According to a Dec. 28 posting on the Federal Register website, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a rule to eliminate Form 80 and revise regulations on recreational opportunities and development at licensed hydropower projects.
In summary, the Federal Register says, FERC issues this Final Rule to amend its regulations to eliminate the Licensed Hydropower Development Recreation Report, designated as FERC Form No. 80 (Form 80). Form 80 solicits information on the use and development of recreation facilities at hydropower projects licensed by the Commission under the Federal Power Act. In addition, the Commission is revising its regulations on recreational use and development at licensed hydropower projects in order to modernize licensee public notice practices, clarify recreational signage requirements, and provide flexibility to assist licensees’ compliance with these requirements.
FERC issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to eliminate Form 80 in May 2018. The form 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, FERC said that 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. This makes Form 80 duplicative and of limited use, FERC said.
This final rule is effective March 28, 2019.
Click here for the complete text of the notice.
