Statutes and Regulations

16 USC

§ 817. Projects not affecting navigable waters; necessity for Federal license, permit or right-of-way; unauthorized activities

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, State, or municipality, for the purpose of developing electric power, to construct, operate, or maintain any dam, water conduit, reservoir, power house, or other works incidental thereto across, along, or in any of the navigable waters of the United States, or upon any part of the public lands or reservations of the United States (including the Territories), or utilize the surplus water or water power from any Government dam, except under and in accordance with the terms of a permit or valid existing right-of-way granted prior to June 10, 1920, or a license granted pursuant to this chapter. Any person, association, corporation, State, or municipality intending to construct a dam or other project works, across, along, over, or in any stream or part thereof, other than those defined in this chapter as navigable waters, and over which Congress has jurisdiction under its authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States shall before such construction file declaration of such intention with the Commission, whereupon the Commission shall cause immediate investigation of such proposed construction to be made, and if upon investigation it shall find that the interests of interstate or foreign commerce would be affected by such proposed construction, such person, association, corporation, State, or municipality shall not construct, maintain, or operate such dam or other project works until it shall have applied for and shall have received a license under the provisions of this chapter. If the Commission shall not so find, and if no public lands or reservations are affected, permission is granted to construct such dam or other project works in such stream upon compliance with State laws.

(2) No person may commence any significant modification of any project licensed under, or exempted from, this chapter unless such modification is authorized in accordance with terms and conditions of such license or exemption and the applicable requirements of this subchapter. As used in this paragraph, the term “commence” refers to the beginning of physical on-site activity other than surveys or testing.

18 CFR

§ 24.1   Filing.

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A declaration of intention under the provisions of section 23(b) of the Act shall be filed with the Secretary of the Commission in accordance with filing procedures posted on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The declaration shall give the name and post office address of the person to whom correspondence in regard to it shall be addressed, and shall be accompanied by:

(a) A brief description of the proposed project and its purposes, including such data as maximum height of the dams, a storage capacity curve of the reservoir or reservoirs showing the maximum, average, and minimum operating pool levels, the initial and ultimate installed capacity of the project, the rated horsepower and head on the turbines, and a curve of turbine discharge versus output at average and minimum operating heads.

(b)(1) A general map (one tracing and three prints) of any convenient size and scale, showing the stream or streams to be utilized and the approximate location and the general plan of the project.

(2) Also a detailed map of the proposed project area showing all Federal lands, and lands owned by States, if any, occupied by the project.

(3) A profile of the river within the vicinity of the project showing the location of the proposed project and any existing improvements in the river.

(4) A duration curve and hydrograph for the natural and proposed regulated flows at the dam site. Furnish references to the published stream flow records used and submit copies of any unpublished records used in preparation of these curves.

(c) (1) A definite statement of the proposed method of utilizing storage or pondage seasonally, weekly and daily, during periods of low and normal flows after the plant is in operation and the system load has grown to the extent that the capacity of the plant is required to meet the load. For example, furnish:

(i) Hydrographs covering a 10–day low water period showing the natural flow of the stream and the effect thereon caused by operations of the proposed power plant:

(ii) Similar hydrographs covering a 10–day period during which the discharge of the stream approximates average recorded yearly flow, and

(iii) Similar hydrographs covering a low water year using average monthly flows.

(2) A system load curve, both daily and monthly, and the position on the load curve that the proposed project would have occupied had it been in operation.

(3) A proposed annual rule of operation for the storage reservoir or reservoirs.