Henry Mealing, Kleinschmidt Associates, 101 Trade Zone
Drive, Suite 21A, West Columbia, South Carolina 29170; Voice 803-822-3177;
FAX 803-822-3183; E-Mail gillraker@aol.com
Since 1990, there has been a distinct rise in the number of hydropower
projects that have undergone and are currently in the FERC relicensing process. Due to
legislative changes in 1986, when the Electric Consumers Protection Act amended the
Federal Power Act, the state and federal agencies have had increased input regarding the
protection and enhancement of environmental resources at hydro projects. The legislation
and increased participation from resource agencies has changed the relicensing process in
that environmental needs are given equal consideration with hydropower generation needs.
Both the utilities and the state and federal agencies have wrestled with these changes in
trying to maintain or increase their own specific interests. Providing consulting services
during this time has been equally challenging. The consultant is frequently placed in the
"mediator" role between the disputing parties. For the consultant, this is often
referred to as "sitting on the fence" position, where the consultant helps the
disputing parties work through the issue before providing their opinion or conclusion on
how the issue should be resolved. The consultant must also consider the interests of,
non-governmental organizations (NGO) such as the Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited, American
Rivers, etc., which are taking a much more active role in hydropower relicensing. It is
increasingly important for consultants to use "Team Building" processes to help
all parties establish trust for each other early in the relicensing process. Once the Team
is formed, they can begin the process of examining the major and minor objectives of both
environmental and hydropower needs. This process will allow the Team to set priorities for
each issue to be addressed during relicensing. The consultant must provide innovative
ideas for resolving the issues that meet the Team’s objectives. The Team must work
together to identify the issues that will be easily resolved and those that will require
more effort, while working towards resolution at the local level. This negotiation process
has proven quicker and more successful in balancing power and environmental needs than the
historic section 10(j) process. This Team approach is built into the FERC’s new
alternative licensing procedures (specifically the Applicant Prepared Environmental
Assessment), but it can also be used in the "Traditional" Three-Stage
Consultation process. This presentation will address some of the typical issues
encountered during relicensing and describe three cases where the Team philosophy was used
by federal and state agencies, the hydropower utility, and Kleinschmidt Associates to
resolve resource issues. The role of the consultant in each case will be highlighted.
