S182Referred to Committee

Northwest Energy Security Act

Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both

Signed into Law

119th

Congress

2025-01-22

Introduced

Cosponsors

ⓘ

Type

Sponsor

James E. Risch

Republican · ID · Senator

Votes with party: 76.7% (889 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/R000584

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (5)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

2025-01-22

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Senate Committee on Environment and Public WorksReferred To · 2025-01-22

Previously

Environment and Public Works CommitteeReferred To · 2025-01-22

Plain-English Summary

Northwest Energy Security Act This bill requires Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) operations to be consistent with the preferred alternative in a 2020 environmental impact statement (EIS) decision that focuses on the operations, maintenance, and configuration of dams in the system rather than wild fish restoration. The system includes dams in the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho. Specifically, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must operate the FCRPS consistent with the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement Record of Decision dated September 2020. Thus, Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the Army Corps must follow the EIS rather than the 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Initiative—and a supplemental EIS proposed in 2024—that focus on wild fish restoration in the Columbia Basin. The EIS decision may be amended if each agency determines that (1) changes are necessary for public safety or electrical grid reliability, or (2) certain requirements in the decision are no longer necessary. Further, the bill requires statutory authorization for any structural modification, action, study, or engineering plan that (1) restricts FCRPS hydroelectric dam generation; or (2) limits navigation on the Snake River in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

Subjects

Water Resources Development

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Open text view Read on Congress.gov

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