Sec. 3001. Hydropower regulatory improvements

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It is the sense of Congress that— hydropower is a renewable resource for purposes of all Federal programs and is an essential source of energy in the United States; and the United States should increase substantially the capacity and generation of clean, renewable hydropower resources that would improve environmental quality in the United States. Section 203 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 15852 ) is amended— in subsection (a), by striking the following amounts and all that follows through paragraph

(3)and inserting not less than 15 percent in fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal year thereafter shall be renewable energy. ; and in subsection (b), by striking paragraph

(2)and inserting the following: The term renewable energy means energy produced from solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean (including tidal, wave, current, and thermal), geothermal, municipal solid waste, or hydropower. . Section 4(e) of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 797(e) ) is amended, in the first proviso, by striking deem and inserting determine to be . Section 5 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 798 ) is amended— in subsection (a), by striking three and inserting 4 ; and in subsection (b)— by striking Commission may extend the period of a preliminary permit once for not more than 2 additional years beyond the 3 years and inserting the following: “Commission may— extend the period of a preliminary permit once for not more than 4 additional years beyond the 4 years ; by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and by adding at the end the following: after the end of an extension period granted under paragraph (1), issue an additional permit to the permittee if the Commission determines that there are extraordinary circumstances that warrant the issuance of the additional permit. . Section 13 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 806 ) is amended in the second sentence by striking once but not longer than two additional years and inserting for not more than 8 additional years, . Section 15(e) of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 808(e) ) is amended— by striking

(e)Except and inserting the following: Except ; and by adding at the end the following: In determining the term of a license under paragraph (1), the Commission shall consider project-related investments by the licensee over the term of the existing license (including any terms under annual licenses) that resulted in new development, construction, capacity, efficiency improvements, or environmental measures, but which did not result in the extension of the term of the license by the Commission. . Section 18 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 811 ) is amended by striking the second, third, and fourth sentences. Section 33 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 823d ) is amended— in subsection (a)— in paragraph (1), by striking deems and inserting determines ; in paragraph (2)(B), in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting determined to be necessary before by the Secretary ; by striking paragraph (4); and by striking paragraph (5); in subsection (b)— by striking paragraph (4); and by striking paragraph (5); and by adding at the end the following: This section applies to any further conditions or prescriptions proposed or imposed pursuant to section 4(e), 6, or 18. . 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; compile a comprehensive collection of studies and data accessible to the public that could be used to inform license proceedings under this paragraph; and encourage license applicants and cooperating agencies to develop and use, for the purpose of fostering timely and efficient consideration of license applications, a limited number of open-source methodologies and tools applicable across a wide array of projects, including water balance models and streamflow analyses. 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. To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that relevant offices within the National Marine Fisheries Service prepare any biological opinion under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( 16 U.S.C. 1536 ) that forms the basis for a prescription under section 18 on a concurrent rather than sequential basis. For purposes of issuing a license under this part, the deadline for a certifying agency to act under section 401(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1341(a) ) shall take effect only on the submission of a request for certification determined to be complete by the certifying agency. The certifying agency shall inform the Commission when a request for certification is determined to be complete. 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 the Federal agency fails to adhere to the schedule established by the Commission under paragraph (2), or if the final condition of the Secretary under section 4(e) or prescription under section 18 has been unreasonably delayed in derogation of the schedule established under paragraph (2), or if a proposed alternative condition or prescription has been unreasonably denied, or if a final condition or prescription would be inconsistent with the purposes of this part or other applicable law, the Commission may refer the matter to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality— to ensure timely participation; to ensure a timely decision; to mediate the dispute; or to refer the matter to the President. 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 covered measure means— a condition prescribed under section 4(e), including an alternative condition proposed under section 33(a); fishways prescribed under section 18, including an alternative prescription proposed under section 33(b); or any further condition pursuant to section 4(e), 6, or 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. A request for a trial-type hearing under this section shall be submitted not later than 60 days after the date on which, as applicable— the Secretary submits the condition under section 4(e) or prescription under section 18; or the Commission publishes notice of the intention to use the reserved authority of the Commission to order a further condition under section 6; or the Secretary 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 in a non-trial-type proceeding, but no issue may be raised for the first time 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) under section 35(c). 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. The decision of the Administrative Law Judge shall contain— findings of fact on all disputed issues of material fact; conclusions of law necessary to make the findings of fact, including rulings on materiality and the admissibility of evidence; and reasons for the findings and conclusions. The decision of the Administrative Law Judge shall not contain conclusions as to whether— any condition or prescription should be adopted, modified, or rejected; or any alternative condition or prescription should be adopted, modified, or rejected. A decision of an Administrative Law Judge under this section with respect to a disputed issue of material fact shall not be subject to further administrative review. The Administrative Law Judge shall serve the decision on each party to the hearing and forward the complete record of the hearing to the Commission and the Secretary that proposed the original condition or prescription. Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Administrative Law Judge issues the decision under subsection

(g)and in accordance with the schedule established by the Commission under section 35(c), the Secretary proposing a condition under section 4(e) or a prescription under section 18 shall file with the Commission a final determination to adopt, modify, or withdraw any condition or prescription that was the subject of a hearing under this section, based on the decision of the Administrative Law Judge. The final determination of the Secretary filed with the Commission shall identify the reasons for the decision and any considerations taken into account that were not part of, or inconsistent with, the findings of the Administrative Law Judge and shall be included in the consolidated record in section 35(d). Notwithstanding sections 4(e) and 18, if the Commission finds that the final condition or prescription of the Secretary is inconsistent with the purposes of this part or other applicable law, the Commission may refer the matter to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality under section 35(c). The decision of the Administrative Law Judge and the record of determination of the Secretary shall be included in the record of the applicable licensing proceeding and subject to judicial review of the final licensing decision of the Commission under section 313(b). 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; or 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. . The Commission (as the term is defined in section 3 of the Federal Power Act ( 16 U.S.C. 796 )) shall establish a voluntary pilot program covering at least 1 region in which the Commission, in consultation with the heads of cooperating agencies, shall direct a set of region-wide studies to inform subsequent project-level studies within each region. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, if the conditions under paragraph

(3)are met, the Commission, in consultation with the heads of cooperating agencies, shall designate 1 or more regions to be studied under this subsection. The Commission may only designate regions under paragraph

(2)in which every licensee, on a voluntary basis and in writing, agrees— to be included in the pilot program; and to any cost-sharing arrangement with other licensees and applicable Federal and State agencies with respect to conducting basin-wide studies. The regions designated under paragraph

(2)shall— be at an adequately large scale to cover at least 5 existing projects that— are licensed under this part; and the licenses of which shall expire not later than 15 years after the date of enactment of this section; and be likely to yield region-wide studies and information that will significantly reduce the need for and scope of subsequent project-level studies and information. The Commission may extend the term of any existing license within a region designated under paragraph

(2)by up to 8 years to provide sufficient time for relevant region-wide studies to inform subsequent project-level studies.

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