Sec. 11. Licensing process improvements and coordination
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Part I of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 792 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: To facilitate the timely and efficient completion of the license proceedings under this part, the Commission shall— conduct an investigation of best practices in performing licensing studies, including methodologies and the design of studies to assess the full range of environmental impacts of a project; and compile a comprehensive collection of studies and data accessible to the public that could be used to inform license proceedings under this paragraph.
To the maximum extent practicable, the Commission shall use existing studies and data in individual licensing proceedings under this part in accordance with paragraph (1). To the maximum extent practicable, the Commission shall ensure that studies and data required for any Federal authorization (as defined in section 35(a)) applicable to a particular project or facility are not duplicated in other licensing proceedings under this part. On the request of a licensee, applicant, or party to any license proceeding under this part, the Commission may designate staff to hold informal meetings to discuss technical or procedural matters relating to any ongoing license proceeding.
The Commission— shall not be required to provide public notice in advance of a meeting held under paragraph (1); and after a meeting is held under paragraph (1), shall provide, on the record, to the public— notice regarding the subject matter of the meeting; and a summary of the meeting. In this section, the term Federal authorization means any authorization required under Federal law (including any license, permit, special use authorization, certification, opinion, consultation, determination, or other approval) with respect to— a project licensed under section 4 or 15; or a facility exempted under— section 30; or section 405(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ( 16 U.S.C. 2705(d) ).
The Commission shall act as the lead agency for the purposes of coordinating all applicable Federal authorizations. Each Federal and State agency considering an aspect of an application for Federal authorization shall cooperate with the Commission. It is the sense of Congress that all Federal authorizations required for a project or facility, including a license or exemption order of the Commission, should be issued by the date that is 3 years after the date on which an application is considered to be complete by the Commission.
The Commission shall establish a schedule for the issuance of all Federal authorizations. In establishing the schedule under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall— consult and cooperate with the Federal and State agencies responsible for a Federal authorization; ensure the expeditious completion of all proceedings relating to a Federal authorization; and comply with applicable schedules established by Federal law with respect to a Federal authorization. If a Federal authorization is not issued by the applicable deadline established under paragraph (2)— the license or exemption order of the Commission shall be considered to satisfy the required Federal authorization; and any subsequent submission by the agency responsible for the Federal authorization shall be treated as a recommendation for potential inclusion in the license under section 10(a).
The Commission shall maintain official consolidated records of all license proceedings under this part. Any Federal or State agency that is providing recommendations with respect to a license proceeding under this part shall submit to the Commission for inclusion in the consolidated record relating to the license proceeding maintained under paragraph (1)— the recommendations; the rationale for the recommendations; and any supporting materials relating to the recommendations. In a case in which a Federal agency is making a determination with respect to a covered measure (as defined in section 36(a)), the head of the Federal agency shall include in the consolidated record a written statement demonstrating that the Federal agency gave equal consideration to the effects of the covered measure on— energy supply, distribution, cost, and use; flood control; navigation; water supply; and air quality and the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality.
In this section: The term alternative condition means an alternative condition proposed under section 33(a)(1). The term alternative prescription means an alternative prescription proposed under section 33(b)(1). The term covered measure means— an original condition; an original prescription; an alternative condition; and an alternative prescription. The term original condition means a condition to a license proposed under the first proviso of section 4(e). The term original prescription means a prescription for a fishway proposed under section 18.
The license applicant (including an applicant for a license under section 15) and any party to the proceeding shall be entitled to a determination on the record, after opportunity for a trial-type hearing of not more than 120 days, on any disputed issues of material fact with respect to an applicable covered measure. The fact that an existing license is revised or supplemented under the reserved authority of a resource agency shall not affect the eligibility of the license applicant for a trial-type hearing under this section.
A request for a trial-type hearing under this section shall be submitted not later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary— submits an original condition or original prescription; or exercises reserved authority under the license to prescribe, submit, or revise any condition to a license under the first proviso of section 4(e) or fishway prescribed under section 18, as appropriate. By electing not to request a trial-type hearing under subsection (d), a license applicant and any other party to a license proceeding shall not be considered to have waived the right of the applicant or other party to raise any issue of fact or law on rehearing or judicial review of the license decision of the Commission.
All disputed issues of material fact raised by a party in a request for a trial-type hearing submitted under subsection
(d)shall be determined in a single trial-type hearing to be conducted by an Administrative Law Judge within the Office of Administrative Law Judges and Dispute Resolution of the Commission, in accordance with the Commission rules of practice and procedure under part 385 of title 18, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), and within the timeframe established by the Commission for each license proceeding (including a proceeding for a license under section 15). The Administrative Law Judge may impose a stay of a trial-type hearing under this section for a period of not more than 120 days to facilitate settlement negotiations relating to resolving the disputed issues of material fact with respect to the covered measure. In any trial-type hearing under this section, the party advocating for the adoption of the covered measure shall have the burden of proof to support the facts at issue in the covered measure, by a preponderance of evidence. On conclusion of a trial-type hearing under this section, the Administrative Law Judge shall issue findings of fact, which shall be binding on all participants in the trial-type hearing. The Secretary that issued the original condition or original prescription shall not later than 60 days after the date on which the Administrative Law Judge issues the decision and, in accordance with the schedule established by the Commission, propose a modified condition or modified prescription applicable to the license, based on the decision issued by the Administrative Law Judge. A party to the trial-type hearing may propose to the Commission an alternative to a modified condition or modified prescription proposed by the Secretary under subsection (j), in accordance with the schedule established by the Commission. After considering the modified condition or modified prescription proposed under subsection
(j)and any alternative to the modified condition or modified prescription proposed under subsection (k), the Commission shall include in the license the modified condition or modified prescription, unless the Commission determines that the alternative to the modified condition or modified prescription— in the case of an alternative to the modified condition, provides for the adequate protection and utilization of the reservation; or in the case of an alternative to the modified prescription, would be no less protective than the modified prescription; and as compared to the modified condition or modified prescription, would— cost significantly less to implement; or result in improved operation of the project works for electricity production. A decision of an Administrative Law Judge issued under this section may be appealed to the Commission only as part of a request for rehearing filed within 30 days of a Commission order acting on the application at issue. The Commission shall have the final authority to resolve any inconsistencies between requirements imposed pursuant to Federal authorizations (as defined in section 35(a)). In carrying out section 6(a) of the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 ( 16 U.S.C. 797 note; Public Law 113–23 ), the Commission shall consider a closed loop pumped storage project to include a project— in which the upper and lower reservoirs do not impound or directly withdraw water from a navigable stream; and that is not continuously connected to a naturally flowing water feature. The Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives an annual report that— describes and quantifies, for each licensed, exempted, or proposed project under this part or section 405(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ( 16 U.S.C. 2705(d) ) (referred to in this subsection as the covered project ), the quantity of energy and capacity authorized for new development and reauthorized for continued operation during the reporting year, including an assessment of the economic, climactic, air quality, and other environmental benefits achieved by the new and reauthorized energy and capacity; describes and quantifies the loss of energy, capacity, or ancillary services as a result of any licensing action under this part or other requirement under Federal law during the reporting year; identifies any application to license, relicense, or expand a covered project pending as of the date of the annual report, including a quantification of the new energy and capacity with the potential to be gained or lost by action relating to the covered project; and lists all proposed covered projects that, as of the date of the annual report, are subject to a preliminary permit issued under section 4(f), including a description of the quantity of new energy and capacity that would be achieved through the development of each proposed covered project. The Commission shall establish and maintain a publicly available website or comparable resource that tracks all information required for the annual report under paragraph (1). Any Federal or State resource agency that is participating in any Commission proceeding under this part or that has responsibilities for any Federal authorization shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report that— describes each term, condition, or other requirement prepared by the resource agency during the reporting year with respect to a Commission proceeding under this part, including— an assessment of whether implementation of the term, condition, or other requirement would result in the loss of energy, capacity, or ancillary services at the project, including a quantification of the losses; an analysis of economic, air quality, climactic and other environmental effects associated with implementation of the term, condition, or other requirement; a demonstration, based on evidence in the record of the Commission, that the resource agency prepared the term, condition, or other requirement in a manner that meets the policy established by this part while discharging the responsibilities of the resource agency under this part or any other applicable requirement under Federal law; and a statement of whether the head of the applicable Federal agency has rendered final approval of the term, condition, or other requirement, or whether the term, condition, or other requirement remains a preliminary recommendation of staff of the resource agency; and identifies all pending, scheduled, and anticipated proceedings under this part that, as of the date of the annual report, the resource agency expects to participate in, or has any approval or participatory responsibilities for under Federal law, including— an accounting of whether the resource agency met all deadlines or other milestones established by the resource agency or the Commission during the reporting year; and the specific plans of the resource agency for allocating sufficient resources for each project during the upcoming year. Any resource agency preparing an annual report to Congress under paragraph
(1)shall establish and maintain a publicly available website or comparable resource that tracks all information required for the annual report. .
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Sec. 11
Licensing process improvements and coordination
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