A bipartisan House bill reintroduced today would remove hurdles for small hydropower projects.

The "Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013," H.R. 267, would allow hydropower projects under 10 megawatts that use existing canals, pipelines or other conduits to move forward without the usual permitting by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Diana DeGette's (D-Colo.) bill also orders FERC to explore a two-year licensing process for hydropower development at existing nonpowered dams and closed-loop pumped storage projects and directs the Energy Department to study pumped storage to support intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

"Today we launch a new path toward smarter, more efficient hydropower project permitting, and it's a victory for us all that we are doing so on a bipartisan basis," DeGette said in a statement. "For a state like Colorado, and indeed the entire nation, this legislation will expand renewable and affordable hydropower -- far and away our nation's largest source of clean energy -- and create good jobs for American families."

The House unanimously approved the bill last summer, and there was bipartisan support for it in the Senate, but the measure didn't come to a vote before the end of the 112th Congress (Greenwire, June 20, 2012).

Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Lee Terry (R-Neb.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) co-sponsored the original bill.

The measure is likely to enjoy support in the Senate, where Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced similar measures last summer.

FERC commissioners have acknowledged that federal laws and the responsibilities of state and federal agencies may need to be reviewed to streamline permitting for hydropower projects (E&E Daily, July 8, 2011).

The hydropower industry is eager for the bill to move through Congress because developers of small projects are currently forced to spend tens of thousands of dollars to obtain a FERC permit, said Kurt Johnson, president of the Colorado Small Hydro Association. Those costs can often exceed the cost of the entire project, he added.

"If you're a farmer or rancher permitting a small hydropower system, that's more than you're going to spend for the equipment itself," he said. "That's the genius of the bill."