I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1529 

To amend the Federal Power Act to provide for Federal and State coordination of permitting for electric transmission facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2005 

Mr. SHADEGG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to provide for Federal 

and State coordination of permitting for electric transmission facilities, 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. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds that: 

5 (1) Protection of the environmental and ecologi6 cal qualities of Federal lands are important concerns 

7 for all people. 

8 (2) Reviewing the environmental impact of pro9 posed transmission facilities is a vital task which 
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1 must be conducted in a thorough and comprehensive 

2 manner. 

3 (3) A thorough and comprehensive review of 

4 these effects can be conducted in a timely manner 

5 without sacrificing the quality of the review. 

6 (4) There is currently no requirement that Fed7 eral agencies complete environmental reviews for 

8 proposed transmission facilities in a timely manner. 

9 (5) The length of time for completion of these 

10 reviews varies widely, with agencies taking as long 

11 as ten years to complete these reviews. 

12 (6) There are cases of Federal agencies con13 ducting environmental reviews in a subsequent, rath14 er than concurrent, manner and failing to coordinate 

15 their reviews with State authorities and other Fed16 eral agencies. 

17 (7) The electricity transmission grid must be 

18 expanded to ensure reliable supplies of electricity. 

19 (8) The Federal Government currently owns ap20 proximately 29 percent of the land area of the 

21 United States including 90 percent of Nevada, 70 

22 percent of Arizona, and similarly large percentages 

23 of other Western States. 
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1 (9) Because of the large Federal land holdings 

2 in the West, transmission facilities must often be 

3 built on Federal lands. 

4 (10) Appointment of a lead agency to coordi5 nate the environmental reviews of Federal agencies 

6 will lead to more thorough, comprehensive and time7 ly reviews. 

8 SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 

9 The Constitutional authority on which this act rests 

10 are the powers of Congress to make all needful rules and 

11 regulations respecting the territory or other property be12 longing to the United States as enumerated in article IV, 

13 section 3 and to make all laws which shall be necessary 

14 and proper as enumerated in article I, section 8 of the 

15 United States Constitution. 

16 SEC. 3. FEDERAL AND STATE COORDINATION OF PERMIT17 TING FOR TRANSMISSION FACILITIES. 

18 (a) LEAD AGENCY.—If an applicant, or prospective 

19 applicant, for Federal authorization related to an elec20 tricity transmission or distribution facility so requests, the 

21 Department of Energy (DOE) shall act as the lead agency 

22 for purposes of coordinating all applicable Federal author23 ization and related environmental review of the facility. 

24 The term ‘‘Federal authorization’’ shall mean any author25 ization required under Federal law in order to site a trans-
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1 mission or distribution facility, including but not limited 

2 to such permits, special use authorizations, certifications, 

3 opinions, or other approvals as may be required, whether 

4 issued by a Federal or a State agency. To the maximum 

5 extent practicable, the Secretary of Energy shall coordi6 nate this Federal authorization and review process with 

7 any Indian tribes, multi-State entities, and State agencies 

8 that are responsible for conducting any separate permit9 ting and environmental reviews of the facility, to ensure 

10 timely and efficient review and permit decisions. 

11 (b) AUTHORITY TO SET DEADLINES.—As lead agen12 cy, the Department of Energy, in consultation with other 

13 Federal and, as appropriate, with Indian tribes, multi14 State entities, and State agencies that are willing to co15 ordinate their own separate permitting and environmental 

16 reviews with the Federal authorization and environmental 

17 reviews, shall establish prompt and binding intermediate 

18 milestones and ultimate deadlines for the review of and 

19 Federal authorization decisions relating to the proposed 

20 facility. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

21 Secretary of Energy shall ensure that once an application 

22 has been submitted with such data as the Secretary deems 

23 necessary, all permit decisions and related environmental 

24 reviews under all applicable Federal laws shall be com25 pleted within 1 year. The Secretary of Energy also shall 
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1 provide a speedy pre-application mechanism for prospec2 tive applicants to confer with the agencies involved to have 

3 each such agency determine and communicate to the pro4 spective applicant within 60 days of when the prospective 

5 applicant submits a request for such information con6 cerning— 

7 (1) the likelihood of approval for a potential fa8 cility; and 

9 (2) key issues of concern to the agencies and 

10 public. 

11 (c) CONSOLIDATED ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND

12 RECORD OF DECISION.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

13 prepare a single environmental review document, which 

14 shall be used as the basis for all decisions on the proposed 

15 project under Federal law. The document may be an envi16 ronmental assessment or environmental impact statement 

17 under the National Environmental Policy Act if war18 ranted, or such other form of analysis as may be war19 ranted. DOE and other agencies shall streamline the re20 view and permitting of transmission and distribution fa21 cilities within corridors designated under section 503 of 

22 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 

23 section 1763) by fully taking into account prior analyses 

24 and decisions as to the corridors. 
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1 (d) APPEALS.—In the event that any agency has de2 nied a Federal authorization required for a transmission 

3 or distribution facility, or has failed to act by the deadline 

4 established by the Secretary pursuant to this section for 

5 deciding whether to issue the authorization, the applicant 

6 or any State in which the facility would be located may 

7 file an appeal with the Secretary of Energy, which shall 

8 review the denial or take action on the pending applica9 tion. Based on the overall record and in consultation with 

10 the affected agency, the Secretary may then either issue 

11 the necessary authorization with or without appropriate 

12 conditions, or may deny the application. The Secretary 

13 shall issue its decision within 90 days of the filing of the 

14 appeal. 

15 (e) CONFORMING REGULATIONS AND MEMORANDA

16 OF AGREEMENT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

17 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Energy 

18 shall issue any regulations necessary to implement the 

19 foregoing provisions. Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of enactment of this section, the Secretary and the heads 

21 of all relevant Federal departments and non-departmental 

22 agencies shall, and interested Indian tribes, multi-State 

23 entities, and State agencies may, enter into Memoranda 

24 of Agreement to ensure the timely and coordinated review 

25 and permitting of electricity transmission and distribution 
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1 facilities. The head of each Federal department or non2 departmental agency with approval authority shall des3 ignate a senior responsible official and dedicate sufficient 

4 other staff and resources to ensure that the DOE regula5 tions and any Memoranda are fully implemented. 

6 (f) MISCELLANEOUS.—Each Federal authorization 

7 for an electricity transmission or distribution facility shall 

8 be issued for a duration, as determined by the Secretary 

9 of Energy, commensurate with the anticipated use of the 

10 facility and with appropriate authority to manage the 

11 right-of-way for reliability and environmental protection. 

12 Further, when such authorizations expire, they shall be 

13 reviewed for renewal taking fully into account reliance on 

14 such electricity infrastructure, recognizing its importance 

15 for public health, safety and economic welfare and as a 

16 legitimate use of Federal lands. 

17 (g) MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING THE TRANS18 MISSION INFRASTRUCTURE.—In exercising the respon19 sibilities under this section, the Secretary of Energy shall 

20 consult regularly with the Federal Energy Regulatory 

21 Commission (FERC) and FERC-approved Regional 

22 Transmission Organizations and Independent System Op23 erators on changes to the national grid that will improve 
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1 reliability, relieve congestion, and enhance the capability 

2 of the grid to deliver electricity. 

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