A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to issue guidance relating to the review of applications for alteration or temporary or permanent occupation or use of certain hydropower projects, and for other purposes.

Key Points

• This bill requires the Army Corps of Engineers to create a clear checklist for companies that want to build or change hydropower projects on federal property. Right now, the rules can be confusing, so this would give everyone a standard set of instructions to follow.
• The new rules would force the government to finish a basic check of the paperwork within a set timeframe. During this first step, officials would only check if all the documents are there, rather than spending months arguing over technical engineering details.
• If the government misses its own deadlines for reviewing these projects, the bill creates a way for the application to be sent to higher-ranking officials for a quick decision. This is meant to prevent projects from getting stuck in red tape for years.
• The Army Corps would have to work with other energy agencies and industry experts to make sure the new rules are practical. This ensures that the people who actually build and run power plants have a say in how the paperwork process works.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.