S. 724 — Introduced in Senate

II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 724 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 27, 2017Ms. 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 authorizations for necessary hydropower approvals. 1. Modernizing authorizations for necessary hydropower approvals (a) Preliminary permits Section 5 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 798) is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by striking three and inserting 4; and (2) in subsection (b)— (A) by striking Commission may extend the period of a preliminary permit once for not more than 2 additional years beyond the 3 years and inserting the following: Commission may— (1) extend the period of a preliminary permit once for not more than 4 additional years beyond the 4 years ; (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and (C) by adding at the end the following: (2) after the end of an extension period granted under paragraph (1), issue an additional permit to the permittee if the Commission determines that there are extraordinary circumstances that warrant the issuance of the additional permit. . (b) Time limit for construction of project works Section 13 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806) is amended in the second sentence by striking once but not longer than two additional years and inserting for not more than 8 additional years,.