U.S. Interior responds to county inquiry 

Guarino’s letter bases its argument on Title 43 of the United States Code, Section 1712, which pertains to land use plans, specifically, section (c)(9). That section states that the Secretary of the Interior shall, “to the extent consistent with the laws governing the administration of the public lands, coordinate the land use inventory, planning, and management activities of or for such lands with the land use planning and management programs of other Federal departments and agencies and of the States and local governments within which the lands are located.” The section also applies to tribal governments.

The code also states that the secretary shall, “to the extent he finds practical,” keep apprised of state, local and tribal land use plans, assure that those plans are considered, assist in resolving inconsistencies between the federal and other land use plans and provide for “meaningful public involvement of State and local government officials, both elected and appointed, in the development of land use programs, land use regulations, and land use decisions for public lands, inlcuding early public notice of proposed decisions which may have a significant impact on non-Federal lands.” 

The federal actions in question, according to Guarino’s letter, are the actions of the DOI “in conjunction with the relicensing of PacifiCorp’s dams on the Klamath River and the impacts of their potential removal on Siskiyou County and the Biological Assessment prepared on the action to operate the Klamath Project from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2018.”

The potential removal of four dams along the Klamath River is laid out in the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA), to which the DOI is a party and has signed under the authority of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

Guarino states in his letter that the county believes that the proposed dam removal and the Biological Assessment “falls within the provisions of decisions that will have a significant impact on non-federal lands.

“It is the County’s position that it has not been meaningfully included in the process as required by law.”

Fry, in her response, states that the code referenced by Guarino “specifically addresses land use plans on Federal property administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and how those plans may affect non-Federal land in the vicinity.”

However, Fry continues, stating, “At this time, PacifiCorp’s relicensing effort of [the Klamath Hydroelectric Project] includes only those lands owned by the company. As such, there are no BLM administered lands or Reclamation lands within [the Klamath Hydroelectric Project] except for Link River Dam in Klamath Falls, Oregon.”

Fry also states that while the KHSA and the companion Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) are expected to give title to some lands to the BLM, “[u]ntil that time, no Federal agency will be developing land use plans for these properties.”

According to Fry, the work completed under the two agreements will be subject to the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, both of which “allow for cooperating agency status for local governments.”

Guarino also expressed concern over the potential impacts to the city of Yreka’s water supply, as the main pipeline for that supply runs along the bottom of the reservoir created by Iron Gate Dam, one of the dams slated for removal.

“To our knowledge, the City of Yreka has never been consulted by your agency with respect to impacts on its water supply nor have any of the other local districts, including schools, been consulted,” Guarino states in the letter.

With respect to Yreka’s water supply, Fry says in the letter, “Reclamation certainly appreciates the importance of this water supply to the City. Reclamation does not have any jurisdiction over that system.

“Any changes to the water supply system, as part of the Agreements, would be addressed in the environmental documentation developed as part of the CEQA and NEPA process. We encourage your participation in this process as a cooperating agency to ensure that all of your concerns are addressed during the process.”

Fry concludes by stating that, through the Klamath dams processes, the BOR will “work with Siskiyou County, as appropriate, on matters within Reclamation’s authority.”