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.
Sponsored By: Representative Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2]
Introduced
Summary
Standardized completeness rules for non‑Federal hydropower projects. This bill would require the Secretary of the Army to issue uniform guidance within 1 year to govern section 408 reviews of non‑Federal hydropower projects, setting checklists, required documents, phased design review steps, and escalation procedures for missed deadlines.
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- Hydropower operators would get a prescribed application checklist, defined completeness criteria, and specified document and formatting requirements so they know what must accompany a section 408 application.
- Corps reviewers would be limited to verifying that required materials are submitted and formatted. They would be prohibited from doing detailed technical engineering reviews, judging design adequacy, requesting design changes, or considering factors outside the standardized checklist.
- The process side would require phased design reviews with defined scopes, timelines, and terms like “fatal flaw” and “final quality assurance.” It would also create escalation paths to Division or headquarters officials when application deadlines are missed.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
New permit rules for hydropower operators
This bill would require the Secretary of the Army to issue standardized guidance within 1 year. The guidance would create a checklist and clear completeness criteria for section 408 applications for non‑Federal hydropower projects. The checklist would be developed with FERC, the Hydroelectric Design Center, project operators, and industry groups. The guidance would list required documents, formatting and submission rules, and evidence showing compliance with any FERC license. It would limit completeness reviews to checking that required materials were filed and formatted and would prohibit technical engineering judgments. Reviewers would be barred from requesting design changes, doing detailed technical calculations, or imposing new environmental standards not set by federal or state agencies. The guidance would also define phased design review stages, key terms, and escalation steps if deadlines are missed.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2]
NH • D
Cosponsors
Rep. Miller, Carol D. [R-WV-1]
WV • R
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov