I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3680 
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 15, 2011 
Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS (for herself and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infra-
structure, Natural Resources, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a 
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2011’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
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. 
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Sec. 5. FERC authority to extend preliminary permit terms. 
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. 
Sec. 8. Report on memorandum of understanding on hydropower. 
Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the hydropower industry currently employs 
approximately 300,000 workers across the United 
States; 
(2) hydropower is the largest source of clean, 
renewable electricity in the United States; 
(3) as of the date of enactment of this Act, hy-
dropower resources, including pumped storage facili-
ties, provide— 
(A) nearly 7 percent of the electricity gen-
erated in the United States; and 
(B) approximately 100,000 megawatts of 
electric capacity in the United States; 
(4) only 3 percent of the 80,000 dams in the 
United States generate electricity, so there is sub-
stantial potential for adding hydropower generation 
to nonpowered dams; and 
(5) by utilizing currently untapped resources, 
the United States could add approximately 60,000 
megawatts of new hydropower capacity by 2025, 
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which could create 700,000 new direct jobs over the 
next 14 years. 
SEC. 3. PROMOTING SMALL HYDROELECTRIC POWER 
PROJECTS. 
Subsection (d) of section 405 of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705) is 
amended by striking ‘‘5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘10,000’’. 
SEC. 4. PROMOTING CONDUIT HYDROPOWER PROJECTS. 
(a) APPLICABILITY OF, AND EXEMPTION FROM, LI-
CENSING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 30 of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 823a) is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (b); 
(2) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub-
section (b); 
(3) by inserting before subsection (b), as redes-
ignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection, the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(a)(1) A facility described in this paragraph shall 
not be required to be licensed under this part. A facility 
described in this paragraph is a facility that— 
‘‘(A) is constructed, operated, or main-
tained for the generation of electric power and 
uses for such generation only the hydroelectric 
potential of a non-federally owned conduit; 
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‘‘(B) is located on non-Federal lands or 
Federal lands; 
‘‘(C) has an installed capacity that does 
not exceed 5 megawatts; and 
‘‘(D) on or before the date of enactment of 
the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 
2011, is not licensed under, or exempted from 
the license requirements contained in, this part. 
‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘conduit’ 
means any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, 
or similar manmade water conveyance that is operated for 
the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or in-
dustrial consumption and not primarily for the generation 
of electricity.’’; 
(4) in subsection (b), as redesignated by para-
graph (2) of this subsection— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘(b) or’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, and’’ 
and inserting ‘‘or Federal lands;’’; 
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘man-
made conduit, which is operated for the dis-
tribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or 
industrial consumption and not primarily for 
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the generation of electricity.’’ and inserting 
‘‘conduit; and’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) has an installed capacity that does not exceed 
40 megawatts.’’; 
(5) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 
(6) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (d) of 
section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 
of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705), as amended, is further amend-
ed by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of such section 30’’ and in-
serting ‘‘subsection (b) of such section 30’’. 
SEC. 5. FERC AUTHORITY TO EXTEND PRELIMINARY PER-
MIT TERMS. 
Section 5 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 798) 
is amended— 
(1) by designating the first, second, and third 
sentences as subsections (a), (c), and (d), respec-
tively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) (as so des-
ignated) the following: 
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‘‘(b) EXTENSION.—The Commission may extend the 
term of a preliminary permit once for not more than 2 
additional years if the Commission finds that the per-
mittee has carried out activities under the permit in good 
faith and with reasonable diligence.’’. 
SEC. 6. PROMOTING HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT 
NONPOWERED 
DAMS 
AND 
CLOSED 
LOOP 
PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To improve the regulatory process 
and reduce delays and costs for hydropower development 
at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage 
projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall inves-
tigate the feasibility of the issuance of a license for hydro-
power development at nonpowered dams and closed loop 
pumped storage projects in a 2-year period (referred to 
in this section as a ‘‘2-year process’’). Such a 2-year proc-
ess shall include any prefiling licensing process of the 
Commission. 
(b) WORKSHOPS
AND PILOTS.—The Commission 
shall— 
(1) not later than 60 days after the date of en-
actment of this Act, hold an initial workshop to so-
licit public comment and recommendations on how 
to implement a 2-year process; 
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(2) develop criteria for identifying projects fea-
turing hydropower development at nonpowered dams 
and closed loop pumped storage projects that may be 
appropriate for licensing within a 2-year process; 
(3) not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, develop and implement pilot 
projects to test a 2-year process, if practicable; and 
(4) not later than 3 years after the date of im-
plementation of the final pilot project testing a 2- 
year process, hold a final workshop to solicit public 
comment on the effectiveness of each tested 2-year 
process. 
(c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Com-
mission shall, to the extent practicable, enter into a memo-
randum of understanding with any applicable Federal or 
State agency to implement a pilot project described in sub-
section (b). 
(d) REPORTS.— 
(1) PILOT PROJECTS NOT IMPLEMENTED.—If 
the Commission determines that no pilot project de-
scribed in subsection (b) is practicable because no 2- 
year process is practicable, not later than 240 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-
sion shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives and the 
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Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 
Senate a report that— 
(A) describes the public comments received 
as part of the initial workshop held under sub-
section (b)(1); and 
(B) identifies the process, legal, environ-
mental, economic, and other issues that justify 
the determination of the Commission that no 2- 
year process is practicable, with recommenda-
tions on how Congress may address or remedy 
the identified issues. 
(2) PILOT
PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED.—If the 
Commission develops and implements pilot projects 
involving a 2-year process, not later than 60 days 
after the date of completion of the final workshop 
held under subsection (b)(4), the Commission shall 
submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 
report that— 
(A) describes the outcomes of the pilot 
projects; 
(B) describes the public comments from 
the final workshop on the effectiveness of each 
tested 2-year process; and 
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(C)(i) outlines how the Commission will 
adopt policies under existing law (including reg-
ulations) that result in a 2-year process; 
(ii) outlines how the Commission will issue 
new regulations to adopt a 2-year process; or 
(iii) identifies the process, legal, environ-
mental, economic, and other issues that justify 
a determination of the Commission that no 2- 
year process is practicable, with recommenda-
tions on how Congress may address or remedy 
the identified issues. 
SEC. 7. DOE STUDY OF PUMPED STORAGE AND POTENTIAL 
HYDROPOWER FROM CONDUITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall 
conduct a study— 
(1) of the potential megawatts of hydropower 
that may be obtained from conduits (as defined by 
the Secretary) in the United States; and 
(2) of land, including identification of land, that 
is well-suited for pumped storage sites and is located 
near existing or potential sites of intermittent renew-
able energy resource development, such as wind 
farms. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall 
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submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that de-
scribes the results of the study conducted under subsection 
(a), including any recommendations. 
SEC. 8. REPORT ON MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING 
ON HYDROPOWER. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the President shall submit to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
the Senate a report on actions taken by the Department 
of Energy and other Federal agencies to carry out the 
memorandum of understanding on hydropower entered 
into on March 24, 2010, with particular emphasis on ac-
tions taken by the agencies to work together and inves-
tigate ways to efficiently and responsibly facilitate the 
Federal permitting process for Federal and non-Federal 
hydropower projects at Federal facilities, within existing 
authority. 
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out this 
Act and the amendments made by this Act, of which not 
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more than $1,000,000 shall be appropriated to the De-
partment of Energy. 
(b) OFFSET.—Section 422(f) of the Energy Inde-
pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17082(f)) 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); 
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘2012; and’’ 
and inserting ‘‘2012;’’; 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing paragraph: 
‘‘(4) $145,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and’’; 
and 
(4) in paragraph (5), as redesignated by para-
graph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘2013’’ and 
inserting ‘‘2014’’. 
Æ 
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