Leave our Lakes Alone Act

Bill: 113-hr-1235
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Hartzler, Vicky [R-MO-4]
Introduced: 2013-03-18
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Dams and canals

Department of Energy

Electric power generation and transmission

Energy efficiency and conservation

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Fishes

Floods and storm protection

Intergovernmental relations

Lakes and rivers

Licensing and registrations

Outdoor recreation

State and local government operations

Water use and supply

Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
Latest action: action_date: 2013-03-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

Summaries:
action_date: 2013-03-18
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p>Leave our Lakes Alone Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from considering public use and environmental purposes in issuing a license for a project in a state whose law expressly authorizes such a prohibition.</p> <p>Defines &quot;public use and environmental purposes&quot; to mean the purposes of energy conservation, the protection, mitigation of damage to, and enhancement of, fish and wildlife, the protection of recreational opportunities, the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality, and other beneficial public uses, including irrigation, flood control, and water supply, as such purposes apply to land within a project boundary above the highest target elevation for normal operations of the project.</p> <p>Exempts projects on federal land from application of this Act.</p> <UL> <UL> </UL> </UL> <p> <UL> <UL> </UL> </UL>

tv_txt: I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1235 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 18, 2013 Mrs. Hartzler (for herself, Mr. Cotton , Mr. Mullin , Mr. Lankford , Mr. Graves of Missouri , and Mr. Griffith of Virginia ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Power Act to permit States to exempt projects from certain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considerations in issuing licenses for such projects.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Leave our Lakes Alone Act . 2. State determination to exempt projects from certain FERC considerations in licensing Section 4 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 797 ) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (h) (1) For the purposes of this subsection— (A) the term exempt State means a State for which a State law is in effect that expressly authorizes paragraph (2) to apply to projects within the State; and (B) the term public use and environmental purposes means the purposes of energy conservation, the protection, mitigation of damage to, and enhancement of, fish and wildlife (including related spawning grounds and habitat), the protection of recreational opportunities, the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality, and other beneficial public uses, including irrigation, flood control, water supply, and other purposes, as required under subsection (e) and section 10(a), as such purposes apply to land within the project boundary that is above the highest target elevation for normal operations of the project. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (e) and sections 10(a) and 28, the Commission may not consider public use and environmental purposes in issuing a license for a project in an exempt State. (3) If a State law described in paragraph (1)(A) is no longer in effect, paragraph (2) shall continue to apply to any project in the State for which a license was issued while such law was in effect. (4) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to any project or portion of a project on Federal land. .