# 119-s-4992: A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to issue guidance relating to the review of applications for alteration or temporary or permanent occupation or use of certain hydropower projects, and for other purposes.

119-s-4992, A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to issue guidance relating to the review of applications for alteration or temporary or permanent occupation or use of certain hydropower projects, and for other purposes., is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4992
- As of: 2026-09-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4992
- Congress: 119
- Title: A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to issue guidance relating to the review of applications for alteration or temporary or permanent occupation or use of certain hydropower projects, and for other purposes.
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-15
- Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Water Resources Development
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-18

## Summary

**Creates a uniform, limited completeness review for hydropower project section 408 applications** to make initial federal review more predictable and to stop deep engineering analysis at the first checkpoint. It would require mandatory guidance, checklists, phased review rules, and escalation steps to enforce timelines and narrow the scope of the first review. - Hydropower project operators and applicants would get a clear application checklist and completeness criteria. That aims to reduce surprise document requests and make initial review outcomes more predictable. - Army Corps reviewers and the Secretary would be limited at the completeness stage from doing detailed technical or engineering judgments, requesting design changes, or imposing new environmental standards. The guidance would also create escalation procedures when deadlines are missed. - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Corps design center, and industry groups would be consulted to align formats, required analyses, and phased review expectations. This is meant to standardize filings across projects.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH] (D-NH), 2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2026-08-07T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Faster Army review for hydropower: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary of the Army would have to issue guidance within one year to standardize review of section 408 applications for non‑Federal hydropower projects that need a FERC license or exemption. The guidance would require an application checklist developed with FERC, the Corps Hydroele…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-2461: Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2025
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-s-4429: Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026
- 119-s-558: Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-4992 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4992)

## Related
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-3597: National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3597)
- [119-s-2461: Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2461)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-s-4429: Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4429)
- [119-s-558: Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-558)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4992 (as of 2026-09-18).