jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Water resources development
Date: 2012-06-05 00:00:00

Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2012 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to increase from 5,000 to 10,000 kilowatts the size of small hydroelectric power projects which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may exempt from its license requirements. (Sec. 4) Amends the Federal Power Act to revise the limitation on the maximum installation capacity of qualifying conduit hydropower facilities that are eligible for an exemption from licensing requirements. Requires any person, state, or municipality proposing to construct a qualifying conduit hydropower facility to file with FERC a notice of intent to do so. Requires FERC, within 15 days after receiving such a notice of intent, to make an initial determination as to whether the facility meets the qualifying criteria. Waives license requirements for any conduit hydroelectric facility that: (1) uses for electric power generation only the hydroelectric potential of a non-federally owned conduit, (2) has a maximum installed capacity of five megawatts, and (3) is not currently licensed or exempted from license requirements. Redefines "conduit" to specify any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of electricity. Authorizes FERC to exempt from license requirements any electric power generation facility that utilizes for such generation only the hydroelectric potential of a conduit, and has an installed capacity or 40 megawatts or fewer. (Sec. 5) Authorizes FERC to extend the preliminary permit period for up to two additional years beyond the three years otherwise allowed if it finds that the permittee has implemented activities under the permit in good faith and with reasonable diligence. (Sec. 6) Directs FERC to: (1) investigate the feasibility of issuing a license for hydropower development at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage projects during a two-year period, and (2) hold workshops and develop hydropower pilot projects. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to study: (1) the technical flexibility that existing pumped storage facilities can provide to support intermittent renewable electric energy generation, including the potential for such facilities to be upgraded or retrofitted with advanced commercially available technology; and (2) the technical potential of existing pumped storage facilities and new advanced pumped storage facilities to provide grid reliability benefits.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2012-06-19 00:00:00

American Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to promulgate regulations to implement and enforce federal combined efficiency and renewable electricity standard. Requires each retail electric supplier to submit to FERC, annually, an amount of federal renewable electricity credits and demonstrated total annual electricity savings for the previous year that, in the aggregate, is equal to the supplier's annual combined target for that year as established by this Act (compliance obligation). Requires each supplier to submit credits equal to at least three quarters of such target. Requires FERC, upon a request from a state's governor, to increase, to no more than half, the proportion of the annual combined targets for suppliers located within such state that may be met through submission of demonstrated total annual electricity savings. Requires a supplier's target to be equal to the product of the supplier's base amount (electricity sold) for the year and a specified annual percentage for that year, which increases from 8% for 2014 to 50% for 2035 through 2040. Sets forth provisions governing the issuance, tracking, verification, trading, banking, and retirement of federal renewable electricity credits. Requires FERC to: (1) prescribe standards and protocols for defining and measuring electricity savings and total annual electricity savings that can be counted toward a compliance obligation, (2) establish procedures and standards requiring third-party verification of reported electricity savings, and (3) establish requirements governing the submission of reports to demonstrate the total annual electricity savings achieved by a retail electric supplier within the relevant year. Allows a retail electric supplier to: (1) use electricity savings transferred from other specified entities to meet its compliance obligation, and (2) submit, in lieu of each federal renewable electricity credit or megawatt hour of demonstrated total annual electricity electricity savings that would otherwise be due, an alternative compliance payment of $50 to the state or states in which such supplier sells electric energy. Requires states to use such payments for: (1) deploying technologies that generate electricity from renewable resources, or (2) implementing cost-effective energy efficiency programs to achieve electricity savings. Prescribes penalties for noncompliance with, or violations of, this Act. Terminates this Act on December 31, 2041. Authorizes states to set the rates for a sale of electric energy by a facility generating electric energy from renewable energy sources pursuant to a state-approved production incentive program.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-02-14 00:00:00

Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), upon the request of the licensee for the project numbered 12063 (Little Wood River Ranch, Idaho), to: (1) extend for three years after enactment of this Act the time period during which the licensee is required to commence the construction of project works; or (2) if the license for Project No. 12063 has been terminated, reinstate the license and extend for three years after enactment of this Act the time period during which the licensee is required to commence the construction of project works.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-02-14 00:00:00

Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), upon the request of the licensee for the project numbered 12423 (American Falls Reservoir, Idaho), to reinstate the license and extend to September 25, 2013, the time period during which the licensee is required to commence the construction of project works.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-02-17 00:00:00

Amends the Federal Power Act to deny any rate or charge for the transmission of electric energy contained in any filing made or proceeding initiated after June 17, 2010, from being considered just and reasonable unless it is based upon an allocation of costs for new transmission facilities that is reasonably proportionate to measurable economic or reliability benefits projected, as determined by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to accrue to the persons that pay such rates or charges.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-03-07 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate reported version is repeated here.) Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act - (Sec. 3) Declares that, in order to facilitate hydropower development on the Diamond Fork System (Utah), a certain amount of reimbursable costs allocated to project power in the Power Appendix of the October 2004 Supplement to the 1988 Bonneville Unit Definite Plan Report shall be considered final costs, as well as specified costs in excess of the total maximum repayment obligation, subject to the same terms and conditions. (Sec. 4) States that: (1) this Act does not obligate the Western Area Power Administration to purchase or market any of the power produced by the Diamond Fork power plant; and (2) none of the costs associated with development of transmission facilities to transmit power from the Diamond Fork power plant shall be assigned to power for the purpose of Colorado River Storage Project ratemaking. (Sec. 5) Prohibits any hydroelectric power generation or transmission facility on the Diamond Fork System from being financed or refinanced with any obligation: (1) whose interest enjoys federal tax-exempt status; or (2) which enjoys certain federal tax credits. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to report to certain congressional committees if hydropower production on the Diamond Fork System has not commenced 24 months after enactment of this Act, stating the reasons such production has not commenced, and presenting a detailed timeline for future hydropower production. (Sec, 7) Provides that the budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled "Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation" for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to vote on passage. (Sec. 8) Prohibits the use of Western Area Power Administration borrowing authority under the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 to fund any study or construction of transmission facilities developed as a result of this Act.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2011-03-07 00:00:00

South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior, insofar as the Strawberry Water Users Association conveyed its interest in an electric distribution system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service District, to convey and assign to the District: (1) all interest of the United States in all fixtures owned by the United States as part of the electric distribution system and the federal lands and interests where the fixtures are located, (2) license for use in perpetuity of the shared power poles, and (3) licenses for use and access in perpetuity to specified project lands and interests and corridors where federal lands and interests are abutting public streets and roads and can provide access to facilities. Requires the District to assume all liability from the United States for the administration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of such electric distribution system. Requires the Secretary, before conveying such lands, interests, and fixtures, to be in compliance with all applicable requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and any other law applicable to such land and facilities. Prohibits anything, except for the uses as granted by license in the shared power poles, from being construed as granting or conveying to the District or any other party any interest in any facilities comprising a part of the Strawberry Valley Project power generation system or the federally owned parts of the 46 kilovolt transmission system, the ownership of which shall remain in the United States. Prohibits, upon conveyance of any land or facility under this Act: (1) the conveyed and assigned land and facilities from any longer being considered as part of a federal reclamation project; (2) the District from being entitled to receive any future Bureau of Reclamation benefits respecting such land and facilities, except for those that would be available to other non-Bureau facilities; and (3) the United States from being liable for damages arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence related to the land and facilities, including the transaction specified above between the Association and the District. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the status of such conveyance, any obstacles to completing it, and the anticipated date for its completion, if the conveyance is not completed within one year of enactment of this Act.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-03-09 00:00:00

Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2011 - Amends the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 (HPPA) to modify, commencing October 1, 2017, certain statutory schedules governing contracts for delivery of hydroelectric power generated at Hoover Dam to specified localities in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) create, from certain apportioned allocations of contingent capacity and firm energy, a resource pool equal to 5% of the full rated capacity of 2.074 million kilowatts and associated firm energy; (2) offer Schedule D contingency capacity and firm energy to new allottees not receiving contingent capacity and firm energy for delivery commencing October 1, 2017; and (3) allocate through the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) for delivery, commencing October 1, 2017, 66.7% of Schedule D contingent capacity and firm energy to specified new allottees located within the marketing area for the Boulder City Area Projects. Requires each contract offered under HPPA to: (1) authorize and require WAPA to collect from new allottees a pro rata share of Hoover Dam repayable advances paid for by contractors before October 1, 2017, and to remit such amounts to the contractors that paid such advances in proportion to the amounts paid by them as specified in a certain Implementation Agreement; (2) permit transactions with an independent system operator; and (3) contain the same material terms included in those long-term contracts for purchases from the Hoover Power Plant that were made in accordance with HPPA and are in existence on the date of enactment of this Act. Subjects the contractual obligation of the Secretary to deliver contingent capacity and firm energy under HPPA to the availability of the water needed to produce such contingent capacity and firm energy. Continues through FY2067 the requirements of HPPA as the exclusive method for (in effect, congressional oversight of) the disposal of capacity and energy from Hoover Dam.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-03-17 00:00:00

Hydropower Renewable Energy Development Act of 2011 - Includes hydroelectric energy generated in the United States by a hydroelectric facility within the definition of "renewable energy" for purposes of any federal program or standard. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) classify certain hydropower production facilities as renewable resources for purposes of the tax credit for producing electricity from renewable resources, (2) eliminate the one-half reduction in the tax credit rate for hydropower and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy facilities, and (3) allow accelerated depreciation of equipment that produces electricity from marine and hydrokinetic renewable resources and from hydropower.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-04-06 00:00:00

Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require a retail electric supplier to submit to the Secretary of Energy (DOE) for calendar year 2013 and thereafter one or more of the following: (1) specified federal renewable energy credits, (2) certification of the renewable energy generated and electricity savings, and (3) specified alternative compliance payments. Prescribes, for calendar years 2013 through 2039, a schedule of graduated annual percentages of a retail electric supplier's base amount that shall be generated from renewable energy resources (increasing from 6% in 2013 to 25% in 2025). Directs the Secretary to establish a program to: (1) verify and issue federal renewable energy credits to generators of renewable energy; (2) track the sale, exchange, and retirement of the credits; and (3) enforce the federal renewable energy credits program. Directs the Secretary to issue a generator of electric energy one federal renewable energy credit for each kilowatt hour of electric energy generated by the use of a renewable energy resource at an eligible facility. Prescribes rules for federal renewable energy credit trading and for borrowing and repayment of federal renewable energy credits. Provides that this Act does not diminish the authority of a state or its political subdivision to: (1) adopt or enforce any law (including regulations) respecting renewable energy, or (2) regulate the acquisition and disposition of federal renewable energy credits by retail electric suppliers. Permits an electric utility that has sales of electric energy subject to rate regulation to recover the full cost of renewable energy obtained to comply with this Act. Establishes in the Treasury a state renewable energy account for a grant program for promoting renewable energy production and providing energy assistance and weatherization services to low-income consumers.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2011-06-28 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an electric utility: (1) a renewable electricity integration tax credit for the purchase or production of renewable power, or (2) a payment in lieu of such credit for sales of renewable electricity to retail customers.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-08-02 00:00:00

PURPA's Legislative Upgrade to State Authority Act or PURPA PLUS Act - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), with respect to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority to prescribe rules requiring electric utilities to offer to sell and purchase electric energy to and from any qualifying cogeneration or small power production facility. Permits state regulatory authorities or nonregulated electric utilities, acting under state authority, to set rates exceeding the incremental cost of alternative electric energy for purchases from any such qualifying facility of up to two megawatts capacity. (Current law requires FERC to set rates that do not exceed the incremental cost to the electric utility of alternative electric energy.)
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2011-10-13 00:00:00

Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in implementing the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule, with respect to any farm, to require certification of compliance with such rule by: (1) a professional engineer for a farm with an individual tank with a storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons, an aggregate storage capacity of at least 42,000 gallons, or a history that includes a spill; or (2) the owner or operator of the farm (via self-certification) for a farm with an aggregate storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons but less than 42,000 gallons and no history of spills. Exempts from all requirements of such rule any farm with an aggregate storage capacity of at least 10,000 gallons and no history of spills. Excludes all containers on separate parcels that have a capacity that is less than 1,320 gallons from the aggregate storage capacity of a farm.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-10-20 00:00:00

Landowner Protection Act of 2011 - Amends the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from requiring removal or modification of any existing nonconforming structure or encroachment within the project boundary, except one built in bad faith, whenever it issues, denies, approves, or modifies a mandatory shoreline management plan required under a FERC license.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2011-12-14 00:00:00

Supporting Home Owner Rights Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), when deciding whether to issue a hydropower project license, to give equal consideration to private landownership by any nonlicensee and private use of land. Requires a hydropower project licensee, in developing any recreational resource within the project boundary, to consider private landownership by any nonlicensee as a means to encourage and facilitate private investment and increased tourism and recreational use.
Topic: Energy — Electricity
Subject: Energy
Date: 2012-03-01 00:00:00

Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012 - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require, beginning in calendar 2015, each electric utility that sells electric energy to electric consumers in a state (other than Alaska or Hawaii) to obtain a percentage of such electric energy from clean energy. Prescribes a schedule for calendar year minimum annual percentages. Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to: (1) establish a federal clean energy credit trading program under which electric utilities may submit clean energy credits to certify their compliance, and (2) issue to each generator of electric energy a quantity of clean energy credits determined in accordance with this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to delegate: (1) administration of a national clean energy credit market for purposes of establishing a transparent national market for the sale or trade of clean energy credits; and (2) the tracking of dispatch of clean generation. Subjects to a civil penalty an electric utility that fails to meet the requirements of this Act. Requires the Secretary to establish a state energy efficiency funding program. Exempts from this Act any electric utility that sold less than the prescribed quantity of megawatt-hours of electric energy to electric consumers during the preceding calendar year. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on mechanisms to supplement the standard under this Act by addressing clean energy resources that do not generate electric energy but that may substantially reduce electric energy loads, including energy efficiency, biomass converted to thermal energy, geothermal energy collected using heat pumps, thermal energy delivered through district heating systems, and waste heat used as industrial process heat. Directs the Secretary to submit a report to Congress that: (1) quantifies the losses of natural gas during its production and transportation, and (2) recommends programs and policies to promote conservation of natural gas for beneficial use.