Regulatory Services

FERC Licensing and Relicensing

MWH has the knowledge and experience to conduct and manage all aspects of the FERC licensing and relicensing process. Hydroelectric resource planning, environmental studies, cultural resource studies, feasibility studies and negotiations with federal, state, and local agencies and other stakeholders have been a part of many MWH assignments.

MWH has a thorough understanding of FERC’s three licensing application processes, and can take you through each process as efficiently as possible. Our expertise in FERC relicense and license applications has been gained through our involvement in over 90 initial and relicense applications. Throughout our history of planning and designing water resource development projects, MWH has provided the expertise necessary to comply with the federal and state laws designed to protect and enhance the natural environment.

From 1997-2002, FERC selected a team that included MWH to serve as its contractor for providing nationwide support services. These services included preparation of environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, safety and design assessments, compliance inspection reports, draft license orders, and dam safety studies and reports. MWH was also deeply involved in the development of the new Integrated Licensing Process (ILP) rules and is intimately familiar with them.

MWH can provide the following regulatory services:

Project Evaluation:

• License compliance analyses
• Cost / benefit analyses
• Project financing studies
• Power purchase agreement negotiation

Environmental Impact Analyses and Mitigation Planning:

• Water quality and fisheries studies
• Terrestrial habitat and wildlife studies
• Habitat restoration studies
• Historic / archeological resource evaluation
• Evaluation of socioeconomic conditions
• Recreational and aesthetic resources studies
• Land use planning

Licensing, Permitting, Public and Agency Information Services:

• Agency and public consultation programs
• Preparation of FERC license or relicense applications
• Licensing support activities
• Preparation of permit applications
• Public information meetings presentations
• License amendments

Dam Safety

MWH offers consulting engineering for a full range of dam inspection and rehabilitation including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Dam Safety Performance Monitoring Program (DSPMP) and Part 12 inspections and state-required inspections.

MWH helps clients develop practical programs for evaluation and design alternatives that address dam safety, operations, and regulatory issues, while minimizing costs and service interruptions. Our dam safety services are tailored to satisfy the requirements set by federal, state and local regulatory agencies.

We have prepared more than 200 Part 12 Independent Consultant Inspection Reports in accordance with FERC regulations. Currently, we have eight engineers approved by FERC as Part 12 Independent Consultants and four Potential Failure Modes Assessment (PFMA) trained inspectors on staff.

MWH’s services include:

• Review data and instrumentation programs
• Prepare and update emergency action plans and inundation maps
• Prepare public safety plans and develop recreation plans
• Develop dam rehabilitation and life extension designs, including:
  • Dam stabilization
  • Spillway capacity expansion
  • Embankment overtopping protection
  • Foundation improvement
  • Seepage control
  • Penstock, gate and outlet works rehabilitation
• Perform analyses of spillway adequacy, dam stability and gates and penstock structural integrity
• Develop complete dam safety programs on a project, basin or organization-wide basis
• Conduct dam safety training programs for dam owners and operators
• Assess regulatory compliance and perform dam safety evaluations, including:
• Inspection and condition evaluation of gates, penstocks, turbines, outlet works, dams, spillways, tunnels and abutments
• Hydrology and hydraulics design
• Geotechnical and geological analyses
• Finite element stress analysis
• Hazard rating