# 119-s-5048: Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act

119-s-5048, Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT); status in_committee (as of 2026-09-19).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5048
- As of: 2026-09-19
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5048
- Congress: 119
- Title: Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2026-07-21
- Sponsor: Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: Energy
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-19

## Summary

**This bill would add a requirement that hydropower licenses include measures to reasonably mitigate direct adverse effects on tribal reservations and on fish populations in the river system.** It inserts mitigation language into the Federal Power Act's Section 4(e) and Section 18 so licensing must address those direct harms as part of license conditions. - Tribal reservations: License decisions would have to consider and provide reasonable mitigation for direct harms to a reservation's resources. This gives reservation impacts an explicit mitigation requirement under Section 4(e). - Fish and river ecosystems: Fishways and related requirements under Section 18 would need to account for and reasonably mitigate direct adverse effects on the population of a fish species in the affected river system. - Licensees and federal agencies: Hydropower applicants and regulators would face broader mitigation obligations during licensing, which could expand the scope or stringency of conditions placed on projects.

## Cosponsors (4)

- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2026-07-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] (R-AK), 2026-07-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK), 2026-08-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2026-08-07T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Reduce hydropower harm to tribes and fish: benefit, low. If enacted, hydropower licenses would have to include measures to reasonably reduce direct harm to federally reserved Indian reservations. If enacted, fishway requirements would have to reasonably reduce direct harm to fish populations in the river system. These changes would mainly benefit tribes,…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-3257: John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act
- 119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-3020: Judicial Efficiency Improvement Act

## Sources
- [119-s-5048 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5048)

## Related
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-3257: John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3257)
- [119-s-3940: Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3940)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-524)
- [119-s-3020: Judicial Efficiency Improvement Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3020)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5048 (as of 2026-09-19).