16 U.S.C. § 799
Section 799 · License; duration, conditions, revocation, alteration, or surrender
This is § 6 of the Federal Power Act of 1920
Amended 5 times on record
Applied in 50 court decisions — leading case City of Tacoma v. Taxpayers of Tacoma (1958)
Most recently applied in American Whitewater v. FERC (January 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Licenses under this subchapter shall be issued for a period not exceeding fifty years. Each such license shall be conditioned upon acceptance by the licensee of all of the terms and conditions of this chapter and such further conditions, if any, as the Commission shall prescribe in conformity with this chapter, which said terms and conditions and the acceptance thereof shall be expressed in said license. Licenses may be revoked only for the reasons and in the manner prescribed under the provisions of this chapter, and may be altered or surrendered only upon mutual agreement between the licensee and the Commission after thirty days' public notice.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1998—Pub. L. 105–192 inserted at end "Licenses may be revoked only for the reasons and in the manner prescribed under the provisions of this chapter, and may be altered or surrendered only upon mutual agreement between the licensee and the Commission after thirty days' public notice."
1996—Pub. L. 104–316 struck out at end "Licenses may be revoked only for the reasons and in the manner prescribed under the provisions of this chapter, and may be altered or surrendered only upon mutual agreement between the licensee and the Commission after thirty days' public notice."
Pub. L. 104–106 struck out at end "Copies of all licenses issued under the provisions of this subchapter and calling for the payment of annual charges shall be deposited with the General Accounting Office, in compliance with section 20 of title 41."
1935—Act Aug. 26, 1935, §204, amended section generally, substituting "thirty days" for "ninety days" in third sentence and inserting last sentence.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
For effective date and applicability of amendment by Pub. L. 104–106, see section 4401 of Pub. L. 104–106, set out as a note under section 2302 of Title 10, Armed Forces.