Date: 2012-03-06
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Chair. I rise today in order to debate H.R. 2842. "Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act" would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to permit private entities to develop small hydropower units on all irrigation canals and conduits under the agencys jurisdiction. Under current law. the Bureau or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC. has jurisdiction over hydropower development at such facilities. Currently both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Bureau of Reclamation have the authority to manage small conduit hydropower projects in all Bureau of Reclamation irrigation canals and conduits. This bill would give this authority only to the Bureau of Reclamation thereby streamlining regulation. There will be jobs created by this measure. however not enough to be considered a Rural Jobs bill. The American people need a jobs bill. I would have supported this legislation without hesitation if this bill did not contain a poison pill. As written I am concerned about a provision in the bill that would exempt small conduit hydropower projects from having to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA. H.R. 2842 removes the requirement that all small hydropower projects must complete an environmental impact statement unless granted an exception from FERC. Although my colleagues who support this legislation will argue that NEPA compliance for small conduit hydropower is unnecessary and hinders developers from pursuing small conduit hydropower projects. There is a valid and proven counter to this argument. Currently FERC has a successful licensing process for small conduit hydropower showing that compliance with NEPA need not hinder responsible development. FERC categorically exempts small conduit projects from NEPA. This approach works: from 20062010. 13 conduit exemptions were completed in less than a year. Of the 11 conduit exemptions that were issued in 2011. orders regarding the nine conduit exemptions that presented no substantive issues were issued on average 40 days after the comment deadline established in the public notice. We can protect our environment while meeting the needs of rural communities in need of an additional green energy resource. I will continue to seek ways to improve the nations hydropower system by encouraging increased generation while improving environmental performance. Let me be clear. I support hydropower in both large scale and small projects that are developed and operated in a responsible manner that avoids harm to Americas precious river resources. Given the very real environmental and social impacts of global climate changeespecially on vital freshwater systemsI believe that we should develop new sources of energy that can supplement Americas reliance on foreign oil. However. I also know that the energy that we receive from hydropower if done improperly comes at an enormous cost to the health of our nations rivers and communities. The harm caused by any hydropower project can be avoided if hydropower is sited. constructed. and operated in a responsible manner. A few simple changes can make an enormous difference. which is why compliance with NEPA is important. In the case of larger scale hydropower projects. hydropower operators could change the timing of power generation to mimic a rivers natural hydrologic conditions. stabilize lake levels and dam releases to protect riverside land from erosion. provide fish ladders and other measures that protect fish and allow them to pass safely upstream and downstream of dams. restore habitat for fish and wildlife. alter the design and operation of plants to maintain appropriate temperature and oxygen levels in rivers. and provide public access and release water back into rivers so that people can fish. boat. and swim. These types of changes have a miniscule impact on the overall generation of the Nations hydropower fleet. In fact. an analysis by FERC found that since Congress passed laws in the 1986s to encourage these types of improvements. overall generating capacity has actually increased by 4.1 percent. The benefits to human and natural communities have been immense. The Bureau of Reclamation was established to construct water works to provide water for irrigation and power for utilities in arid western states. The agency manages a number of facilities as part of larger. multipurpose reclamation projects serving irrigation. flood control. power supply. and recreation purposes. Overall. these facilities serve approximately 31 million people. delivering a total of approximately 28.5 million acrefeet of water (an acrefoot is enough to cover one acre of land one foot deep. or 325.851 gallons) and making the agency the second largest domestic hydropower producer. H.R. 2842 seeks to utilize these existing irrigation channels/waterways by inserting small conduits to create hydro power. Hydropower is a clean. renewable. nonemitting source of energy that provides lowcost electricity and helps reduce carbon emissions. It is more efficient than any other form of electricity generation and offsets more carbon emissions than all other renewable energy sources combined. It accounts for 67 percent of the Nations total renewable electricity generation. In addition to providing lowcost electricity. multipurpose dams provide water for irrigation. wildlife. recreation and barge transportation and offer flood control benefits. As part of the New Deal. the Roosevelt Administration sought to bridge the urbanrural divide in access to electricity. In the early 1930s. according to one estimate. 90 percent of Americans in urban areas had access to electric power. while only 10 percent of rural America had access. The establishment of the Rural Electrification Administration. REA. in 1935 sparked a series of Federal investments that brought power to rural American homes over the coming years. By 1939. the REA had helped to establish more than 400 rural electric cooperatives. which served nearly 300.000 households. Today. the RUS continues to provide credit and other assistance to help improve electric. water. and telecommunications services in rural areas. For example. between 2002 and 2009. the RUS invested $36 billion in electric systems and $14 billion in water and waste management systems throughout rural America. Small hydropower projects help to address the electricity needs of rural areas in a green way. The Department of the Interiors Bureau of Reclamation also provides hydropower. and drinking water and irrigation services to rural America. Today. the Bureau is the Nations largest wholesaler of water. serving 31 million people. and provides irrigation to one out of five western farmers. This is a very clever manner to use existing water ways and existing technology to create electricity. Three manufacturers in the Nation build these small conduits. Apparently they are so prevalent that they are available at Home Depot. Again hydropower represents approximately twothirds of the renewable electricity generation in the United States and is currently providing almost seven percent of the countrys total energy generation. About fortyfive percent of all hydropower in the United States is generated at federallyowned facilities. With only three percent of the Nations approximately eighty thousand federal and nonfederal dams currently generating hydropower there is great potential to increase hydropower production. Additional hydropower can be sited. constructed. and operated in a responsible manner to reduce or avoid environmental damages.