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.
Sponsored By: Senator Daines, Steve [R-MT]
Introduced
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.
Show full summary
- 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.
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Faster Army review for hydropower
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 Hydroelectric Design Center, project operators, and industry groups. It would set clear completeness criteria (required documents, formats, and evidence of FERC compliance), phased design‑review steps with timelines and definitions, and escalation steps if deadlines are missed. The guidance would limit the initial completeness check to verifying submission, format, and checklist items and would bar the Corps from doing detailed engineering reviews, judging design adequacy or alternatives, asking for extra design work, or imposing new environmental standards not already set by a federal or relevant state agency before submission.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Daines, Steve [R-MT]
MT • R
Cosponsors
Sen. Hassan, Margaret Wood [D-NH]
NH • D
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA]
PA • R
Sponsored 8/7/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov