Commissioner James Danly Statement
April 15, 2021
Project Nos. 10809-052, 10810-058 & 2785-104
I concur in the $15 million penalty assessment against Boyce Hydro Power, LLC (Boyce), pursuant to section 31(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA),[1] for the violations of Standard Article 4 of the Boyce projects’ licenses[2] and section 12.4(b) of the Commission’s regulations[3] for the licensee’s non-compliance with Commission directives issued following the failure of the Sanford Dam and the non-jurisdictional Edenville Dam.
I write separately to underscore two points: first, while I agree with the imposition of this penalty, I also strongly support the Commission’s determination that these civil penalties shall not displace any direct recovery of damages by victims of the dam breaches and flooding in ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.[4] Victim recovery should be the first priority.
Second, I also strongly support strengthening financial assurance measures to ensure dam safety and compliance to prevent exactly this type of incident. This is the subject of a still-pending Commission Notice of Inquiry issued at the January Commission meeting in my final days as the preceding Chairman of this Commission.[5] It is critical that each licensed hydro project have sufficient financial assurance to carry out its license requirements and, particularly, maintain projects in safe condition.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] 16 U.S.C. § 823b(c).
[2] Boyce is the licensee for the Secord (Project No. 10809), Smallwood (Project No. 10810), and Sanford (Project No. 2785) Hydroelectric Projects.
[3] 18 C.F.R. § 12.4(b) (2020).
[4] See Boyce Hydro Power, LLC, 175 FERC ¶ 61,049, at PP 59, 61 (2021).
[5] See Financial Assurance Measures for Hydroelectric Projects, 174 FERC ¶ 61,039 (2021).