
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC796]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
         CHAPTER 12--FEDERAL REGULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POWER
 
SUBCHAPTER I--REGULATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER POWER AND RESOURCES
 
Sec. 796. Definitions

    The words defined in this section shall have the following meanings 
for purposes of this chapter, to wit:
        (1) ``public lands'' means such lands and interest in lands 
    owned by the United States as are subject to private appropriation 
    and disposal under public land laws. It shall not include 
    ``reservations'', as hereinafter defined;
        (2) ``reservations'' means national forests, tribal lands 
    embraced within Indian reservations, military reservations, and 
    other lands and interests in lands owned by the United States, and 
    withdrawn, reserved, or withheld from private appropriation and 
    disposal under the public land laws; also lands and interests in 
    lands acquired and held for any public purposes; but shall not 
    include national monuments or national parks;
        (3) ``corporation'' means any corporation, joint-stock company, 
    partnership, association, business trust, organized group of 
    persons, whether incorporated or not, or a receiver or receivers, 
    trustee or trustees of any of the foregoing. It shall not include 
    ``municipalities'' as hereinafter defined;
        (4) ``person'' means an individual or a corporation;
        (5) ``licensee'' means any person, State, or municipality 
    licensed under the provisions of section 797 of this title, and any 
    assignee or successor in interest thereof;
        (6) ``State'' means a State admitted to the Union, the District 
    of Columbia, and any organized Territory of the United States;
        (7) ``municipality'' means a city, county, irrigation district, 
    drainage district, or other political subdivision or agency of a 
    State competent under the laws thereof to carry on the business of 
    developing, transmitting, utilizing, or distributing power;
        (8) ``navigable waters'' means those parts of streams or other 
    bodies of water over which Congress has jurisdiction under its 
    authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the 
    several States, and which either in their natural or improved 
    condition notwithstanding interruptions between the navigable parts 
    of such streams or waters by falls, shallows, or rapids compelling 
    land carriage, are used or suitable for use for the transportation 
    of persons or property in interstate or foreign commerce, including 
    therein all such interrupting falls, shallows, or rapids, together 
    with such other parts of streams as shall have been authorized by 
    Congress for improvement by the United States or shall have been 
    recommended to Congress for such improvement after investigation 
    under its authority;
        (9) ``municipal purposes'' means and includes all purposes 
    within municipal powers as defined by the constitution or laws of 
    the State or by the charter of the municipality;
        (10) ``Government dam'' means a dam or other work constructed or 
    owned by the United States for Government purposes with or without 
    contribution from others;
        (11) ``project'' means complete unit of improvement or 
    development, consisting of a power house, all water conduits, all 
    dams and appurtenant works and structures (including navigation 
    structures) which are a part of said unit, and all storage, 
    diverting, or forebay reservoirs directly connected therewith, the 
    primary line or lines transmitting power therefrom to the point of 
    junction with the distribution system or with the interconnected 
    primary transmission system, all miscellaneous structures used and 
    useful in connection with said unit or any part thereof, and all 
    water-rights, rights-of-way, ditches, dams, reservoirs, lands, or 
    interest in lands the use and occupancy of which are necessary or 
    appropriate in the maintenance and operation of such unit;
        (12) ``project works'' means the physical structures of a 
    project;
        (13) ``net investment'' in a project means the actual legitimate 
    original cost thereof as defined and interpreted in the 
    ``classification of investment in road and equipment of steam roads, 
    issue of 1914, Interstate Commerce Commission'', plus similar costs 
    of additions thereto and betterments thereof, minus the sum of the 
    following items properly allocated thereto, if and to the extent 
    that such items have been accumulated during the period of the 
    license from earnings in excess of a fair return on such investment: 
    (a) Unappropriated surplus, (b) aggregate credit balances of current 
    depreciation accounts, and (c) aggregate appropriations of surplus 
    or income held in amortization, sinking fund, or similar reserves, 
    or expended for additions or betterments or used for the purposes 
    for which such reserves were created. The term ``cost'' shall 
    include, insofar as applicable, the elements thereof prescribed in 
    said classification, but shall not include expenditures from funds 
    obtained through donations by States, municipalities, individuals, 
    or others, and said classification of investment of the Interstate 
    Commerce Commission shall insofar as applicable be published and 
    promulgated as a part of the rules and regulations of the 
    Commission;
        (14) ``Commission'' and ``Commissioner'' means the Federal Power 
    Commission, and a member thereof, respectively;
        (15) ``State commission'' means the regulatory body of the State 
    or municipality having jurisdiction to regulate rates and charges 
    for the sale of electric energy to consumers within the State or 
    municipality;
        (16) ``security'' means any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, 
    debenture, or other evidence of interest in or indebtedness of a 
    corporation subject to the provisions of this chapter;
        (17)(A) ``small power production facility'' means a facility 
    which is an eligible solar, wind, waste, or geothermal facility, or 
    a facility which--
            (i) produces electric energy solely by the use, as a primary 
        energy source, of biomass, waste, renewable resources, 
        geothermal resources, or any combination thereof; and
            (ii) has a power production capacity which, together with 
        any other facilities located at the same site (as determined by 
        the Commission), is not greater than 80 megawatts;

        (B) ``primary energy source'' means the fuel or fuels used for 
    the generation of electric energy, except that such term does not 
    include, as determined under rules prescribed by the Commission, in 
    consultation with the Secretary of Energy--
            (i) the minimum amounts of fuel required for ignition, 
        startup, testing, flame stabilization, and control uses, and
            (ii) the minimum amounts of fuel required to alleviate or 
        prevent--
                (I) unanticipated equipment outages, and
                (II) emergencies, directly affecting the public health, 
            safety, or welfare, which would result from electric power 
            outages;

        (C) ``qualifying small power production facility'' means a small 
    power production facility--
            (i) which the Commission determines, by rule, meets such 
        requirements (including requirements respecting fuel use, fuel 
        efficiency, and reliability) as the Commission may, by rule, 
        prescribe; and
            (ii) which is owned by a person not primarily engaged in the 
        generation or sale of electric power (other than electric power 
        solely from cogeneration facilities or small power production 
        facilities);

        (D) ``qualifying small power producer'' means the owner or 
    operator of a qualifying small power production facility;
        (E) ``eligible solar, wind, waste or geothermal facility'' means 
    a facility which produces electric energy solely by the use, as a 
    primary energy source, of solar energy, wind energy, waste resources 
    or geothermal resources; but only if--
            (i) either of the following is submitted to the Commission 
        not later than December 31, 1994:
                (I) an application for certification of the facility as 
            a qualifying small power production facility; or
                (II) notice that the facility meets the requirements for 
            qualification; and

            (ii) construction of such facility commences not later than 
        December 31, 1999, or, if not, reasonable diligence is exercised 
        toward the completion of such facility taking into account all 
        factors relevant to construction of the facility.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon.

        (18)(A) ``cogeneration facility'' means a facility which 
    produces--
            (i) electric energy, and
            (ii) steam or forms of useful energy (such as heat) which 
        are used for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling 
        purposes;

        (B) ``qualifying cogeneration facility'' means a cogeneration 
    facility which--
            (i) the Commission determines, by rule, meets such 
        requirements (including requirements respecting minimum size, 
        fuel use, and fuel efficiency) as the Commission may, by rule, 
        prescribe; and
            (ii) is owned by a person not primarily engaged in the 
        generation or sale of electric power (other than electric power 
        solely from cogeneration facilities or small power production 
        facilities);

        (C) ``qualifying cogenerator'' means the owner or operator of a 
    qualifying cogeneration facility;
        (19) ``Federal power marketing agency'' means any agency or 
    instrumentality of the United States (other than the Tennessee 
    Valley Authority) which sells electric energy;
        (20) ``evidentiary hearings'' and ``evidentiary proceeding'' 
    mean a proceeding conducted as provided in sections 554, 556, and 
    557 of title 5;
        (21) ``State regulatory authority'' has the same meaning as the 
    term ``State commission'', except that in the case of an electric 
    utility with respect to which the Tennessee Valley Authority has 
    ratemaking authority (as defined in section 2602 of this title), 
    such term means the Tennessee Valley Authority;
        (22) ``electric utility'' means any person or State agency 
    (including any municipality) which sells electric energy; such term 
    includes the Tennessee Valley Authority, but does not include any 
    Federal power marketing agency.\1\
        (23) Transmitting utility.--The term ``transmitting utility'' 
    means any electric utility, qualifying cogeneration facility, 
    qualifying small power production facility, or Federal power 
    marketing agency which owns or operates electric power transmission 
    facilities which are used for the sale of electric energy at 
    wholesale.\1\
        (24) Wholesale transmission services.--The term ``wholesale 
    transmission services'' means the transmission of electric energy 
    sold, or to be sold, at wholesale in interstate commerce.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ So in original. The period probably should be ``; and''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        (25) Exempt wholesale generator.--The term ``exempt wholesale 
    generator'' shall have the meaning provided by section 79z-5a of 
    title 15.

(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. I, Sec. 3, 41 Stat. 1063; renumbered pt. I 
and amended, Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, Secs. 201, 212, 49 Stat. 
838, 847; Pub. L. 95-617, title II, Sec. 201, Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 
3134; Pub. L. 96-294, title VI, Sec. 643(a)(1), June 30, 1980, 94 Stat. 
770; Pub. L. 101-575, Sec. 3, Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2834; Pub. L. 
102-46, May 17, 1991, 105 Stat. 249; Pub. L. 102-486, title VII, 
Sec. 726, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2921.)

                       References in Text

    The public land laws, referred to in pars. (1), (2), are classified 
generally to Title 43, Public Lands.


                               Amendments

    1992--Par. (22). Pub. L. 102-486, Sec. 726(b), inserted ``(including 
any municipality)'' after ``State agency''.
    Pars. (23) to (25). Pub. L. 102-486, Sec. 726(a), added pars. (23) 
to (25).
    1991--Par. (17)(E). Pub. L. 102-46 struck out ``, and which would 
otherwise not qualify as a small power production facility because of 
the power production capacity limitation contained in subparagraph 
(A)(ii)'' after ``geothermal resources'' in introductory provisions.
    1990--Par. (17)(A). Pub. L. 101-575, Sec. 3(a), inserted ``a 
facility which is an eligible solar, wind, waste, or geothermal 
facility, or''.
    Par. (17)(E). Pub. L. 101-575, Sec. 3(b), added subpar. (E).
    1980--Par. (17)(A)(i). Pub. L. 96-294 added applicability to 
geothermal resources.
    1978--Pars. (17) to (22). Pub. L. 95-617 added pars. (17) to (22).
    1935--Act Aug. 26, 1935, Sec. 201, amended definitions of 
``reservations'' and ``corporations'', and inserted definitions of 
``person'', ``licensee'', ``commission'', ``commissioner'', ``State 
commission'' and ``security''.


                            FERC Regulations

    Section 4 of Pub. L. 101-575 provided that: ``Unless the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission otherwise specifies, by rule after 
enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 1990], any eligible solar, wind, waste, 
or geothermal facility (as defined in section 3(17)(E) of the Federal 
Power Act as amended by this Act [16 U.S.C. 796(17)(E)]), which is a 
qualifying small power production facility (as defined in subparagraph 
(C) of section 3(17) of the Federal Power Act as amended by this Act)--
        ``(1) shall be considered a qualifying small power production 
    facility for purposes of part 292 of title 18, Code of Federal 
    Regulations, notwithstanding any size limitations contained in such 
    part, and
        ``(2) shall not be subject to the size limitation contained in 
    section 292.601(b) of such part.''


                     State Authorities; Construction

    Nothing in amendment by Pub. L. 102-486 to be construed as affecting 
or intending to affect, or in any way to interfere with, authority of 
any State or local government relating to environmental protection or 
siting of facilities, see section 731 of Pub. L. 102-486, set out as a 
note under section 79 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.

                          Transfer of Functions

    Federal Power Commission terminated and functions, personnel, 
property, funds, etc., transferred to Secretary of Energy (except for 
certain functions transferred to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) 
by sections 7151(b), 7171(a), 7172(a), 7291, and 7293 of Title 42, The 
Public Health and Welfare.

  Abolition of Interstate Commerce Commission and Transfer of Functions

    Interstate Commerce Commission abolished and functions of Commission 
transferred, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 104-88, to Surface 
Transportation Board effective Jan. 1, 1996, by section 702 of Title 49, 
Transportation, and section 101 of Pub. L. 104-88, set out as a note 
under section 701 of Title 49. References to Interstate Commerce 
Commission deemed to refer to Surface Transportation Board, a member or 
employee of the Board, or Secretary of Transportation, as appropriate, 
see section 205 of Pub. L. 104-88, set out as a note under section 701 
of Title 49.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 807, 824a-3, 1133, 2708 of 
this title; title 15 section 79z-5a; title 26 section 168; title 30 
section 1141; title 42 sections 7429, 7651d, 8259; title 49 section 
60101.
