S. 182: Northwest Energy Security Act

119th Congress · introduced 2025-01-22 · Water Resources Development · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

federal

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Official title

Northwest Energy Security Act

Plain 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.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Northwest Energy Security Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] · 5 cosponsors

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Words on this page, explained (3)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

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Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119s182.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/s>

Record fed-us-cong119-s182 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills