(1) Legislative declaration. The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:

(a) Hydroelectric energy is a reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy source and is the largest source of clean energy in the United States;

(b) As of 2005, there were sixty-two operating hydroelectric energy facilities throughout Colorado, with a combined capacity of one thousand one hundred sixty-two megawatts;

(c) According to a recent bureau of reclamation study, Colorado currently has more than thirty sites on which new hydroelectric energy facilities could be placed and a federal department of energy report identifies another eleven potential sites. If all of the identified sites were constructed, they could power over sixty-five thousand homes each year.

(d)

(I) To construct, operate, or maintain a nonfederal hydroelectric energy facility, a person must apply to FERC for a license or a license exemption if the facility is located on navigable waters in the United States, occupies lands of the United States, utilizes surplus water or water power from a United States government dam, or, under some circumstances, is located on a stream over which the United States congress has commerce clause jurisdiction;

(II) As part of FERC's licensing process, an applicant for a hydroelectric energy facility license or license exemption must meet specific prefiling consulting requirements, including a requirement to consult with relevant state agencies about the proposed project and to provide those agencies with an opportunity to comment on the application and request any studies that may be relevant to the proposed project;

(III) To promote the construction and operation of new hydroelectric energy facilities, the United States congress passed the "Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013", federal Public Law 113-23, as amended, which exempts certain hydroelectric energy facilities that have an installed capacity of fewer than ten thousand kilowatts from the licensing requirements and streamlines the approval process for hydroelectric energy facilities generally; and

(e) To further promote the construction and operation of new hydroelectric energy facilities in Colorado, the role of state agencies in consulting on a hydroelectric energy facility application for a federal license or license exemption should be streamlined. To that end, the general assembly designates the office as the coordinating state agency to facilitate the timely state agency review of a proposed project.

(2) Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Applicant" means a person applying for a FERC license or license exemption for a hydroelectric energy facility.

(b) "FERC" means the federal energy regulatory commission.

(c) "Hydroelectric energy" means the generation and delivery to the interconnection meter of any source of electrical or mechanical energy by harnessing the kinetic energy of water. "Hydroelectric energy" includes pumped hydroelectricity, as defined in section 40-2-123 (3.2)(c)(II), C.R.S.

(d) "Office" means the Colorado energy office.

(3) Coordination of state agency review by the Colorado energy office. (a) An applicant in Colorado must contact, and submit relevant documentation to, the office for the purpose of obtaining state agency review of his or her FERC application, as required as part of the consultation requirements set forth in 18 C.F.R. 4.38 concerning FERC license and license exemption procedures.

(b) The office shall coordinate state agency review of the application by providing the following to all relevant state agencies with potential interest in the applicant's hydroelectric energy project:

(I) Notice via e-mail of the application;

(II) Electronic copies of any documentation received from the applicant;

(III) A general description of the FERC review process; and

(IV) The deadline by which the other state agencies must submit any comments about the application to the office. The office shall set a deadline that is sufficiently in advance of the expiration of the comment period provided for by FERC to allow the office to compile other agencies' comments and its own comments for timely submission to FERC.

(c) Upon the expiration of the deadline set by the office for other agencies to review an application, the office shall compile any comments from other agencies and its own comments and submit the comments to FERC before the expiration of the comment period established by FERC. Thereafter, the office shall serve as a liaison between FERC and the other state agencies concerning any discussion of the comments submitted.

(d) The office shall provide information on its website about the streamlined review process set forth in this section.

(e) The director of the office may establish guidelines concerning the process and deadlines for disseminating information to other state agencies and collecting other state agencies' comments.