SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2012’’. 
(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. 
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. 
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) according to one study, by utilizing cur-
rently untapped resources, the United States could 
add approximately 60,000 megawatts of new hydro-
power capacity by 2025, which could create 700,000 
new jobs over the next 13 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 subsections (a) and (b) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(a)(1) A qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall 
not be required to be licensed under this part. 
‘‘(2)(A) Any person, State, or municipality proposing 
to construct a qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall 
file with the Commission a notice of intent to construct 
such facility. The notice shall include sufficient informa-
tion to demonstrate that the facility meets the qualifying 
criteria. 
‘‘(B) Not later than 15 days after receipt of a notice 
of intent filed under subparagraph (A), the Commission 
shall— 
‘‘(i) make an initial determination as to wheth-
er the facility meets the qualifying criteria; and 
‘‘(ii) if the Commission makes an initial deter-
mination, pursuant to clause (i), that the facility 
meets the qualifying criteria, publish public notice of 
the notice of intent filed under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) If, not later than 45 days after the date of publi-
cation of the public notice described in subparagraph 
(B)(ii)— 
‘‘(i) an entity contests whether the facility 
meets the qualifying criteria, the Commission shall 
promptly issue a written determination as to wheth-
er the facility meets such criteria; or 
‘‘(ii) no entity contests whether the facility 
meets the qualifying criteria, the facility shall be 
deemed to meet such criteria. 
‘‘(3) For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(A) 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 
industrial consumption and not primarily for the 
generation of electricity. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying conduit hydropower 
facility’ means a facility (not including any dam or 
other impoundment) that is determined or deemed 
under paragraph (2)(C) to meet the qualifying cri-
teria. 
‘‘(C) The term ‘qualifying criteria’ means, with 
respect to a facility— 
‘‘(i) the facility is constructed, operated, or 
maintained for the generation of electric power 
and uses for such generation only the hydro-
electric potential of a non-federally owned con-
duit; 
‘‘(ii) the facility has an installed capacity 
that does not exceed 5 megawatts; and 
‘‘(iii) on or before the date of enactment of 
the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 
2012, the facility is not licensed under, or ex-
empted from the license requirements contained 
in, this part. 
‘‘(b) Subject to subsection (c), the Commission may 
grant an exemption in whole or in part from the require-
ments of this part, including any license requirements con-
tained in this part, to any facility (not including any dam 
or other impoundment) constructed, operated, or main-
tained for the generation of electric power which the Com-
mission determines, by rule or order— 
‘‘(1) utilizes for such generation only the hydro-
electric potential of a conduit; and 
‘‘(2) has an installed capacity that does not ex-
ceed 40 megawatts.’’. 
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 
(3) 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 PERIODS. 
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: 
‘‘(b) The Commission may extend the period of a pre-
liminary permit once for not more than 2 additional years 
beyond the 3 years permitted by subsection (a) if the Com-
mission finds that the permittee has carried out activities 
under such permit in good faith and with reasonable dili-
gence.’’. 
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; 
(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 
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 
(C)(i) outlines how the Commission will 
adopt policies under existing law (including reg-
ulations) that result in a 2-year process for ap-
propriate projects; 
(ii) outlines how the Commission will issue 
new regulations to adopt a 2-year process for 
appropriate projects; 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)(A) of the technical flexibility that existing 
pumped storage facilities can provide to support 
intermittent renewable electric energy generation, in-
cluding the potential for such existing facilities to be 
upgraded or retrofitted with advanced commercially 
available technology; and 
(B) of the technical potential of existing 
pumped storage facilities and new advanced pumped 
storage facilities, to provide grid reliability benefits; 
and 
(2)(A) to identify the range of opportunities for 
hydropower that may be obtained from conduits (as 
defined by the Secretary) in the United States; and 
(B) through case studies, to assess amounts of 
potential energy generation from such conduit hy-
dropower projects. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy 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 de-
scribes the results of the study conducted under subsection 
(a), including any recommendations. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 9, 2012. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5892 
AN ACT 
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes.