Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Leave our Lakes Alone Act”.
Leave our Lakes Alone Act
A BILL
To amend the Federal Power Act to permit States to exempt projects from certain Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considerations in issuing licenses for such projects.
Sec. 2 State determination to exempt projects from certain FERC considerations in licensing
Section 4 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 797) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(h)
“(1) For the purposes of this subsection—
“(A) the term exempt State means a State for which a State law is in effect that expressly authorizes paragraph (2) to apply to projects within the State; and
“(B) the term public use and environmental purposes means the purposes of energy conservation, the protection, mitigation of damage to, and enhancement of, fish and wildlife (including related spawning grounds and habitat), the protection of recreational opportunities, the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality, and other beneficial public uses, including irrigation, flood control, water supply, and other purposes, as required under subsection (e) and section 10(a), as such purposes apply to land within the project boundary that is above the highest target elevation for normal operations of the project.
“(2) Notwithstanding subsection (e) and sections 10(a) and 28, the Commission may not consider public use and environmental purposes in issuing a license for a project in an exempt State.
“(3) If a State law described in paragraph (1)(A) is no longer in effect, paragraph (2) shall continue to apply to any project in the State for which a license was issued while such law was in effect.
“(4) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to any project or portion of a project on Federal land.”