|
|
Press release |
October 14, 1999
For immediate release
Contact: John Harrison, 800-452-5161
PORTLAND, Oregon -- In the latest of a series of precedent-setting decisions, the Northwest Power Planning Council has recommended �no funding� for $42 million in projects that did not pass muster in an independent scientific review.
The Council's decisions this fall will shape the future of fish and wildlife recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin. They reflect the Council's commitment to apply rigorous standards to decisions about which projects should be funded. The Council�s recommendations are passed to the Bonneville Power Administration
�It isn�t easy to say no. Those who made these funding requests earnestly wish to help. But the public and ratepayers have a right to expect that public money is being spent in the most effective way possible,� said Council Chairman Todd Maddock. �Utilizing careful, independent scientific review to consider these projects allows the Council to fulfill its role as an honest broker and to ensure accountability for the public.�
Before being considered by the Council, the projects were scrutinized by the 11-member Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP), which the Council created three years ago in response to regional, congressional and scientific concerns about the region's efforts to recover and rebuild fish and wildlife populations. Members of the ISRP were recommended to the Council by the National Academy of Sciences. The projects also were reviewed by the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA), an association of the region's state and federal fish and wildlife agencies and Indian tribes.
Some of the 82 rejected projects were new, and some were ongoing. The Council considered comments from CBFWA, the ISRP and from advocacy groups and other interested citizens. In the end, it was up to the Council to recommend to the Bonneville Power Administration whether any of the projects should be funded.
"Our decisions will not sit well with some people,� said Maddock. �But we are committed to making recommendations that best serve the broad public interest, and to be the guardian of the substantial investment by electricity ratepayers in fish and wildlife recovery. On the positive side, we have been able to recommend funding for a broad range of solid projects that will protect and restore our fish and wildlife heritage."
Last month, the Council recommended 158 projects totaling $68 million for funding in Fiscal Year 2000, which began October 1. That represents about 53 percent of the annual $127 million fish and wildlife program budget. Those projects received �yes� recommendations from both the ISRP and CBFWA. The Council will decide which projects to fund with the remainder of the budget in the next month and in December. There are still 150 projects awaiting a Council decision.
For Fiscal Year 2000, 397 project proposals were reviewed, including new proposals and ongoing projects located or proposed throughout the four-state Columbia River Basin. CBFWA and the ISRP sorted them into categories, recommending some for funding, some for delayed or partial funding, and some for no funding. Nearly 70 percent of the projects recommended by CBFWA also were recommended by the ISRP.
The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is charged by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 with developing a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin that have been impacted by hydroelectric dams while also assuring the Northwest an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.
