{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases/passed-cortez-masto-daines-legislation-to-cut-red-tape-bolster-american-hydroelectric-power-production/", "PASSED: Cortez Masto, Daines Legislation to Cut Red Tape, Bolster American Hydroelectric Power Production", "2026-09-16", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "NV", "Catherine Cortez Masto", "C001113", "www.cortezmasto.senate.gov", "cortezmasto", "https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "***VIDEO AVAILABLE***\n\nFTPs for TV stations is available here.\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, the United States Senate passed bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) to increase transparency in the hydropower licensing process. The Hydropower Relicensing Transparency Act has passed in the House of Representatives, and it now heads to the President\u2019s desk to be signed into law.\n\n\u201cAs costs rise and demand surges, we need to adopt an all-of-the-above approach when it comes to energy. That includes hydropower,\u201d said Senator Cortez Masto. \u201cBut right now, bureaucratic delays are causing the relicensing process for hydropower projects to take an average of seven to ten years. Today, Senator Daines and I delivered a solution that will slash red tape and unleash American hydropower.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is a huge win for Montana and the entire country. Hydropower is an affordable, reliable source of baseload power that is necessary to meet the growing demand for U.S. energy. This bill will help shed light on much-needed reforms to improve the licensing process and reduce the permitting backlog, and I\u2019m glad to have worked with Senator Cortez Masto to get it through the Senate. Let\u2019s get it signed into law!\u201d said Senator Daines.\n\nThe Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) regulates 1,600 hydropower projects at over 2,500 dams. These hydroelectric facilities are required to relicense with the FERC every 30 to 50 years. Recently, delays at the FERC have led to the relicensing process taking an average of seven to ten years. According to a Department of Energy report, FERC relicensing activities are expected to more than double in the next ten years.\n\nThe Hydropower Relicensing Transparency Act directs FERC to report annually to Congress on the status of the relicensing process for each application for a renewed hydropower dam license. Representatives Kim Schrier (D-Wash.-09) and Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho-01) led the bill in the House of Representatives. This bill is endorsed by the National Hydropower Association (NHA) and the Nevada Rural Electric Association (NREA).\n\n\u201cHydropower generates more than 100 GW of clean, reliable power; it provides the flexibility that other sources of energy need when grids are stressed; and it also offers other services like flood control, irrigation, and recreation. The Hydropower Relicensing Transparency Act is a great step toward fixing our broken permitting process by guaranteeing more accountability from FERC, and I commend Senators Cortez Masto and Daines and Representatives Schrier and Fulcher for leading the charge,\u201d said National Hydropower Association President and CEO, Malcom Woolf.\n\nSenator Cortez Masto is a champion of Nevada\u2019s clean energy economy, including hydroelectricity. She recently released $52 million in unused, long-stranded funds for Hoover Dam operations, maintenance, and improvement projects. She has introduced bipartisan legislation to gather information about weaknesses in the electric energy grid, to establish a Critical Minerals Security Alliance, and to accelerate the approval of new clean energy projects. She also is leading a bill package to make electric vehicles and other clean transportation technologies more accessible to consumers throughout the country.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-17T09:52:05Z", "2026-09-17T09:53:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/news/press-releases/passed-cortez-masto-daines-legislation-to-cut-red-tape-bolster-american-hydroelectric-power-production/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6811530329287052, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}