Project Decommissioning at Relicensing; Policy Statement

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is adopting a policy statement that addresses its authority to issue or deny new hydropower licenses at the time of relicensing, and its authority over the decommissioning of a licensed project when no new license is sought or a new license is rejected or denied, as well as pre-retirement planning and funding. The Commission stated that it has the authority to deny new licenses to hydroelectric projects when existing licenses expire. Such action would occur if the Commission concluded that the project, no matter how conditioned, could no longer meet the comprehensive development standard of the Federal Power Act. In the great majority of cases, decommissioning is likely to result from a license holder's desire to abandon an uneconomical facility rather than the Commission deciding it should be closed. The Commission also concluded that its authority over decommissioning extends to determining what project features, beyond the turbines and generators, should be removed, if the project is decommissioned. In issuing future licenses, the Commission may require that funding for decommissioning be provided in certain circumstances.