A
decision is due by the end of September. It will lay out the rules, in effect,
under which the traditional relicensing procedure will take place before the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Alex
Pitts, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Sacramento, said
the hearing is a way for both sides to agree on facts.
“Right
now the field is full of ‘You said this and we disagree.’ The judge will
clear the field out so he can look more clearly at what’s right and what’s
wrong,” Pitts said.
For
example, she said one recommendation from the Fish and Wildlife Service calls
for fish ladders and screens to be installed at the
dams to improve fish passage. The judge won’t decide whether that’s
appropriate or not, Pitts said, but he could rule on details about each
method.
A
decision on whether Pacifi-Corp is relicensed, and what conditions might be
imposed if it is, won’t come for some time. Pacifi-Corp spokesman Dave
Kvamme said FERC won’t issue a final Environmental Impact Statement until
2007.
Participants
in this month’s hearing are treading on new ground. Only one other such
hearing has been held nationwide since the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005
amended the relicensing process, Pitts said.
Meanwhile,
representatives from
PacifiCorp, conservation groups, Tribes, and a host of governmental agencies
have been holding “settlement meetings” aimed at finding areas of
agreement.
If
solutions acceptable to all factions can be found, FERC probably would given
the consensus package its blessing rather than making a ruling of its own,
Kvamme said. There are wide differences of opinion on fish passage and other
topics, but he hasn’t given up finding a group decision.
“We
really hope we can reach an agreement in the settlement process,” Kvamme
said.
PacifiCorp’s
current license was issued in 1956.
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