Hydropower Legislation Gets Worse Than You Thought–DefendRivers from Hydropower Utilities
The House of Representatives is aggressively moving anenergy bill, and the full House is expected to vote on the bill THIS week(April 7-11). Contact your representative and encourage them to support RepresentativeDingell’s hydropower amendment to the energy bill that will uphold existingstandards for protecting rivers and fish! PLEASE ACT TODAY.
Representative Dingell’s (D-MI) amendment would remove theenergy bill’s ill-conceived hydropower title, which will make hydropowerlicensing slower, more expensive, and worse for the environment. Instead, theamendment would replace the hydropower title with straightforward processchanges — a compromise struck last year between Chairman Tauzin andCongressman Dingell, and between the environmental community and the industry.
At a time when our leaders should be focused on meaningfulenergy reform, the hydropower language in the House energy bill is little morethan an industry giveaway. The bill would give the industry priority above allother stakeholders – including states, Indian tribes, landowners and the public– and roll back environmental protections that have been in place for more than80 years!
Worse, the language is ill-timed. The Bush Administration,through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has already begun apromising rule change to improve the hydropower licensing process. Thislegislation would undercut collaborative efforts already being undertaken bypeople who know the licensing process.
The current version of the HydropowerTitle in the Energy Bill was penned by the hydropower industry. Contact your representatives and encouragethem to substitute the current language with Representative Dingell’s amendment.
Sample
The Honorable [Insert Full Name]
Dear Representative [Insert Last Name]:
Please support Rep. Dingell’s amendment to the energy billduring full House consideration. The amendment will replace the currentcontroversial hydropower title (Title III) with last year’s House compromiselanguage.
Title III of the draft bill is a significant departure fromlast year’s compromise, struck between Chairman Tauzin and Congressman Dingell,and between the environmental community and the industry. In its current form, Title III of the EnergyBill will undermine basic environmental protections for our nation’s rivers andwill only further complicate hydropower dam licensing. This new proposal does nothing to remedyproblems with the licensing process, and in fact, undercuts collaborativeremedies that are underway and that are much better suited to improve theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) licensing process. Process reformis a worthy objective, but Title III will have environmentally harmfulconsequences and won’t fix anything. Please oppose this unnecessary and misdirected legislation, and supportthe Dingell amendment to restore the compromise language to the bill.
Furthermore, please do not allow this legislation tointerfere with the current collaborative process. FERC is in the advanced stages of developinga rule that would make sweeping changes to the licensing process. The proposed rule would reduce duplicativeprocess, coordinate the efforts of state and federal agencies with those of theCommission, ensure timely completion of all necessary studies, enhance publicparticipation throughout the process, and give Indian tribes a greater role andrecognition in the regulation of hydropower projects. In contrast, Title III would add newprocesses, lower environmental standards and diminish the value of publicparticipation, tribal participation, and coordination of agencies.
Instead of reforming the licensing process, the hydropowertitle adds red tape and unwarranted subsidies while eroding environmentalprotections. Specifically, it:
- Requires four new processes and adds at least two years to the licensing process. This is not streamlining.
- Places the voice of electric utilities above any other interest in the licensing process. Local landowners, businesses, irrigators, navigation interests, states, tribes, and environmentalists all have an interest in conditions affecting public lands and fish passage, and should have just as much right to petition federal agencies about them as dam owners.
- Requires agencies to consider the private economic interests of a dam owner on an equal footing with public resources, regardless of the importance of lands, fish and wildlife to the public interest.
I urge you to oppose this reduction in environmentalprotections and to support the Dingell amendment to improve the hydropowertitle.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns.
Sincerely
[Insert Your name]
Insert Your address]