Overview/Objective
Most privately owned hydropower facilities must secure or renew a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This process can take more than 7 years to complete, and the environmental impact study negotiation phase is one of the lengthiest parts of the process. This negotiation typically involves multiple stakeholders with different perspectives regarding the project’s possible environmental impacts and potential mitigation efforts.
To help focus discussions among stakeholders and to streamline the licensing process, the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 91°µÍř (ORNL) researchers have developed an online at HydroEDS.ornl.gov. The EDS Toolkit includes a science-based questionnaire to identify potential environmental impacts from the project (built using a database of more than 3,000 environmental metrics extracted from literature and an eco-evidence approach), an impacts prioritization module, and a “What’s Next?” module to quickly point users to information about relevant studies, mitigations, and regulatory and permitting information. Results from EDS Toolkit can be used as a resource during the study plan development phase of the FERC licensing process, shortening the process’ duration.
Results
For more than six years, the project team has worked with stakeholder advisory boards representing the interests of hydropower developers, federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations with environmental interests, tribal nations, and the scientific research community.
In Phase I of the project (2016-2018), called the Environmental Metrics for Hydropower (EMH) project, ORNL researchers developed a comprehensive database of environmental metrics from which to scientifically assess the ecological effects of hydropower development. The metrics were gleaned from a wide variety of source documents and compiled into six categories: biota and biodiversity; water quality; geomorphology; connectivity and fragmentation; water quantity; and landscape and land cover. From this database, the researchers developed a set of 42 river function indicators (RFIs) to represent groups of environmental metrics that could be used to determine whether an ecological function of the river would be impacted by a proposed hydropower project. The team began to develop a set of questions to use in determining which RFIs might be affected by a proposed hydropower project. They conducted case studies of 12 FERC-licensed hydropower projects to determine which environmental studies were requested vs. completed and how these environmental studies corresponded to the RFIs.
During Phase II of the project (2018-2022), the project team worked with the stakeholder advisory board to refine the questions and develop an online interactive RFI questionnaire, prioritization module, user guide, and a short training video. The team also conducted pilot tests of the RFI questionnaire with five outside users associated with three recently licensed hydropower projects and determined that the tool is useful and usable.
Through a memorandum of understanding with DOE and Norway’s Royal Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, ORNL and DOE staff also held a series of five discussions with researchers from Norwegian research organizations SINTEF and NINA to (1) present recently developed environmental decision tools; (2) reach a consensus regarding the motivation for creating these tools and define what constitutes an effective decision support tool for hydropower stakeholders; and (3) identify key barriers to using environmental decision tools during hydropower development. The resulting white paper summarizes the results of the group’s discussions and provides suggestions for future research to improve the effectiveness and uptake of environmental decision tools.
In the current Phase III of the project (2023-2025), the EDS toolkit is being expanded with a “What’s Next?” module to connect interested parties to relevant studies and mitigations from previously licensed US hydropower projects and to permitting and regulatory information provided through the Hydropower RAPID Toolkit. Users can explore and sort information based on key effects or uncertainties identified through the RFI questionnaire, now called the “Impacts” module.
Impact/Intended Impact
The intent of this research was to create a shared catalog of terminology, methodology, and metrics that can enable stakeholders of all backgrounds to consistently, coherently, and comprehensively define, assess, and communicate their concepts of important environmental attributes and potential environmental impacts from proposed hydropower projects. The EDS Toolkit provides a systematic and transparent platform for comprehensive consideration of the environmental impacts of hydropower projects. The Toolkit facilitates rapid discussion and compromise between key hydropower stakeholders with diverse interests, ultimately supporting environmental mitigation efforts while saving developers time and money.
References:
- Levine, A., et al. 2021. An Examination of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-6A20-79242.
