Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act

The law gives Congress clearer timelines, responsibilities, and status updates for hydropower licensing processes that have remained unfinished for at least three years.

What the law does ​

• Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to submit its first report within 180 days of enactment and updated reports annually.
• Covers unfinished original, new, and subsequent hydropower licensing processes that began with a notice of intent at least three years earlier.
• Requires each report to list notice dates, docket numbers, application filing status, current status, upcoming proceedings, and anticipated license issuance dates.
• Requires updates on actions by applicants, existing licensees, the Commission, fish and wildlife agencies, and other agencies.
• Requires information to be separated by license type.

Who it affects ​

• Hydropower license applicants and existing licensees with long-running licensing processes.
• Federal agencies involved in hydropower licensing and related fish and wildlife reviews.
• Congress, which will receive annual updates on unfinished cases.

Breakdown ​

Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act ​

This law requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to report annually to Congress on hydropower licensing processes that began with a notice of intent at least three years earlier and remain unfinished. The reports must provide timelines, application status, upcoming proceedings, responsible parties’ actions, and anticipated license issuance dates.

Key takeaways

• The Commission must submit its first report within 180 days after enactment and submit updated reports annually thereafter.
• The reporting requirement covers certain unfinished original, new, and subsequent hydropower licensing processes for which a notice of intent was filed at least three years before the report.
• Each report must identify the notice date, docket number, whether an application has been filed, and the application’s current status.
• The reports must include anticipated license issuance dates and dates of upcoming proceedings or meetings.
• The Commission must describe ongoing or completed actions required of applicants, existing licensees, the Commission, fish and wildlife agencies, and other agencies.
• The reported information must be separated by license type.