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State
warns Klamath dam owner over delays
John Driscoll
The Times-Standard
State water quality
regulators have issued a warning to the owner of the
The State Water Resources
Control Board last week sent a letter to Pacificorp giving the company a
month to sign an agreement to conduct the environmental review under the
California Environmental Quality Act.
”Further delay is
unwarranted,” wrote board Executive Director Dorothy Rice. If it's not
signed in a month, “the State Water Board will deny Pacificorp's
request for water quality certification without prejudice.”
Pacificorp needs
certification from the state in order to get a new license for the four
dams. But the letter lines out delays beginning in 2002, when the water
board first told the company it would need to hire a consultant to
prepare an Environmental Impact Report.
It wasn't until this May
that Pacificorp began to argue that the Federal Power Act preempts the
state law regarding the certification. The state water board has
rejected that argument, and said that the time is ripe to get the
analysis under way.
A denial “without
prejudice” may not have real teeth, however, and Pacificorp may be
able to refile its state application if time runs out.
The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission expects to release its federal environmental
review within six months to a year. Before it can issue a license to
Pacificorp -- which would last 30 to 50 years -- it needs the state's
approval on water quality issues.
”The commission cannot
issue a new license until it receives a water quality certificate from
the state,” said FERC spokeswoman Barbara Conners.
That has led some to
wonder if Pacificorp, currently operating under annual license
conditions, is interested in quickly getting a new license, since it
will come with far more strict operating conditions than the status quo.
Craig Tucker, Klamath
campaign coordinator with the Karuk Tribe, said it's in Pacificorp's
interest to delay the process.
”Under any scenario, a
new license makes these dams either a liability or a lot less profitable
than they are right now,” Tucker said.
Pacificorp spokeswoman
Jan Mitchell said the company is reviewing the agreement now, and is
working to develop the scope and cost of the study. Its license didn't
expire until 2006, she said, and it takes years for the resolution of
new one, and denied any delay.
”That's not the
case,” Mitchell said. “We're moving forward. It's a very complex
process.”
John Driscoll can be
reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.
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Source:
http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_6709361