In a majority vote of 265-154, the House passed The Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act, which is also known as H.R. 2842. Under the act, small hydropower projects (under 1.5MW) on USBR land would be exempt from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review.
Proposed by U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, the bill has been mooted as a way to facilitate reliable domestic energy production while increasing development of clean, renewable energy that can create jobs. Critics however say the bill could encourage some developers to build underpowered projects to avoid environmental review.
The Bill will now go to the Senate for voting.
The national-hydropower-association welcomed news of the bill’s passing. “We greatly appreciate and commend the work of the bill’s bipartisan co-sponsors – Representatives Tipton (R-CO), Coffman (R-CO), Costa (D-CA), Gosar (R-AZ), McClintock (R-CA) and Smith (R-NE) – and the leadership of Natural Resources Committee Chairman Hastings (R-WA) to highlight the tremendous growth potential of these low impact conduit hydropower resources and to seek House passage,” said Linda Church Ciocci, Executive Director. “nha looks forward to working with the Senate to secure final passage and the President’s signature this year.”
