New hydropower report identifies opportunities to reform the licensing process

In the aboriginal 1970s, h2o turned gold. As lipid supplies plummeted, prices skyrocketed. Congress, hopeless for thing not-oil, compelled energy companies to bargain up section hydroelectric vigor astatine luxurious prices, launching a frenzy to physique tiny hydropower not dissimilar the erstwhile Gold Rush. All an ambitious national needed was a spot of unclaimed falling h2o and an engineer.

But the mini-hydropower roar did not last. At first, the authorities relaxed regulations to promote development. But soon after, the accrued enactment sparked accrued environmental concerns, rebooting national and authorities oversight. By the precocious 1980s, developers of some mini and large hydropower projects had to wade done much regulations than immoderate different vigor root but nuclear.

Today, those regulations hold. They bash bully work, ensuring food tin migrate and spawn, endangered species tin support captious habitats, humans tin canoe well-loved rivers, and taste artifacts oregon burial grounds tin stay undisturbed. But they tin besides stymie development, adding years and millions of dollars to projects that could regenerate polluting fossil fuels with clean, renewable vigor and assistance the state modulation to carbon-free vigor by 2035.

"Both biology regulations and hydropower tin assistance support the planet," said Aaron Levine, a elder ineligible and regulatory expert astatine the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). "So, what's the close equilibrium betwixt extortion and development?"

To assistance reply that question, Levine and a squad of researchers from the NREL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory acceptable retired to survey the existent regulatory scenery and place which protections, bureaucratic hoops, oregon developer designs mightiness hinder hydropower projects from earning a licence to run (like a governmental cleanable measure of health). Their findings, published successful a study titled, "An Examination of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process," could assistance decision-makers streamline the regulatory process without cutting captious protections—the champion of some worlds.

To analyse the analyzable regulatory web, Levine and the probe squad collected quantitative data—for example, however galore years the licensing process takes connected average—as good arsenic qualitative data, sourcing licensing stories from a wide excavation of regulators, developers, nongovernmental organizations, and tribal representatives.

Several hydropower developers, for example, cited the Endangered Species Act arsenic "the fig 1 issue" (as 1 inferior relation enactment it) successful prolonging the licensing process. The enactment has a stellar 99% occurrence complaint of keeping endangered taxon from extinction. It is not that developers bash not privation to support endangered species; but, successful immoderate cases, they disagree astir however to spell astir it.

One developer quoted successful the study said the reservoir wherever helium planned to conception his project housed an endangered taxon of fish. Regulators requested helium committee a survey to measure whether the works should instal food screens—barricades that support food from swimming underneath. But adjacent without a study, which, the developer said, could outgo $2 million, helium knew helium needed food screens. "So let's conscionable leap to the end," helium said, and instal the screens.

Both developers and regulators cited disagreements implicit biology studies and what information are indispensable arsenic important snags successful the licensing timeline. Developers indispensable contiguous erstwhile (or committee new) biology studies that volition assistance them support section ecosystems, taste resources, and wildlife. Because commissioning a survey tin beryllium costly, immoderate developers anticipation erstwhile probe and information volition beryllium sufficient; if regulators disagree, this back-and-forth dialog tin lengthen the process.

One developer said they walk "too overmuch clip talking astir what to survey and not capable clip really studying it." Of course, sometimes, these talks spell smoothly; 1 regulator reported their "applicants produced a program based connected my recommendations and guidance."

Unsurprisingly, the greater the biology complexity, the longer and much costly it is for a hydropower task to gain a license. New projects, according to the report, fare amended than older. An archetypal licence takes an mean of 5 years to obtain; a relicense takes an mean of 7.6. It is harder to renovate an aged task to conscionable caller regulations than physique a caller 1 to code. And sometimes the indispensable renovations are impossible.

"There are immoderate facilities," 1 authorities regulator told the probe team, "that simply cannot go compliant with Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, oregon immoderate of the different national acts that comprise the national licensing process. … It becomes indispensable to region outdated projects."

For caller builds and those that tin beryllium renovated, Levine and his squad identified 3 superior factors that tin summation the clip and outgo to gain a license: compliance with the Endangered Species Act oregon the Clean Water Act and turnover oregon constricted staffing astatine authorities and national agencies. But different issues consistently impede the licensing process. Some developers supply regulators with incomplete oregon inadequate information: A statistical investigation of implicit 100 licence proceedings showed that 17% of authorities h2o prime certifications took 2 years oregon longer and immoderate Endangered Species Act certifications took months to years longer successful portion due to the fact that of missing information (though, due to the fact that developers and regulators sometimes disagree astir what information is necessary, "missing" information tin beryllium subjective).

Another time-lengthening origin is simply a elemental substance of choice: Developers tin take from 3 antithetic licensing processes. And one, the Integrated Licensing Process, follows a strict timeline, redeeming developers an mean of astir 1 year.

But different factors disproportionately impact definite types of projects. Smaller projects often person shorter licensing timelines, but, due to the fact that they bring successful little revenue, the costs deed them harder than larger, much profitable projects. And, due to the fact that older projects tin proceed to make income portion seeking a relicense, the costs are little burdensome for them than for caller projects, which cannot commencement operation oregon cognition until they person their licence successful hand.

The report's authors bash not advocator for immoderate circumstantial regulatory changes but simply pinpoint the symptom points successful the anticipation that their investigation tin usher decision-makers to the stickiest areas wherever improvements tin person the top impact.

"Because our study offers perspectives from each sides of the licensing process—regulators, developers, nongovernmental organizations, and tribes—we anticipation stakeholders tin perceive and larn from each other. Reform requires each parties to analyse however they tin improve," Levine said.

In different apical hydropower-producing countries similar Canada and Norway, less governmental agencies (about 5 to six, compared to 11 successful the United States) measurement in. Those countries besides connection less opportunities for tribal and different assemblage members to dependable concerns. While this engagement tin adhd clip to the U.S. licensing process, it tin besides assistance developers service the communities wherever they operate.

The mini-hydropower roar of the 1980s whitethorn beryllium agelong over, but determination is different rush—and a acold much captious one—happening now. Today's clime situation is turning renewables into gold, and, if regulators and developers tin enactment together, hydropower could erstwhile again displace lipid (and different fossil fuels) to assistance prevention the planet.

Highlights of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process Report

Want to larn more? Join america connected Nov. 18, 2021, astatine 11 a.m. MT for a webinar titled "Highlights of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process Report." Hear much in-depth analyses of the U.S. hydropower licensing and support process, including which hydropower task attributes oregon regulations whitethorn power licensing timelines, costs, and risks. Learn however policymakers, national and authorities regulators, and manufacture stakeholders tin usage this study to person informed discussions astir however to streamline the licensing process.

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