PORTLAND – Proposed changes in the dam relicensing process could give the hydroelectric industry too much power and weaken efforts to restore salmon and other sea-run fish to Maine’s rivers, according to environmental groups.

Opposing groups are joining the Penobscot Nation in taking sides against a provision of a U.S. Senate energy bill, which would give dam owners a way to contest fishways and other conditions imposed by federal natural resource agencies.

It also would provide the industry with an exclusive right to propose alternatives to fishways, which some worry will weaken federal authority to set conditions on licenses. If in effect, it would result in less-effective methods for helping salmon, shad, alewives and other sea-run fish reach their spawning grounds, say opponents.

“We view it here as a major step backwards in efforts to improve fish passage and impacts to habitat from hydroelectric projects,” John Banks, natural resources director for the Penobscot Nation, said.

Industry representatives reject assertions that the reforms represent an environmental rollback and a “power grab” that locks out the voice of the public.

They say the changes are needed to improve a process that goes on way too long, and is too costly and too contentious.

“We’re trying to inject balance and certainty back into the process,” Mark Stover, director of government affairs for the National Hydropower Association, said.

“We’re allowing licensees the opportunity to submit an alternative that will better recognize the value of a project. This is not a way for industry to sneak out of environmental mitigation. That is simply not the case.”