Resource Agency Hearings and Alternatives Development Procedures in Hydropower Licenses

The Departments of Agriculture, the Interior, and Commerce are jointly revising the procedures they established in November 2005 for expedited trial-type hearings required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The hearings are conducted to expeditiously resolve disputed issues of material fact with respect to conditions or prescriptions developed for inclusion in a hydropower license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Federal Power Act. The Departments are also revising the procedures for considering alternative conditions and prescriptions submitted by a party to a license proceeding.