PACIFIC NORTHWEST ELECTRIC POWER AND CONSERVATION PLANNING
COUNCIL
Notices
Mainstem Amendments to Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife
Program 46667-46668
[Federal Register: August 6, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 151)]
[Notices]
[Page 46667-46668]
From the Federal Register
Online via GPO Access
[DOCID:fr06au03-124]
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PACIFIC NORTHWEST ELECTRIC POWER AND CONSERVATION PLANNING
COUNCIL
Mainstem Amendments to Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife
Program
AGENCY: Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation
Planning Council (Northwest Power and Conservation Council,
Council).
ACTION: Notice of final action adopting the 2003 Mainstem
Amendments to the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife
Program.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 4(h) of the Pacific Northwest
Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C.
839 et seq.), the Council has amended its 2000 Columbia River
Basin Fish and Wildlife Program by adding what are called the 2003
Mainstem Amendments.
On March 14, 2001, the Council requested that state and federal
fish and wildlife agencies, Indian tribes and others submit
recommendations for amendments to the Council's Fish and
[[Page 46668]]
Wildlife Program concerning the mainstem Columbia and Snake
rivers. A memorandum accompanying the request for recommendations
outlined certain points to consider in developing mainstem
amendment recommendations. Council
Document No. 2001-04. By the June 15, 2001, deadline for
submitting mainstem amendment recommendations, the Council
received nearly 1,000 pages of recommendations and supporting
information from 22 entities and individuals. As required by
Section 4(h)(4) of the Northwest Power Act, the Council released
the recommendations to the public for an opportunity for review
and comment, until October 2001. Council
Document No. 2001-16.
In October 2002, the Council released for public review and
comment a draft of proposed mainstem amendments to the fish and
wildlife program, and at the same time invited further comment on
the mainstem amendment recommendations originally received. The
Council held a number of public hearings in the four states of the
Council (Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho) and received
extensive written comments on the draft amendments and the
recommendations. Written
comments on the draft mainstem amendments and recommendations
are posted on the Council's Web site.
After reviewing the recommendations and the comments on the
draft mainstem amendments, the Council revised the draft and
adopted substantive mainstem amendments to the program in April
2003. In July 2003, the Council completed this process of amending
the fish and wildlife program by adopting findings on the
recommendations for mainstem amendments as part of the program (Appendix
B [450k PDF] to the 2003 Mainstem
Amendments), as well as a final analysis of the relationship of
the mainstem amendments to the adequacy, efficiency, economy and
reliability of the region's power supply (Appendix
A [2.5mb PDF] to the 2003 Mainstem
Amendments).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The mainstem amendments are the
Council's second step in what will eventually be a comprehensive
revision of its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife program. In
the first phase, which resulted in the 2000 Fish and Wildlife
Program, the Council reorganized the program around a
comprehensive framework of scientific and policy principles. The
fundamental elements of the revised program are the vision, which
describes what the program is trying to accomplish with regard to
fish and wildlife and other desired benefits from the river;
basinwide biological objectives, which describe in general the
fish and wildlife population and habitat characteristics needed to
achieve the vision; implementation strategies, which will guide or
describe the actions needed to achieve the desired ecological
conditions; and a scientific foundation, which links these
elements and explains why the Council believes certain kinds of
actions should result in desired habitat conditions and why these
conditions should improve fish and wildlife populations in the
desired way.
The program amendments in 2000 set the stage for the subsequent
phases of the program revision process, in which the Council will
adopt specific objectives and strategies for the river's mainstem
and tributary subbasins, consistent with the basinwide vision,
objectives and strategies in the program and its underlying
scientific foundation. This notice concludes the adoption of a set
of program amendments relevant to the mainstem Columbia and Snake
rivers. The Council next intends to incorporate specific
objectives and measures for tributaries into the program in
locally developed subbasin plans for the more than 60 subbasins of
the Columbia River.
The role of the mainstem amendments was described in the 2000
Fish and Wildlife Program, in the section on Basinwide Hydrosystem
Strategies and in the section entitled Schedule for Further
Rulemakings. The Council repeated this guidance in the March 14,
2001, request for mainstem amendment recommendations. The mainstem
amendments were to contain the specific objectives and strategies
(or measures) for the federal operating agencies and others to
implement in the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers to protect,
mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development
and operation of hydroelectric facilities while assuring the
region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power
supply. The final amendments thus include objectives and
strategies relating to, among other matters:
- The protection and enhancement of mainstem habitat,
including spawning, rearing, resting and migration areas for
salmon and steelhead, resident salmonids and other anadromous
and resident fish;
- System water management;
- Passage spill at mainstem dams;
- Adult and juvenile passage modifications at mainstem dams;
- Juvenile fish transportation;
- Reservoir elevations, operational requirements and habitat
conditions to protect resident fish and wildlife;
- Water quality conditions; and
- Research, monitoring and evaluation.
In developing the mainstem amendments, the Council asked the
recommending entities to consider, among other things, the
consistency of their mainstem recommendations with the basinwide
provisions in the 2000 Fish and Wildlife Program, especially the
role of a mainstem plan in a multispecies, habitat-based,
basinwide program. The Council evaluated the mainstem
recommendations and the draft and final program amendments for
consistency with the program framework elements adopted in 2000,
including the vision, biological objectives, habitat and
hydrosystem strategies, and underlying scientific principles. The
Council also evaluated the draft and final amendments for
consistency with, and a basis in, the mainstem recommendations, as
explained in the findings.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The final
2003 Mainstem Amendments, which include the appendices with
the findings on recommendations and the power system analysis, can
be found on the Council's website. You may also contact the
Council's central office for a copy, by telephone at
1-503-222-5161 or 1-800-452-5161; by fax at 1-503-795-3370; or by
e-mail at .
Stephen L. Crow,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 03-19975 Filed 8-5-03; 8:45 am]
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