Environmentally Responsible Windpower Act of 2005
Key claim: Wind turbine projects would have to finish local community notification, and a full environmental impact statement if sited near a highly scenic area or within 20 miles of a coastal National Wildlife Refuge, before FERC could grant them the market authorizations needed to sell electricity.
Abstract
(S1208 · 109th Congress) Environmentally Responsible Windpower Act of 2005 - States that a wind turbine project must complete its Local Notification Process as a prerequisite to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issuance of its Exempt-Wholesale Generator Status, Market-Based Rate Authority, or Qualified Facility rate schedule. Requires the lead agency to conduct and complete an environmental impact statement prior to FERC issuance of its Exempt-Wholesale Generator Status, Market-Based Rate Authority, or Qualified Facility rate schedule to a Qualified Wind Project in or near a Highly Scenic Area (or within 20 miles off the coast of a National Wildlife Refuge). Latest action (2005-06-09): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6301-6303)
Why this matters
The bill illustrates an early attempt to layer NEPA-style review and local-notice prerequisites onto FERC’s wind-project market authorizations, a permitting hook that would have raised siting costs and timelines near scenic and coastal refuge areas. It never advanced, but the design — using FERC rate authority as an environmental-review chokepoint — recurs in later debates over federal wind siting.