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

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