Baker River Project Relicense Update -- December
Well past the half-way mark – that's the status of Puget Sound Energy's four-year effort to relicense the Baker River Hydroelectric Project. Since the public first attended a meeting to learn about the relicense in March 2000, representatives from PSE, agencies, tribes, governments, non-governmental organizations, and the public have logged thousands of work hours and produced volumes of material. Five resource-specific working groups and the Baker solution team have met on a monthly basis since the beginning, and technical working groups have researched specific issues. Their efforts resulted in study requests, study plans, schedules, reports, presentations, and other informative documents. In addition, several formal documents are now complete, including a Communications Protocol, an Initial Consultation Document and Scoping Document 1. To keep the public informed, PSE has held several public meetings and project tours.
This progress has enabled the relicense effort to enter a new phase involving the drafting of a settlement agreement, work to prepare an environmental assessment, and the mapping of a process for completing various regulatory requirements. The ultimate goal is to produce a licensing application, environmental assessment and settlement agreement that can be packaged together and filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by April 30, 2004 -- two years before the current license for the Baker River Project expires.
ALP request granted by FERC
In July, PSE received permission from FERC to move ahead with the "Alternative Licensing Procedures" (ALP). Designed by FERC, the goal of the ALP is to hasten the licensing process by involving interested parties early on in the effort through intense collaboration. "Overall, we get a better application (through the ALP)," said Steve Hocking, FERC's Baker River Relicensing Coordinator. "It brings more control to the local level."
According to Connie Freeland, PSE's Baker licensing program manager, the company has pursued opportunities for collaboration from the beginning. However, she points to increased assistance from FERC throughout the remainder of the licensing process as another important benefit of the ALP. For example, several FERC staff, in addition to Hocking, are working directly with the working groups. Also a result of the ALP, PSE is now required to file a Baker relicense progress report with FERC every six months. The first report was due January 19, 2003.
Settlement process is underway
Over the past few months, the Baker River Relicense participants have entered the early stages of a settlement process. First, the working groups developed a total of 150 draft solutions for issues and concerns identified over the past few years. These are called protection, mitigation and enhancement measures -- or PMEs, and they included the issues and interests the measure addresses, justification for the measure, and how the measure could be implemented.
Once these were in place, the Baker solution team asked PSE to prepare "draft proposed actions" for the project, using the initial list of PMEs as a basis. The 54 draft proposed actions were presented to the solution team and working groups at a two-day cross-resource workshop in early March.
In some cases, several PMEs were combined into one draft proposed action that represents common interests. Several factors determined which PMEs were included in the draft proposed actions. For example, some PMEs were not included because more information is needed in the original PME description; some were not included because the Baker Project has no effect on the resource/issue; and some were not included because there is nothing PSE can logically do to address the resource/issue. However others, were included, even though there is no obvisou link to the Baker Project.
Connie Freeland, PSE's Baker licensing program manager, says the draft actions are collaborative in nature. "They are our best effort to present draft actions we believe balance the interests of various participant groups," she says. She is hopeful that the draft proposed actions can serve as a basis for a final settlement agreement. The next goal of the settlement process is to have an "agreement in principle" prepared by spring 2003.
Identification of Regulatory requirements
This past fall, project team members began identifying all regulatory requirements, including permits, associated with the license. Among the many benefits to the ALP, Puget Sound Energy hopes to have most of the regulatory requirements of other agencies addressed before we file the license application with FERC. To ensure that the work is completed by the spring of 2004, PSE has been working with various agencies to develop a schedule and milestones for each requirement.
Regulatory requirements include: Department of Ecology's Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification, as well as its Coastal Zone Management Act Consistency Determination; the Endangered Species Act Consultation required by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries; Section 4(e) Mandatory Conditions from the US Forest Service; and compliance with the Historic Preservation Act, as required by the State Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation.
Draft environmental assessment work
PSE selected a team from the Louis Berger Group to prepare a preliminary draft environmental assessment (PDEA) for the Baker River Project Relicense. The firm began working on the environmental assessment in October, and is expected to complete a preliminary draft by the spring of 2003 for review by the Baker Solution Team.
The company interviewed three different firms for the job. All were approved by the Solution Team and were included on FERC's list of qualified hydroelectric third-party contractors. PSE used a number of criteria in making the final selection. Among the company's priorities were a local presence, the availability of in-house resources, recent experience in FERC hydroelectric licensing, familiarity with Northwest fisheries issues, experience with the alternative licensing procedures and collaboration, and a history of working with the many parties involved in the Baker River relicense effort.
The Berger Group will use the project and study information generated by the working groups to prepare the environmental assessment. The purpose of the assessment is to analyze the effects of project operations on various aspects of the environment, including fisheries, recreation, terrestrial resources and cultural resources. The assessment will examine several alternatives for the project. A draft environmental assessment should be ready for public review by the fall of 2003.
Scoping process completed for Baker relicensing
In May 2002, PSE and FERC hosted two public scoping meetings as part of the Baker River Relicensing process. These meetings enabled PSE to update the public on the relicensing effort and provided an opportunity for citizens, tribes, agencies and environmental organizations to comment on two important documents: the Initial Consultation Document (prepared by PSE) and Scoping Document 1 (prepared by FERC and PSE).
The Initial Consultation Document gives an overview of the physical and operational aspects of the Baker River Project, and summarizes the environmental resources and programs associated with the project as it exists today. These include geology and soils, water quality, fish and aquatic resources, terrestrial resources, cultural resources and recreation.
Scoping Document 1 identifies environmental issues associated with the project including water quality and impacts to fish and wildlife. Using input provided by the public, FERC made revisions and then issued a Scoping Document 2. This document will serve as the basis for the project's environmental assessment, which will be filed with the license application.
About 25 individuals and organizations offered spoken or written comment at the May meetings, which were held in Mount Vernon and Concrete. Among the speakers offering comments were representatives from the Washington Department of Ecology, the Skagit County Commissioners, the Concrete Chamber of Commerce, the town of Concrete, the North Cascades Institute, the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Past Accomplishments
Year 2000
Public Meetings and Tours:
Since March 2000, PSE has held periodic public information meetings to describe project features, provide license application updates, and discuss the process. We anticipate holding periodic public information meetings throughout the relicensing process. In addition to the meetings, we also sponsor occasional public tours of the project.
Working groups
In mid-2000, five separate working groups began meeting monthly to focus on key resources of the Baker River Project. In 2000, the groups crafted mission statements fand operational procedures, clafirifed the interests of each participant, eschanged existing information about the resourace area, toured the project, and discussed utility economics and the collaborative process.
Solution Team
In October 2000, the Baker solution team was formed, comprised of a representative from every interest involved in the relicensing effort. This team will ultimately consider recommendations provided by the working groups, determine which proposals will be included in the license application, and craft a settlement agreement among the parties.
Collaborative Process Training
In October 2000 and January 2001, Puget Sound Energy sponsored three training sessions for representatives of the Solution Team and the working groups. More than 60 people attended the day-long training sessions emphasizing collaboration and negotiation.
Year 2001
Notice of Intent
This notice that PSE intends to seek a relicense for the Baker Project was filed with FERC in April 2001.
Solution Team
In 2001, the solution team worked on the draft Initial Consultation Document, reviewed the Communications Protocol and Process Document drafts, and participated in a question and answer session with FERC.
Working Groups
Beginning in 2001 and continuing into 2003, the working groups began conducting extensive studies related to each resource area.