Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2786, the Promoting Small Conduit Hydropower Facilities Act of 2017. In 2013, our committee moved bipartisan legislation by Representative McMorris Rodgers and Representative DeGette that created an exemption from hydropower licensing for certain conduit hydropower facilities of 5 megawatts capacity or less. Under the provision established in the McMorris Rodgers-DeGette bill, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, must determine within 15 days after receipt of a notice of intent to construct a small conduit project by the developer if the project meets the qualifying criteria for exemption under the law. If FERC makes an initial determination that the project meets that criteria, current law requires FERC to publish a public notice of that determination and provide the public 45 days for an opportunity to comment on or contest FERC's determination. That bill went on to be signed into law by President Obama and, as of May of this year, has resulted in qualifying 83 projects being exempted from Federal licensing requirements. {time} 1315 The bill before us now, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2786, sponsored by Mr. Hudson and Ms. DeGette, will amend the Federal Power Act to lift the 5- megawatt cap on conduit projects that could qualify for exemption.…”