Dam companies get faster OK and less rules.
H.R. 9806 — FLOWS Act · Filed by Nicholas Langworthy (R-NY) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
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What it does
This bill changes rules for dams and small water-power projects. Dam companies can do routine fixes without asking first. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must write new rules. These rules will say what counts as routine work. Small water-power projects under 5 megawatts get approved in one year instead of several years.
Who it affects
Dam companies and owners benefit from faster OK and fewer rules. Small water-power companies can build projects more quickly. People who use power may see changes in supply.
One thing to notice
The bill lets dam companies do routine work without asking first. The agency must write the rules within 180 days after the bill passes.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jul 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — the agency that approves and watches over dams and power projects.
- routine work — regular fixes and small repairs that do not change how a dam works.
- megawatts — a measure of how much power a project can make.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (8,552 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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