I
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 795
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 18, 2011
Mr. Smith of Nebraska (for himself and Mr. Costa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To expand small-scale hydropower.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Small-Scale Hydropower Enhancement Act
of 2011
.
Definitions
In this Act:
Conduit
The term conduit means any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance that is operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of electricity.
Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
Applicability of law
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a hydroelectric project that uses only a non-federally owned conduit to generate electric power that does not exceed 1.5 megawatts and that, on or before the date of enactment of this Act, is not licensed under, or exempted from the license requirements contained in, part I of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.) shall not be required to be licensed under part I of such Act.
Inclusion of certain facilities in report and study
The Secretary shall—
not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, revise and update the study and report required under section 1834 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58) to include facilities that would result in less than 1 megawatt of capacity;
to the maximum extent practicable, consult with non-Federal and noncontracting interests in implementing this section; and
implement this section on a nonreimbursable basis.