A Discussion of the Implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) within the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Division of Hydropower Licensing and a Comparison of NEPA within Their Three Licensing Procedures

Abstract

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions. Under the authority of the Federal Power Act, as amended,1 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) has the exclusive authority to license most nonfederal hydropower projects located on navigable waterways or federal lands, or connected to the interstate electric grid. Applicants for licenses may use the integrated, traditional, or alternative licensing process. This paper discusses the implementation of NEPA within the Commission’s Division of Hydropower Licensing (DHL) and analyzes the three aforementioned licensing processes. Issues such as purpose and need and establishing reasonable and viable alternatives will be discussed and areas such as tribal consultation, scoping, and preparation of the environmental document will be contrasted and compared.