By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, May 31 -- Congress should give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission one-stop shopping authority to approve hydroelectric facilities to reduce the time and expense needed to obtain a license, the agency staff says in a controversial report.
President George W. Bush recommended removing administrative roadblocks required to obtain a hydropower license as a way of boosting electricity supplies in his proposed energy program. Bush proposed cutting the time required to obtain licenses by directing federal agencies to reach interagency agreements on conflicting mandatory license conditions, before they submit their conditions to FERC for inclusion in a license.
The Bush proposal is drawing mixed reviews from environmentalists, sport fisherman, and recreational interests who are fighting relicensing proposals. The Hydropower Reform Coalition called the administration's hydro proposals out of step with river front communities interested in river restoration as the key to economic prosperity through tourism and recreation.
"For many communities this includes efforts to remove dams that have outlived their usefulness and now do more harm than good," said Matt Sicchio, coalition coordinator.
Others, including the California Hydropower Reform Coalition (CHRC), said there is much that is helpful in the Bush energy program with respect to hydro, including more interagency cooperation. But a "generic" call for legislative reform is a cause for concern, said CHRC coordinator Steve Wald.
But, he said, the organization is even more concerned about the FERC staff one-stop shopping proposal and a companion recommendation to reduce state participation in the licensing process.
Nationwide, environmentalists and dam operators are locked in a struggle over control of the nation's rivers. Licenses for more than 550 dams will expire by 2010, while the process of obtaining a new license can take years. Licensees have urged FERC to speed up the process.
PacifiCorp, a unit of the UK's ScottishPower PLC, spent 9 years and $39 million on a license application for the 186 Mw North Umpqua project, according to FERC. Tacoma Utilities, Tacoma, Wash., reported it spent about $9 million on a licensing application and studies for the 462 Mw Cowlitz project.
States cause problems
Obtaining state water quality certification is one of the major reasons it now takes about 43 months to obtain a license, FERC said, while many proceedings take much longer. The agency said congress should limit state participation in the process by spelling out in law that water quality certification is limited to "physical and chemical water quality parameters" not "matters relating to use of the project waters."
Wald called the recommendation an "egregious" attempt to undermine the state's participation in the regulation of hydropower through the Clean Water Act and use of rivers. He said the issues extend beyond hydro to use of water agricultural purposes and in municipal water systems.
FERC also asked congress to statutorily clarify its definition of a "fishway." The FERC staff said it is concerned the "expansiveness" of a proposed definition by the Interior and Commerce departments appears to "encompass the entire hydroelectric facility and its operation."
Since the original dam licenses were issued, enactment of numerous environmental, land use, and other laws, and judicial interpretation of those laws, have significantly affected FERC's ability to control the timing of licensing and conditions of the licensing process, it said.
While various reforms would help, the "most effective" way to cut the cost of licensing would be for congress to restore FERC's position as the "sole" federal decision authority for dam licensing conditions and processes, according to the report.
The idea is opposed by nongovernment public interest agencies, various Indian tribes, and some state agencies who argue dispersal of authority among various state and federal agencies is necessary to protect nonhydropower resources, tribal treaty, and cultural resources.
Pluralism is "appropriate and best protects the public interest," Wald said. He noted, despite calls for reform, no one has been put out of business because of the relicensing process, and it has resulted in a broader mix of public uses of the nation's rivers. After all, hydropower operators don't pay for fuel, he noted.
