The America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (Water Infrastructure Act) amends Section 5 of the Federal Power Act to give the Commission the authority to issue preliminary permits with maximum terms of 4 years. The Water Infrastructure Act also authorizes the Commission to extend a preliminary permit term once for not more than an additional 4 years. Therefore, a permittee may request to extend the term of its permit once, up to a total term of 8 years.
Any permittee wishing to extend the term of its permit must file an application pursuant to 18 C.F.R. §4.82. In its application, the applicant should specify the requested term of the extension, and pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Act, describe how it has carried out activities under its permit in good faith and with reasonable diligence.
Section 18 C.F.R. §4.82(c) provides that “The Commission will not accept extension requests that are filed less than 30 days prior to the termination of the permit.”