Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act

This bill, titled the Hydropower Licensing Affordability Act, seeks to modernize the federal hydropower licensing process by introducing specific limitations on mitigation requirements. It amends the Federal Power Act to ensure that conditions imposed by federal agencies for hydropower projects on federal reservations are narrowly tailored. Specifically, such conditions must "reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the applicable project on such reservation." Furthermore, the bill modifies requirements for prescribed fishways, stipulating that they must "reasonably mitigate the direct adverse effect of the applicable project on the population of a species of fish in the applicable river system." These amendments aim to streamline the licensing process by preventing overly broad or disproportionate mitigation demands, thereby potentially reducing costs and accelerating project approvals.