FERC News

FERC lays out role Tribes will play in hydropower environmental reviews

Earlier this year, FERC granted Native American tribes more power to block hydropower projects on their land after a flurry of applications were filed to expand renewable energy in the water-scarce U.S. Southwest.
FERC lays out role Tribes will play in hydropower environmental reviews
FILE - A school bus moves up Rock Door Canyon Rd., in Oljato-Monument Valley, Utah, on the Navajo reservation, April 27, 2020. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has rejected several proposed hydropower projects on the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. The commission has also created a policy that essentially gives tribes veto power over such projects early on. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released a new guide that explains its role in the environmental review process for energy infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and highlights how federally recognized Indian Tribes may engage with and participate in FERC’s review.

As part of the approval process for energy infrastructure projects including hydropower, and as required by NEPA, FERC prepares an environmental document: either an Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement. For energy infrastructure projects requiring multiple federal permits, FERC generally serves as the lead agency for NEPA review.

NEPA requires all federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major proposed federal actions before making decisions. Under NEPA, FERC evaluates the environmental, social and economic effects of a proposed project. As participants in the NEPA process, FERC said Tribes can provide insight on various topics, including:

  • Scope of environmental analysis, which includes the range of actions, alternatives and impacts to be considered;
  • Quality of available information, such as the need for additional studies or information to fill data gaps;
  • Purpose and need for the project;
  • Reasonable alternatives that are technically and economically feasible and meet the purpose and need for the proposed action;
  • Environmental resource impacts, which are effects on the natural and human environment that result directly, indirectly or as a cumulative effect from a proposed project; and
  • Recommendations for potential protection or mitigation measures, such as ways to avoid, minimize, rectify, reduce or eliminate impacts to resources or communities that result from a proposed project.

Tribes may participate in FERC proceedings by engaging in consultation, making on-the-record comments, intervening in the proceeding or participating in the preparation of the environmental document as a cooperating agency, FERC said.

FERC also noted that Tribes should try to participate as early in the process as possible. Tribes wishing to participate should engage during the pre-filing process, if possible, to ensure that FERC staff are aware of the Tribe’s concerns and avoid ex parte restrictions and public notice requirements that could arise later.

Additionally, Tribes may request consultation with FERC at any time. While FERC said it encourages Tribes to work with project proponents to voice their concerns, share information and shape the development of a project, Tribes also may contact FERC and request consultation meetings to discuss the project.

Earlier this year, FERC granted Native American tribes more power to block hydropower projects on their land after a flurry of applications were filed to expand renewable energy in the water-scarce U.S. Southwest.

Previously, FERC granted developers approval to move ahead with planning even if tribes objected. That practice came to an end in February. Now, a new commission policy allows tribes to quickly veto proposals, forcing businesses to cooperate with them if they want the federal government to grant exclusive rights to their hydropower projects.

FERC recently rejected seven proposals for projects on the Navajo Nation, which stretches 27,000 square miles (69,000 square kilometers) across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. When it issued those rejections, the commission also announced the policy change, handing tribes the same power as federal agencies to block projects.

Environmental groups and some members of the Navajo Nation argue the projects require enormous amounts of water in a part of the country that already doesn’t have enough. Roughly one-third of the 175,000 people on the Navajo Nation don’t have running water at home.

This article contains reporting from the Associated Press.