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Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act
To amend the Federal Power Act to modernize the hydropower licensing process, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Modifies hydropower license conditions under the Federal Power Act to clarify they must be limited to reasonably mitigating the direct adverse effects of the project on federal reservations.
- Modifies hydropower fishway requirements under the Federal Power Act to clarify they must be limited to reasonably mitigating the direct adverse effects of the project on fish populations in the applicable river system.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT)
4 cosponsors
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID)
- Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] (R-AK)
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID)
- Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK)
Actions (2)
- Jul 21, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. · senate
- Jul 21, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 21, 2026
Mr. Daines (for himself, Mr. Risch, and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To amend the Federal Power Act to modernize the hydropower licensing process, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act”.
SEC. 2. ENSURING PROPER SCOPE OF FEDERAL RESERVATION LICENSE CONDITIONS.
Section 4(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 797(e)) is amended, in the first proviso, by inserting “to reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the applicable project on such reservation, so as to provide” after “deem necessary”.
SEC. 3. ENSURING PROPER SCOPE OF PRESCRIBED FISHWAYS.
Section 18 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 811) is amended, in the first sentence, by inserting “, to reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the applicable project on the population of a species of fish in the applicable river system” before the period at the end. <all>
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