House energy bill takes us in the wrong direction

By Kate Miller

As the year winds down, Congress at last is in full throttle.  Some good things are happening for trout and salmon, and unfortunately some bad things happening as well.  Exhibit A on bad things for trout and salmon: On Thursday Dec. 3, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 249-174 to pass HR8, the North American Energy Security, and Infrastructure Act of 2015. 

HR8 takes the nation in the wrong direction on hydropower and on efforts to promote clean, renewable, and reliable energy future.

Of particular concern to Trout Unlimited, HR 8 contained language that would significantly weaken natural resource protections at hydropower dams – rolling back longstanding regulations designed to balance power production impacts with non-power resource values – including protection of fish habitat and passage, water quality and instream flows for fish, farms and communities.

TU was not alone in our opposition to these provisions. Hundreds of sportsmen, conservation and community organizations along with tribes and state and federal agencies, weighed in against the language:

·         Skokomish Indian Tribe: HR 8 “represent[s] one of the most significant roll backs of the federal trust responsibility since termination.”

·         Karuk Tribe:  H.R. 8 is an “unprecedented assault on our nation’s rivers and the people and wildlife that depend upon them.” “H.R.8 would reverse more than 40 years of natural resource protections and undo carefully crafted checks and balances on federal management of water resources …This bill is unnecessary and extreme in its approach … H.R. 8 does not improve the hydropower licensing process, it just makes it less protective.”

·         The White House: HR8 will “undercut bedrock environmental statutes” and “undermine the [current hydropower licensing process] that works to minimize negative impacts associated with the siting of hydropower projects.”

·         The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Dissenting Views on H.R.8 (authored by Representatives Pallone and Rush): H.R.8 “repeat[s] the mistakes of the past, paying exclusive attention to the interests of hydroelectric developers and licensee.  In the name of 'reform' the provisions included in H.R. 8 give preferential treatment to electric utilities at the expense of other legitimate parties to licensing proceedings including states, Indian tribes, conservationists, irrigators, ranchers, and sportsmen.”

We are disappointed that the US House of Representatives elected to promote this bill, but we have our eyes turned to the future.  Despite the passage of HR8, the discussion about management and permitting of our nations’ hydropower resources is far from over.  You may recall that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed a more balanced energy bill earlier this year, with hydropower provisions that were far less damaging.  As these energy proposals move forward, we will continue to advocate for a balanced approach that recognizes and protects the immense and irreplaceable values of our freshwater resources -- and we’re willing to work with conservation-minded industry partners and policy-makers to accomplish that goal.

For additional information, please contact me, Kate Miller, at (703) 284-9426. You can also reach our vice president for government affairs, Steve Moyer at (703) 284-9406