The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the U.S. issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking last week that would eliminate Form 80 and revise regulations on recreational opportunities and development at licensed hydropower projects.
The NOPR says FERC “is proposing to amend regulations to eliminate” Form 80.
Form 80, the Licensed Hydropower Development Recreation Report, is used to gather information FERC needs to:
- Identify recreational facilities located at licensed projects
- Determine whether public recreational needs are being accommodated by the facilities
- Determine whether additional efforts could be made to meet future needs
In addition, FERC “proposes to further revise its regulations related to recreational use and development at licensed projects in order to modernize public notice practices, clarify recreational signage requirements, and provide flexibility to assist licensees’ compliance efforts.”
Form 80 dates back to 1965, when most licensed projects did not have individual recreation plans or specific recreation development requirements set out in the license. However, today many licensed project have project-specific license conditions that require licensees to prepare and implement a recreation plan, conduct recreation monitoring, and/or file periodic updates to an approved recreation plan.
Consequently, the information contained in Form 80 may be duplicative and of limited use and is a “secondary source” of information.
Comments will be due 60 days after the NOPR is published in the Federal Register.
