Action Alert: Expedited FERC Hydroelectric Licensing Procedures
Your Comments Needed to Protect Rivers Undergoing Hydropower Relicensing.
Your comments can make the difference between dry river channels and restored rivers!
Two Sample Letters Attached
Comment Electronically by February 1, 2001.
Instructions for Electronic filing included.
Background:
In November, 2000, Senator Frank Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, added a few sentences to an energy-related bill, (known as a rider) ordering the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to study ways to "reduce the cost and time of obtaining a (hydropower dam) license." American Whitewater and other groups working to restore rivers impacted by hydropower projects fear the FERC’s final report could be the first step in industry’s attempt to streamline hydropower relicensing in the next Congress. The recent energy crisis in California and other states will further increase the likelihood of new legislation. We cannot let industry driven legislation further degrade our rivers.
FERC has conducted six public hearings at cities across the country. Boaters and other river interests have been present at each hearing speaking on behalf of rivers. You can make your voice heard as well by filing written comments electronically at the web address below.
This could be the most important advocacy work you do on behalf of rivers in 2001.
Comments can be submitted electronically on FERC’s website.
Electronic Filing Instructions:
Save the file included in this email on your computer, and then edit it to suit your interests. Now you are ready to tell FERC your opinion for the record! Here’s how:
Step 1: Go to http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm and click on "Login to File."
Step 2: On the left sideline, click on "New User Account" to create a User ID and password.
Step 3: You must enter your name, address, phone number, and email. With any filing – electronic or print – FERC must have this information. The email address lets FERC confirm for you that your comments have successfully been filed.
Step 4: After re-entering your User ID and password, you will go to a screen with one option: "Comments on Filing." Click that circle, and then "Create a Submission." Finally, click "yes" to verify that you are representing yourself, or choose your organization instead.
Step 5: To specify what you are commenting on, enter PL01-1 in the Docket Number slot, add the docket number to the list, and then "Continue."
Step 6: Enter in a description of your file. (For example, "Comments of John Doe on the process of licensing hydropower projects under PL01-1-000.") Click on "Browse" to find the file on your computer. NOTE: the file must be in Word Perfect (.wpd), Microsoft Word (.doc), PDF (.pdf), ASC II (.txt), or any plain text editor. Only one file
may be included per entry.
Step 7: Once you have entered the file and chosen "Post," you will receive two emails: one to confirm that FERC has received your comments, and a second to confirm that FERC has accepted your comments.
Keep your User ID and password for further use. If you have any questions about the electronic filing, return to the www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm and click on "User Guide" to quickly download an easy manual to filing your comments online.
Written comments sent through the mail should be addressed as follows:
David P. Boergers, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
Include the following caption on the first page of your comments:
Docket No. PL01-1-000
Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures and Regulations –
Comprehensive Review
For more information, please contact:
John Gangemi, American Whitewater Conservation Director
Email: jgangemi@digisys.net
Phone/fax: 406-837-3155/3156
Sample Comment letter
[INSERT DATE]
Secretary David P. Boergers
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
RE: Docket No. PL01-1-000
Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures, and Regulations –
Comprehensive Review
Dear Mr. Boergers:
Healthy rivers for future generations require all of us to do our part. But now, while applying for new licenses for hundreds of their dams, powerful utilities and their lobbyists are trying to escape their obligation to maintain healthy rivers. Poorly run dams degrade water quality, hurt wildlife, and limit economic growth and recreation. But with only a miniscule cut in their profit-making ability, utility corporations can modernize the way they operate their dams on our rivers.
If awarded a license, private utilities get to monopolize a public river for a half a century with little oversight and no motivation to make environmental improvements. It’s perfectly reasonable that we take this once-in-a-lifetime chance to require them to modernize the way they operate their dams on our rivers.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been tasked by Congress with examining causes and remedies for excessive cost and delays in the licensing of hydropower dams. I would like to remind the Commission that the process only matters because of its outcome. Any recommendations to change the process should lead to improvements in environmental quality and resource sharing. Mortgaging the health of the public’s rivers in the name of a quicker and cheaper process for private interests is simply not an option.
With that principle in mind, the following are specific recommendations that FERC should communicate in its report to Congress.
Multiple stakeholders – Congress should expand the ability of the public and resource managers to participate in the process, NOT reduce or marginalize that participation. The checks and balances provided by the general public and state and federal resource agencies are critical to ensuring that the result of the process – the outcome for our rivers – is actually in the public interest.
Litigation – Congress should encourage parties to support settlement of licensing issues. It should not eliminate incentives for dam owners to negotiate by taking the teeth out of resource agencies’ mandatory conditions. These settlements result in better outcomes that are less likely to attract lengthy and costly litigation.
Information needs – The most common disputes in the licensing process revolve around the adequacy of information. Congress should give licensees incentive to complete all studies deemed necessary by state and federal agencies and the public, when those studies are shown to have a relationship to project operations. Companies who fail to complete studies on time should face consequences, including immediate measures to protect the environment until studies are completed and a license is issued.
Timelines – It is important to understand the difference between deliberation and delay. These are complex proceedings that sometimes take additional time for deliberation. Reaching well reasoned, well supported decisions that reflect the public interest and protect the environment should not be considered delay. Timelines should be set that are appropriate for the task at hand and are strictly enforced, but should not be used as a weapon.
Participant Resources – All participants must have the resources to fulfill their responsibilities and adequate for their meaningful participation. Dam owners should provide the public with adequate funding to ensure that they are able to fully participate throughout the licensing process. Congress should also provide federal and
state agencies with appropriate funding through their appropriations. Without such funding, ensuring environmental protection and appropriate public involvement is difficult.
Finally, there does not appear to be any objective analysis that demonstrates a significant problem with relicensing in the first place. Because FERC has a direct stake in the outcome of this report and subsequent Congressional action, how can you honestly evaluate it? I sincerely hope that Congress will obtain an objective assessment of the current situation before taking any dramatic actions.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely,
INSERT NAME HERE
HOME TOWN AND STATE
Sample Letter 2: Create your own comments using Key Points list below
David P. Boergers, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First St. NE
Washington, DC 20426
RE: Docket No. PL01-1-000
Hydroelectric Licensing Policies, Procedures, and Regulations — Comprehensive Review
Dear Secretary Boergers:
Key Points to include in your comments:
1. Improvements to the hydropower relicensing process should not sacrifice the quality of the resource management decisions necessary in the new license.
2. Failure of the utilities to conduct the proper resource studies and provide adequate information to stakeholders in a timely fashion are the primary causes for delay in hydropower relicensing.
3. The FERC should impose clear standards for resource studies and timelines in the hydropower relicensing process for all parties, including the utility. The resource studies should meet peer review standards and timelines should be appropriate to the task at hand and strictly enforced.
4. Hydropower relicense proceedings need to be equally accessible to all participants (agencies, non-governmental organizations and the public). The utility profiting from the public waterways must provide adequate resources for meaningful public participation.
5. Several initiatives have been undertaken recently to improve the hydropower relicensing process. Before legislatively reforming the process, allow these ongoing efforts to be implemented.
Respectfully Submitted,
Your Name
Your Address
Actual language in Senator Murkowski’s Rider:
HR 2884, Section 603
"Expedited FERC Hydroelectric Licensing Procedures"
"The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall, in consultation with other appropriate agencies, immediately undertake a comprehensive review of policies, procedures and regulations for the licensing of hydroelectric projects to determine how to reduce the cost and time of obtaining a license. The Commission shall report its findings within six months of the date of enactment of this section to the Congress, including any recommendations for legislative changes."