Pacific Northwest Pumped Storage Hydropower Development Act of 2021
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 463.
Pacific Northwest Pumped Storage Hydropower Development Act of 2021
This bill provides the Department of the Interior exclusive authority to develop hydropower facilities in certain instances and contains other related provisions.
Specifically, Interior shall have exclusive authority to develop small conduit hydropower using Bureau of Reclamation facilities and pumped storage hydropower that exclusively use bureau reservoirs. Currently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) also has regulatory authority over some of the bureau infrastructure involved in such projects, so some projects require approval from both Interior and FERC.
The bill also imposes various requirements related to certain proposed projects involving specified tribes in Washington State. Before Interior may issue a lease to use power generated from such a project, the parties involved must agree to a study plan that lays out certain information, time lines, and procedures for addressing issues. Such a lease must also meet certain requirements, such as conditions to ensure that the project will not interfere with the tribes' hunting and fishing rights.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House" stage on December 15, 2022. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 15, 2022: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 463.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced it on April 19, 2021. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 19, 2021, 2018 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1413 days ago, on December 15, 2022.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers