Congressman Robert Hurt, along with Congressmen G.K. Butterfield, Bob Goodlatte, Morgan Griffith and Markwayne Mullin, recently introduced the Supporting Home Owners Rights Enforcement (SHORE) Act, H.R. 2929.
This legislation would amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) considers private property ownership rights when issuing a license or enforcement action over hydro-power projects at Smith Mountain Lake and other similar areas throughout the country.
Congressman G.K. Butterfield said, “ Property owners’ rights and concerns must be given sufficient weight in regulating docks, dredging, shoreline stabilization and other projects along waterfront properties near hydropower dams. Amending the Federal Power Act, through this bill, will ensure that. This legislation will benefit North Carolinians who live along Kerr Lake and Lake Gaston.”
“ The input I receive from Fifth District Virginians is my single greatest resource as a member of Congress. A group of citizens in the Smith Mountain Lake area came to me to express concerns about the unnecessary burdens and costs to residents caused by FERC regulations that are significantly impeding their private property rights ,” said Congressman Hurt.
According to him, the SHORE Act is a direct response to FERC’s absence of consideration of private property rights in the licenses for hydro-power projects in the Fifth District and other areas of the country. ” Property owners deserve a say in this process given that it can have such a significant and direct impact on them ,” added Congressman Hurt.