in the loss of en22 ergy, capacity, or ancillary services at the 

23 project, including a quantification of the 

24 losses; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of economic, air qual2 ity, climactic and other environmental ef3 fects associated with implementation of the 

4 term, condition, or other requirement; 

5 ‘‘(iii) a demonstration, based on evi6 dence in the record of the Commission, 

7 that the resource agency prepared the 

8 term, condition, or other requirement in a 

9 manner that meets the policy established 

10 by this part while discharging the respon11 sibilities of the resource agency under this 

12 part or any other applicable requirement 

13 under Federal law; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) a statement of whether the head 

15 of the applicable Federal agency has ren16 dered final approval of the term, condition, 

17 or other requirement, or whether the term, 

18 condition, or other requirement remains a 

19 preliminary recommendation of staff of the 

20 resource agency; and 

21 ‘‘(B) identifies all pending, scheduled, and 

22 anticipated proceedings under this part that, as 

23 of the date of the annual report, the resource 

24 agency expects to participate in, or has any apVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1236.IS S1236

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1 proval or participatory responsibilities for under 

2 Federal law, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) an accounting of whether the re4 source agency met all deadlines or other 

5 milestones established by the resource 

6 agency or the Commission during the re7 porting year; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the specific plans of the resource 

9 agency for allocating sufficient resources 

10 for each project during the upcoming year. 

11 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any resource agency pre12 paring an annual report to Congress under para13 graph (1) shall establish and maintain a publicly 

14 available website or comparable resource that tracks 

15 all information required for the annual report.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS