Data / Federal rules / 2024-27981
Establishing Reasonable Period of Time and Clarifications Regarding Clean Water Act Section 401(a)(1) Certifications for Hydroelectric Proceedings
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission published this final rule in the Federal Register on December 5, 2024. It took effect on January 6, 2025.
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What the agency says
In this final rule, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) amends its regulations to clarify that for any proceedings before the Commission that require a water quality certification pursuant to section 401(a)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act), the reasonable period of time during which the certifying authority may act on the water quality certification request is one year from the certifying authority's receipt of the request. The final rule also clarifies that all Commission authorizations that have the potential to discharge into waters of the United States require a section 401 water quality certification or waiver, including, depending on the activity being proposed, authorizations associated with hydropower exemptions, amendments, and surrenders. Finally, the final rule provides updated terminology in the Commission's hydropower regulations, updates the timing of the filing requirements for the Commission's expedited hydropower licensing process, and in response to comments on the Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, removes inconsistent language from parts 5 and 7 of the Commission's regulations.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2024-27981
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Energy Department; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Published
- December 5, 2024
- Takes effect
- January 6, 2025
- Dates
- The rule is effective January 6, 2025.
- Docket
- Docket No. RM24-5-000
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 18 CFR 4; 18 CFR 5; 18 CFR 6; 18 CFR 7
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Electric power; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
- Pages
- 8
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Everything from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on electric power · Rules on reporting and recordkeeping requirements · Published in December 2024
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.