ORIGINAL Portland General Electric Company \/ 12I SW ..Calnw'astreet • Portland, Oregon 97204 November 12, 2002 ~ ~Ro ,,*R
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Jnofflclal FERC-Generated PDF of 20021115-0446 Received by FERC OSEC 11/12/2002 in Docket#: P-477-024 ORIGINAL Portland General Electric Company \/ 12I SW ..Calnw'aStreet • Portland, Oregon 97204 November 12, 2002 ~ ~ro ,,*r Honorable Magalie Roman Salas ro Secretary Federul Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE Washington, DC 2O426 Re: Project No. 477 - Bull Run Hydroeleetric Project AppHcaton to ~¢nd and Surrendfr License Dear Secretary Salas: On October 24, 2002, Portland General Electric Company ("POE"), licensee for Project No. 477, the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project, and 22 other parties, including the State of Oregon and 9 state, federal, and local agencies, as well as 12 non-governmental organizations, signed an historic settlement agreement that provides for the orderly decommissioning and removal of Project No. 477. Accordingly, enclosed for filing with the Commission on behalfofPGE and the parties to the Settlement Agreement, are an original and eight copies of the filing package comprising PGE's application to amend and surrender the license for Project No. 477. This applicationconsists of the following documents: I. Application for Non-Capacity Amendment of License; 2. Application for Surrender of License; 3. Joint Explanatory Statement in Support of Decommissioning Settlement Agreement; 4. Settlement Agreement Concerning the Removal of the Bull Run HydroelecUic Project;including a) Exhibit A: Decommissioning Plan; b) Exhibit B: Authorized Representatives of the Parties; c) Appendix A: Application for Amendment of License; Appendix B: Application for Surrender of License; e) Appendix C: DraR Environmental Assessment; f) Appendix D: Draft Biological Evaluation; g) Appendix E: Preliminary Determination Pursuant to Wild and Scenic Rivers Act; h) Appendix F: ODSL Easement; i) Appendix G: Joint Explanatory Statement Connecting People, Power and Possibilities 0 Jnofflclal FERC-Generated PDF of 20021115-0446 Received by FERC OSEC 11/12/2002 in Docket#: P-477-024 November 12, 2002 Honorable Magalie Roman Salas Application to Amend and Sunender License j) Appendix H: Draft Memorandum of Agreement Pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act; k) Appendix I: Section 106 Preliminary Finding of Effect; and 1) Appendix J: Agreement for In.stream Conversion. 5. Time-stamped letter, dated November 7, 2002, requesting water quafity certification from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. 6. A draft notice of the tendering of this filing suitable for publication in the Federal Register. Because the Settlement Agreement contemplates the immediate initiation of mitigation measures as well as a complex chain of events leading to Project removal, the Parties respectfully request that the Commission approve the Settlement, and the accompanying documents being filed today with the Commission, on an expedited basis. Also enclosed is one additional copy of the complete filing. Please time-stamp and ~urn it to me in the enclosed stamped, self-addressed enveloped envelope. If you have any questions, please contact me at the number indicated below. ~y submitted, Portland Gcnezal Elcctric Company Tel: 503--464-8864 S:~R FILING LETFER 11/12/2002 Jnofflclal FERC-Generated PDF of 20021115-0446 Received by FERC OSEC 11/12/2002 in Docket#: P-477-024 United States of America Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission %~~ Portland General ) Project No. 477 ~ Ln. Electric Company ) ) Appfication for Non-Capacity Amendment of License . In a related filing, Portland General Electric Company ("PGE"), licensee for the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project, FERC Project No. 477, today applied for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("Commission") approval to surrender the license of and decon-anission the Project. In this filing, PGE apples to the Commission for an amendment of the license for Project No. 477 to facilitate the surrender and decommissioning of the Project by (i) extending the term of the license to November 16, 2017; (ii) authorizing continued generation until removal of the Little Sandy Dam (in 2008 as provided in the Decommissioning Plan for Project No 477 filed with the Commission today), (ih') implementing a program of geomorphological and water quality monitoring continuing until Marmot Dam removal; (iv) requiring continued operation of the fish ladder and sorting facility at Maro~t Dam until Marmot Dam removal; and (v) modifying the operation of the diversion canal at Marmot Dam to provide protection of threatened fish species from November 2004 until November 2007. Bull Run Hydroelectric Project Portland Genial Electric Company FERC No. 477 Appliccaionfor Amendment of License I Jnofflclal FERC-Generated PDF of 20021115-0446 Received by FERC OSEC 11/12/2002 in Docket#: P-477-024 2. The exact name, business address, and telephone number of the applicant are: Portland General Electric Company 121 SW Salmon Street, 3WTC-BRHL Portland, OR 97204 Tel: (503) 464-8864 Fax: (503) 464-2944 Atta: Julie A. Keil, Director, Hydro Licensing . The appficant is a domestic corporation, licensee for the water power project designated as Project No. 477 in the records of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued on May 23, 1980. Portland General Electric Comvanv. 11 FERC tl 62,145 (1980). PGE has entered into a Settlement Agreement with 22 other Parties pursuant to which PGE will decommission the Project starting in 2007 and surrender the Project license after the decommissioning and post-removal monitoring is completed, which is expected to occur between 2012 and 2017. A copy of the Settlement Agreement, which includes the Decommissioning Plan, has been filedwith the Commission today. As discussed in greater detailin the Joint Explanatory Statement, BiologicalEvaluation and Draft Environmental Assessment accompanying thisapplication, the amendment of license proposed, and the reasons why the proposed changes are necessary are as follows: (i) Extending License Term to November 16, 2017: The current license for the Project was issued in 1980, with a thirty-year term, effective in 1974 and expiring in 2004. PGE proposes to extend the term of the license to 2017 to provide protection for listed salmonid species in the Sandy River until the Project is removed, and to provide for a sure and effective means of enforcing the Settlement Agreement that will govern Project removal. The Sandy River is the home to a number of fish species, including fall chinook salmon, spring chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout, which have been listed under the ESA as threatened species. The Sandy River also supports an active sports fishery, which, due to the listed status of the basin's wild salmonids, nmst focus on hatchery fish. However, NMFS requires that the number of hatchery fish be strictly limited, and that adult hatchery fish be excluded from wild fish sanctuaries. The fish ladder at Marmot Dam has been used to separate hatchery Bull Run Hydroelectric Project Poctland General Electric Company FERC No. 477 Application for Amendment of License 2 Jnofflclal FERC-Generated PDF of 20021115-0446 Received by FERC OSEC 11/12/2002 in Docket#: P-477-024 and natural fish, providing the necessary sanctuary above Marmot Dam. Its presence has been an essential component of the fisheries management program of the Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (ODFW) in the Sandy River basin. Following PGE's announcement of its intent to decommission the Project and remove Marmot Dam, ODFW amended its management plan for the Sandy River to remove the reliance on Marmot Dam as a sorting facility. However, the last of the out-of-basin hatchery fish will not return to the Sandy River until 2007, necessitating the continuing presence of Marmot Dam to sort the out-of-basin hatchery stock from the wild stock until that time. Keeping Marmot Dam in place until 2007 is critical to the continued sports fishery in the Sandy, to the protection of ESA listed salmonids, and to an orderly transition to a fish management approach that does not rely on a sorting facility. In addition, the Settlement Agreement provides for a number of actions, discussed in iterm (ii) - (v) below, necessary to implement Project removal in a manner protective of the resources of the Sandy River. PGE, and the other Parties to the Settlement Agreement, believe that the surest method of providing for effective enforcement of these measures is to extend and amend the Project license so that the Commission can enforce the Settlement Agreement. As the Commission itself noted in Arizona Public Service Company, 97 FERC Cl 61,315 (2001), "if the Commission approves a surrender that involves removing a project over several years, the license would have to remain in effect until the process is complete." Moreover, since the term of prior license was less than the statutory maximum of 50 years, the Commission has the authority to extend the prior license's term to provide the necessary Commission authorization and enforcement mechanism. Id. at fn 38. See County of Antrim, Michigan, 88 FERC cl 62,158 (1999). As the Commission noted in connection with the Condit Project, the statutory 50-year maximum for license terms would not be a bar to an extension of the Bull Run Project's 30-year license term, because the 13-year extension would result in a new term of 43 years. PacifiCorp, 97 FERC Cl 61,348 (2001). (li) Authorlzing Continued Generatlon unal Removal of ~ Sandy Dam: All Patties to the Settlement Agreement have agreed that since the entire Project must remain in place until