Obama Administration Broadly Supports Legislative Package Promoting Hydropower

摘要

Obama administration officials expressed broad support April 23 for the intent of two House-passed bills and their Senate companions that would streamline the regulatory process for small-scale hydropower projects but questioned whether certain provisions in the legislation would achieve their goals. Senior representatives from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the bills may not fully provide the regulatory certainty that hydropower developers seek because projects are still subject to approval from other state and local agencies and exemptions from parts of the permitting process cannot be guaranteed.