US legislators introduced energy bills this week addressing new hydropower and hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.
Energy and
Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced bipartisan legislation to
accelerate the deployment of hydropower projects across the country.
The bill emphasizes the need to improve efficiency at existing facilities and to tap into the hydropower potential at existing non-powered dams. The National Hydropower Association said the bill would advance
project deployment (from conduit and small hydro to non-powered dams to pumped storage) by requiring
better interagency coordination; through funding of competitive grants for increased production; and with
continued support for research and development activities.
The Hydropower Improvement Act has
nine original cosponsors, including Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
and Washington Senator Maria Cantwell (D), making hydropower a rare area of consensus on energy in the
112th
Congress.
“This bill allows us to highlight the potential for development of additional hydropower resources in an
environmentally responsible way,” said Senator Bingaman. “It includes provisions that address the potential for
hydropower development from smaller sources that are available, even in a dry state like New Mexico.
Additionally, the bill emphasizes the need to improve efficiency at existing facilities and to tap into the
hydropower potential at existing non-powered dams.
Key Provisions of the bill include:
- Grant Program: Directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a competitive grants program to support efficiency improvements or capacity additions at existing hydropower facilities; adding generation to nonpowered dams; addressing aging infrastructure; conduit projects; environmental studies; and environmental mitigation measures.
- Non-powered Dams and Pumped Storage: Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to explore a potential two-year licensing process for hydropower development at existing non-powered dams and closedloop pumped storage projects.
- Conduit and Small Hydro: Allows for conduit projects on federal lands and directs FERC and other federal agencies to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to better coordinate reviews of these projects. Requires regional workshops to reduce barriers and investigate improvements to the regulatory process for small hydro and conduit projects.
- Federal Hydropower Development: Requires the Departments of Energy and Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers to report to Congress on the implementation of the March 24, 2010 MOU on increasing federal hydropower development. Also directs FERC and the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) to complete a new MOU to improve the coordination and timeliness of non-federal hydropower development at Bureau projects.
- R&D Program: Requires DOE to develop and implement a plan to increase the nation’s use of hydropower through research, development, and demonstration initiatives.
- Studies: Directs DOE to study pumped storage project opportunities on federal and non-federal lands near existing or potential sites of intermittent renewable resource development, and a Department study of hydropower potential from existing conduits. Directs the Bureau of Reclamation to study barriers to non-federal development at Bureau projects.
Fracking Crackdown
With growing national alarm over the health and environmental threat of toxic chemicals natural gas drilling, five members of Congress are reintroducing bills to repeal the exemption of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” from the Safe Drinking Water Act and require public disclosure of chemicals used in the controversial process.
Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today introduced companion House and Senate versions of the Fracturing Responsibility and Chemical Awareness (FRAC) Act. The Act would close the loophole that allows gas drillers–like no other industry–to inject known hazardous chemicals underground and would also force the industry to tell regulators and the public what chemicals they are using.
The five members of Congress first introduced the FRAC Act in 2009, in response to citizens’ concerns about the drilling and fracking boom in their home states. Since then, the practice of fracking has expanded to 34 states.
The Academy Award-nominated documentary Gasland has shown shocking evidence of fracking’s dangers. Earlier this month a New York Times investigation documented the threat of radioactive wastewater from fracking operations and the inadequacy of current regulations on both the state and federal level to protect water resources, air quality, and communities.
Fracking injects fluids laced with toxic chemicals under high pressure into a wellhead to crack open underground gas formations. But the toxic fluids can migrate from the gas deposit to nearby water sources and must also be disposed of after they flow back to the surface. Regulators and citizens find it almost impossible to tie water contamination or health effects to a specific well because the chemicals used in fracking are closely held trade secrets.
“How can we allow drillers to use hundreds of thousands of gallons of fluids with cancer-causing chemicals near our homes and schools without even telling us what they’re using?” asked Gwen Lachelt, director for EARTHWORKS Oil and Gas Accountability Project, which is working nationwide in communities impacted by drilling. “The public deserves to know what chemicals are used so they can protect their families and industry can be held accountable when problems occur. Without the FRAC Act, drillers will continue to get a free ride.”
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