To amend Public Law 99–338 with respect to Kaweah Project permits.
Key claim: HR1044 authorizes the Department of the Interior to issue seven (up from three) renewals for portions of the existing Kaweah hydroelectric project in Tulare County, California.
Abstract
(HR1044 · 119th Congress) This bill authorizes the Department of the Interior to issue seven (currently, three) renewals for portions of the Kaweah Project, which is an existing hydroelectric project in Tulare County, California. Latest action (2025-07-15): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
The Kaweah amendment extends the runway for an existing small hydroelectric operation by more than doubling the number of Interior permit renewals available, avoiding a more burdensome relicensing pathway. Practically, it preserves continued generation and irrigation-district operations in Tulare County without new environmental review triggers, illustrating the incremental, project-specific approach Congress often takes to hydropower permitting rather than systemic FERC/Interior reform.