HR3657-119

What This Bill Does

The Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act would add section 37 to the Federal Power Act. Within 180 days after enactment and annually afterward, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must report to Congress on covered hydropower licensing processes for which a notice of intent was given at least three years before the report and the license has not yet been issued. The trigger is the age of the notice, not the age of a completed application. A case can be included even if an application has not yet been filed.

The enrolled text covers original licenses under section 4(e), new licenses for existing projects and specified subsequent licenses for which sections 14 and 15 have been waived. The original bill addressed only new licenses for existing licensees. The broader reported text also requires information to be separated by license type; that text remains unchanged through enrollment. The source check found an enrolled bill presented to the President on September 17, 2026, but no recorded enactment. Reporting deadlines are measured from enactment, not presentment.

Who Benefits and How

Congressional oversight committees gain a recurring, project-specific account of pending licensing work and anticipated issuance dates. Existing hydropower licensees and original-license project developers may benefit when that oversight identifies bottlenecks or clarifies pending actions, but the report does not guarantee a faster license. State and Tribal hydropower applicants are expressly within the original-license reporting category, alongside municipal and private applicants. Resource agencies and communities concerned about hydropower projects may find the account of pending actions useful for following the process; the bill requires delivery to Congress and does not separately mandate a public website or new public-comment right.

Who Bears the Burden and How

FERC must compile and update notices, docket identifiers, application status, anticipated license dates, upcoming proceeding or meeting dates, and completed or outstanding actions involving applicants and agencies. It must organize the information by license category and submit the recurring report. Fish and wildlife agencies, other agencies and applicants are subjects of that account, but the bill does not expressly impose a new standalone reporting form on each of them. No appropriation, fee change, automatic approval, licensing deadline, environmental-review waiver or new construction permission is provided. Existing review and licensing duties therefore continue; any cost or delay reduction is an indirect possibility, not a benefit the statute awards.

Key Provisions

• Requires FERC to submit its first report within 180 days after enactment and another report each year afterward.
• Limits coverage to licensing processes with a notice of intent at least three years old and no issued license; requires the report to state whether an application has actually been filed.
• Expands the introduced relicensing-only report to original licenses and specified subsequent licenses, including original applications from States, Indian Tribes and municipalities.
• Requires notice dates, docket numbers, status, anticipated license issuance, upcoming proceeding or meeting dates, and descriptions of required actions by applicants and agencies.
• Requires separate reporting by original, new and subsequent license type without changing substantive licensing standards or guaranteeing approval.