Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act signed; FERC report within 180 days

The President signed H.R. 3657, the Hydropower Licensing Transparency Act, into law on September 25, 2026, one of six bills signed that day, according to a White House statement. The statement says the act requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to report annually to Congress on the status of outstanding hydropower licensing applications; the enrolled bill's own long title says "ongoing hydropower relicensing applications," and the section it adds keys the report to notices of intent rather than to applications on file. The bill record at the Library of Congress shows the same date under its latest action, "Signed by President.", after presentment on September 17, 2026; as of September 26, 2026 the record lists no Public Law number.

The enrolled text adds a section 37 to the Federal Power Act. Within 180 days of enactment, and annually after that, FERC reports to Congress on the status of the licensing process for each new license, and each subsequent license for which sections 14 and 15 have been waived, where the existing licensee notified the Commission under section 15(b)(1) at least three years before the report that it intends to apply and the license has not yet been issued under section 15, and for each original license under section 4(e) where a citizen, association, corporation, State, Indian Tribe, or municipality gave notice of intent at least three years before the report and it has not yet been issued under section 4(e). Each report includes six items per process: the date the notice of intent was provided, any docket number assigned, whether an application has been filed, its status including the date the Commission anticipates issuing the license, the date of any upcoming proceeding or other meeting, and a description of any ongoing or completed actions required of the existing licensee, citizen, association, corporation, State, Indian Tribe, municipality, the Commission, the fish and wildlife agencies referred to in section 15(b), and any other agencies. Subsection (c) requires the information to be disaggregated by whether it relates to a new or subsequent license issued under section 15 or an original license issued under section 4(e). By The Duck Curve's arithmetic, 180 days from September 25, 2026 is March 24, 2027. The act sets no date by which any license must issue.

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-WA) is the sponsor and Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-ID) the original cosponsor, per the bill record. The Senate passed the bill without amendment by unanimous consent on September 16, 2026, as The Duck Curve reported in its September 18, 2026 roundup. The National Hydropower Association's release on that passage says 348 hydropower permits representing over 12,000 MW of capacity are due for relicensing over the next decade.