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US House passes more bills to aid hydropower development

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US House passes more bills to aid hydropower development

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills by voice vote Dec. 12 to speed licensing of hydroelectric facilities at nonpowered dams and promote closed-loop pumped storage hydropower.

House Bill 2872, or the Promoting Hydropower Development at Existing Nonpowered Dams Act, would establish an expedited licensing process for those projects so regulators can reach a final decision on an application within two years or less. The bill would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to exempt qualifying new hydropower projects at nonpowered dams from certain licensing requirements and enable those projects to undergo a more streamlined environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act.

H.R. 2872 would also require FERC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of the Interior to make a list of existing nonpowered federal dams that have the greatest potential for nonfederal hydropower development.

The House on Dec. 12 also passed H.R. 2880, or the Promoting Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Act. The bill would expedite the licensing process for closed-looped pumped storage projects to two years or less and requires FERC to hold a workshop on developing such resources at abandoned mine sites.

The two bills join other hydropower legislation passed by the House that originated from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Nov. 8, the House voted 257-166 to pass H.R. 3043, or the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act. The legislation would designate FERC as the lead agency to coordinate federal authorizations for hydropower projects and set the schedule for reviewing hydropower project applications, a proposal some Democrats and conservation groups worry will rob power from states.

The fate of the bills in the Senate is unclear. Congress has been consumed in 2017 with healthcare, tax reform and confirming Trump administration nominees for various agencies, leaving little time to consider broad energy legislation that could address permitting for hydropower. Lawmakers could have more time in 2018 for an energy bill that incorporates similar measures.