Hopes are riding high on the Hill for enacting hydro permitting legislation, Jael writes.

Why it matters: Just as with nuclear power, there's a lot of bipartisan support to get something done so that hydro projects can be approved at a faster clip. Right now, permitting delays abound.

• But cutting an ambitious deal will ride on uniting fractious coalitions and threading the needle through the House, where chaos reigns.

Driving the news: House Energy and Commerce's Energy subcommittee held a hearing this morning on Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers' hydropower permitting package, the Hydropower Clean Energy Future Act.

• The committee will mark up the package — long a priority for the chair — "as soon as possible," a GOP committee aide told Jael.

In the Senate, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee tomorrow is scheduled to consider Sens. Maria Cantwell and Steve Daines' Community and Hydropower Improvement Act. It came out of negotiations among the hydropower sector, academics, environmentalists and tribes.

• A staffer working on the bill said Cantwell is pushing for its "inclusion in any permitting reform package."

There's "absolutely" a deal to be struck between the chambers, McMorris Rodgers told Jael outside the hearing room: "I know there's a lot of support and we can hammer it out."

Between the lines: Both bills are directionally similar in pushing for faster licensing, with small differences in their timing mandates for expediting permitting.

Yes, but: Many Democrats say they want any hydro bill to target ecological protection and tribal sovereignty — issues that have bedeviled past projects.

• "There's a lot of sticky wickets there that need to be addressed to make that come together," said Sen. Martin Heinrich, who sits on Energy and Natural Resources.
• Cantwell-Daines' bill satisfies those asks in multiple ways, including by directing the agencies to look at impacts on fish species and consider protecting species covered under government-to-government treaties with tribes.
• The bill came out of what insiders and staff call the "uncommon dialogue," a group of industry reps and activists who aim to advance hydro projects in an environmentally and culturally sound manner.
• Perhaps it's no surprise that during the E&C hearing, Rep. Doris Matsui told the room she'd rather they were "discussing that bill here today" instead. (Note: As of now there's no House companion.)

Of note: Democrats also said they have issues with the McMorris Rodgers bill, including language they say would exempt projects up to 40 MW from environmental reviews.

• "Given the vast potential environmental impacts from hydropower projects, I frankly struggle with this provision," Rep. Diana DeGette said at the hearing.

Yes, but: The Cantwell-Daines bill may have a procedural problem if it winds up in the House.

• The GOP E&C aide said that measure is expected to have to go through the Natural Resources Committee in addition to E&C because it addresses tribes. Another committee means a more complicated negotiation.

What industry says: It's happy to see Congress so motivated to move hydro faster.

• "We are very excited that reform legislation is moving in both the House and Senate," Matthew Allen, director of legislative affairs at the National Hydropower Association, said in a statement. "Nearly 50% of all hydropower facilities are up for relicensing by 2035, and an overly burdensome licensing and relicensing process puts our grid at risk."

Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro hopes Congress will do more on transmission siting and permitting.

Why it matters: Pizarro, recently elected chair of the Edison Electric Institute, is at the forefront of the investor-owned utility world at a critical time in the energy transition.

• EEI recently named Dan Brouillette, ex-President Trump's former energy secretary, its next president.

Nick recently sat down with Pizarro …

Power plant rules: Pizarro said some utility industry input was "reflected" in EPA's proposed power plant emissions rules, but he and EEI are critical of the agency's technological timelines.

• "The reality is, you have a coal fleet that's required to keep communities powered today," he said. "There's a recognition that there's going to be a timeline for those plants."
• But he doesn't think hydrogen and carbon capture — the technologies EPA is relying on to decarbonize fossil fuel-fired power plants — are ready for prime time.
• "The rule basically assumes that it's all available and you could be implementing it in the next decade at a massive scale. We don't see that in the cards based on where the technology is today," he said.

Permitting plans: Pizarro called the National Environmental Policy Act tweaks that Congress made in the debt ceiling deal a "good start" on permitting.

• Like others in the industry, he wants time limits on judicial challenges.
• "Given that today it takes 11 years to build a transmission line — and about two of that is construction — we need more help to make sure that we can flow these IRA and IIJA dollars into steel in the ground," he said.

Speaking of transmission: Pizarro sees Joe Manchin's permitting bill as a "starting point" on transmission legislation.

• As Congress looks to speed up deployment, lawmakers should respect existing regional planning processes, he said.
• "Making sure that whatever we have at the federal level ultimately takes into account and leverages those regional planning processes is really important," he said.

Industry views: Pizarro acknowledged that investor-owned utilities have different perspectives based on their market. But generally, he said they agree that the U.S. is going to need to build more long-distance transmission.

• "We want to make sure that as an industry, we're not just saying what we don't like, but also coming up with good constructive ideas about things we can support."

💪 Biden's Climate Corps: President Biden heeded Democrats' calls for a climate jobs program — which we first reported — and announced a new "American Climate Corps."

🧪 Chemicals war: The American Chemistry Council today announced a fresh campaign against the Biden administration's "regulatory overreach" in its members' industries.

🌎 HFC hoorays: Sens. Tom Carper and John Kennedy today celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Senate's Kigali ratification.

🗺️ Disaster awareness: New interactive maps from FEMA help show which parts of the country are at the highest risk of flooding.

💸 SEC claps back: The SEC adopted regulations targeting "misleading" fund names, a measure advocates say could help the agency go after greenwashing.