Sponsors (3)
The bill increases environmental protections by forcing invasive‑species considerations into hydropower licensing—helping rivers, fisheries, and local economies—but does so at the cost of higher compliance and administrative burdens, potential permitting delays, and possible legal uncertainty.
Rural communities, local governments, and utilities: hydropower licensing must explicitly consider invasive species risks, improving protection for rivers and native aquatic species.
Rural communities and local economies that rely on fisheries and recreation: by accounting for invasive-species risks, the bill can reduce long-term ecological and economic damages to fisheries, recreation, and related livelihoods.
Federal employees and local governments (and the public): requiring agencies to weigh environmental harms in licensing may increase transparency and public trust in FERC and partner-agency decisions.
Utilities and hydropower developers (and potentially taxpayers): additional invasive-species review could raise compliance costs, impose new mitigation requirements, and delay permitting.
Federal agencies and local governments: FERC and partner agencies will face increased administrative burden to assess invasive-species impacts, which may lengthen review timelines.
Utilities, local governments, and license applicants: vague or broadly framed new requirements could generate legal uncertainty and litigation over how invasive‑species considerations are applied.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires consideration of invasive species in Section 18 actions under the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. § 811).
Official title: To amend the Federal Power Act to require the consideration of invasive species when prescribing fishways, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 16, 2026 by Glenn Grothman · Last progress March 16, 2026
Adds a requirement that invasive species be considered in decisions under Section 18 of the Federal Power Act (the law governing fishway prescriptions at hydropower projects). The text provided inserts new language into 16 U.S.C. § 811 to require consideration of invasive species, but the specific amendment language was not included in the excerpt, so precise duties, processes, and deadlines cannot be determined from the available text.