Office of Public Participation

The Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 (16 U.S.C. 831k–1) is amended by inserting after section 12a the following: 12b. Office of Public Participation (a) Establishment There is established in the Corporation an Office of Public Participation to engage with the public through direct outreach and education to facilitate greater understanding of the processes of the Authority and solicit broader participation in matters of the Authority affecting the public. (b) Hiring Hiring authority for the Office of Public Participation shall lay with the Board and such authority may not be delegated to Corporation staff. (c) Duties The Office of Public Participation established under subsection (a) shall— (1) act as a liaison to members of the public affected by and interested in Corporation proceedings, by providing ongoing process information on individual proceedings and responding to requests for technical assistance; (2) coordinate with other program offices of the Corporation to improve, or, as appropriate, make recommendations to improve processes in a manner responsive to public input, with the goal of ensuring processes are inclusive, fair, and easy to navigate; and (3) with public participation and feedback, create and facilitate a process not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, for meaningful and open public engagement in the Authority’s integrated resource planning process, including opportunities for intervention, discovery, filed comments or testimony, and an evidentiary hearing. (d) Public participation in integrated resource planning process The process required under subsection (b)(3) shall include— (1) a public comment period that begins not later than 100 days before release of a draft of an integrated resource plan and ends on the last day of the evidentiary hearing for such plan; and (2) a requirement for a response to any request for discovery from an intervenor not later than 15 days after such request is submitted..