The Senate Energy Bill (S. 14), which passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in early May, must now be considered by the full Senate. The Bill has been bumped to the end of the line and will probably not see Senate floor action before Congress breaks for the Memorial Day recess on May 23rd. While it is on hold, please take the opportunity to contact your Senators. As reported by American Whitewater in April, the House Energy Bill contains a hydropower provision that radically changes for the worse the process for licensing private hydropower projects. The Senate version of the Energy Bill contains virtually the same language. Contact your Senator and encourage them to strike Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Licensing sections 511 and 33 under Title V: Renewable Energy.Ask your Senator to uphold existing standards for protecting rivers and the people and wildlife that depend on them. PLEASE ACT TODAY.
The current language in Sections 511 and 33 of the Energy Bill will make hydropower licensing slower, more expensive, and worse for the environment. On the House side, Representative Dingell (D-MI) proposed an amendment in April that would remove the energy bill’s ill-conceived hydro relicensing ramifications with straightforward process changes — a compromise struck last year between the environmental community and the hydro industry.
At a time when our leaders should be focused on meaningful energy reform, the hydroelectrtic licensing language in the Energy Bill is little more than an industry giveaway. The bill would give the industry priority above all other stakeholders – including states, Indian tribes, landowners and the public – and roll back environmental protections that have been in place for more than 80 years!
Worse, the language is ill-timed. The Bush Administration, through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has already begun a promising rule change to improve the hydropower licensing process. The hydroelectrtic licensing language in the Energy Bill would undercut collaborative efforts already being undertaken by people who know the licensing process.
The current version of the Hydropower Title in the Energy Bill was penned by the hydropower industry. Contact your Senator and encourage them to substitute the current language with Representative Dingell’s amendment.
Voicing your opposition by phone
The Honorable [Insert Full Name]
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator [Insert Last Name]:
Please oppose Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Licensing sections 511 and 33 under Title V: Renewable Energy contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2003, S 14 I encourage you to strike or amend sections 511 and 33 with substitute language proposed by Representative Dingell in the House of Representatives during full House consideration. The amendment will replace the current controversial sections with language jointly crafted and supported by the hydropower industry and environmental groups.
Sections 511 and 33 under Title V: Renewable Energy contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2003 is a significant departure from last year’s compromise, struck between the environmental community and the hydropower industry. In its current form, Sections 511 and 33 will undermine basic environmental protections for our nation’s rivers and will only further complicate hydropower dam licensing. This new proposal does nothing to remedy problems with the licensing process, and in fact, undercuts collaborative remedies that are underway and that are much better suited to improve the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) licensing process. Process reform is a worthy objective, but sections 511 and 33 will have environmentally harmful consequences and won’t fix anything. Please oppose this unnecessary and misdirected legislation, and support an amendment to restore compromise and mutually supported language to the bill.
Furthermore, please do not allow this legislation to interfere with the current FERC Rulemaking process. FERC is in the advanced stages of developing a rule that would make sweeping changes to the licensing process. The proposed rule would reduce duplicative process, coordinate the efforts of state and federal agencies with those of the Commission, ensure timely completion of all necessary studies, and enhance public participation throughout the process. This is truly adding efficiency to the relicense process. In contrast, reforms proposed in sections 511 and 33 would add new processes, lower environmental standards and diminish the value of public participation, tribal participation, and coordination of agencies. Clearly, sections 511 and 33 fail to qualify as “streamlining” as it is often described by industry.
Instead of reforming the licensing process, sections 511 and 33 add red tape and unwarranted subsidies while eroding environmental protections. Specifically, it:
- Requires four new processes and adds at least two years to the licensing process This is notstreamlining.
- 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 environmental protections. Oppose the Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Licensing sections 511 and 33 under Title V: Renewable Energy contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2003, S 14.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns.
Sincerely
[Insert Your name]
[Insert Your address]
Telephone calls are often taken by a staff member, not the member of Congress. Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issue to which you wish to comment.
After identifying yourself, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: Please tell Senator [Name] that I oppose Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Licensing sections 511 and 33 under Title V: Renewable Energy contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2003, S 14. I encourage you to strike sections 511 and 33.
You will also want to state reasons for your opposition to the bill and recommendations. Ask for your Senator’s position on the bill. You may also request a written response to your telephone call.