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3 ,' ( 61 +6 $! - $! ' //$ => !&($#?&&?@ $ 9:A ! $& 13 $# $* ! + 1 $=> & =>., !6 - "61 +6 "J61 6 5 6 2 K$"! - " J! 2- 5/ 2(4K$"! ' //"J //50 162 K$"!&(" J!2 2&(5 2 26K$"#?&&?@ "J 2# // 5 2 26K$" ! + 1 ., !6 5., !6 $=>., !6 5., !6 ' ,1 $ -,6 6/ ( (, I6 ,2-1 0 4 12- 0 / : 612?0 16 1 / / /6 6 2 -,6$ = 466 &3&3UUU.ED*.ED*.ED*VV 61 +6 9:; ! "! ," & "61 +6 "J61 +6 5 6 2 (K - J5, 6 2 (K ! "! ,"J! ,5 6 2 (K Can you please add Carl Merkle to the e-mail list of this project, his e-mail is above. Armand Minthorn is no longer on the Board of Trustees. Thanks. A Audie Huber Intergovernmental Affairs Manager Department of Natural Resources Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation 46411 Timíne Way Pendleton, Oregon 97801 Please note new phone number and new address: (w) 541-429-7228 (f) 541-276-3447 (c) 541-969-3123 The opinions expressed by the author are his own and are not necessarily those of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail is intended only for the use of the designated recipient(s) named above. This email, and any documents, files or previous e-mails attached to it, may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this transmittal in error, and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of the transmittal is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by telephone. Please contact the e-mail author at 1-888-809-8027. Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 3:50 PM To: Armand Minthorn; Audie Huber; Carolyn Templeton; Carl Stiff; Colleen Fagan; GRIFFIN Dennis; Emily Carter; Fred Warner; Gary Miller; John Quintela; Ken Anderson; Kenneth Hogan; GRAINEY Mary S; Matt Buhyoff; Mike Gerdes; Micheal Hall; Randy Joseph; DEVITO Paul; Quentin Lawson; LUSK Rick M; Robert Ross; Shawn Steinmetz; Susan Rosebrough; Thomas Stahl; Timothy Looney; Timothy Welch; GRIFFIN Dennis; Joseph Hassell; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [BULK] Importance: Low Stakeholders, 467 As discussed in our December 10th meeting, Baker County would like to continue working with all agencies over the issues. The proposed meeting time is April 16th 2010 at 9:00 am (Pacific Time) at the Baker County Courthouse. This is the first available time that our engineer and consultant had available. If this does not work for you please let me know what dates would work for you and we will go from there. Also, attached is a modified Mason Dam schedule. The proposed schedule at this time moves the License Application and Draft Final Biological Assessment due date from April 1, 2010 to November 30, 2010. If I may be of any help please let me know, Sincerely, Jason Yencopal (See attached file: Mason Dam Schedule B.xlsx) '16.2CC 468 1 $61 +6 $! => - $! ' //$!&($ 9 9;A #?&&?@ $ ! $& 13 $ ! + 1 $=> & =>., !6 - " 1 "J 1 5 6 2 K$"61 +6 "J61 6 5 6 2 K$ "! - "J! 2- 5/ 2(4K$"! ' //"J //50 162 K$ "!&("J!2 2&(5 2 26K$"#?&&?@ " ! + 1 ., !6 5., !6 $=>., !6 5., !6 ' ,1 $ 1 61 6 ($., !6 061 , 60 , (0 ( 4 62- 1 ( 8 : GA / - H ., !6 !6 62- / 4 6 ( 16 14 2 ?/ 1 0 ,/ 6 ,00 1 0610 ,/ 6100 (/ 2 $ 1 1 / 1 162- 116 4 D 1 / & . ( 161 / $ @4 9$ 2 ?/? / ,0$ ' $ => 469 ! 41ADA1. 1 $61 +6 $! => - $! 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( 2 ' $ => This attachment is part of an e-mail later in this consultation log 470 FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20426 January 27, 2010 OFFICE OF ENERGY PROJECTS Project No. 12686-001 – Oregon Mason Dam Hydroelectric Project Baker County Mr. Jason Yencopal Baker County Project Manager 1995 Third Street Baker City, OR 97814 Subject: Comments on Preliminary License Proposal Dear Mr. Yencopal: Pursuant to 18 CFR § 5.16(e), this letter includes our comments on your Preliminary License Proposal (PLP) and draft biological assessment for the proposed Mason Dam Hydroelectric Project, filed on October 30, 2009. The Environmental Report of your PLP describes the project’s existing facilities and potentially affected environmental resources, and discusses the results obtained from the relicensing studies; however, the PLP does not include all of the information specified in section 5.16 of the Commission’s regulations. Most notably, your PLP in some cases lacks a clear description of the potential effects of the proposed project and the proposed PM&E measures [see §5.16(2)]. The Commission’s regulations require you to include both the results of all studies and all proposed environmental measures in the license application, as well as an analysis of the anticipated environmental benefits of the proposed measures [see §5.18(b)(B) & (b)(C)]. In the enclosed Schedule A, we provide our detailed comments on your PLP. Regarding your draft biological assessment, we ask that it be updated to incorporate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s January 14, 2010, proposal to designate approximately 22,679 miles of stream and 533,426 acres of lakes and reservoirs, including the Powder River, as critical habitat for bull trout and incorporate an analysis of the proposed project’s effects on the proposed designated critical habitat and its primary constituent elements. 471 Project No. 12686-001 2 If you have any questions regarding this letter or the enclosed Schedule A, please contact Kenneth Hogan at (202) 502-8434, or via email at [email protected]. Sincerely, Timothy J. Welch, Chief West Branch 2 Division of Hydropower Licensing Enclosed: Schedule A cc: Service List Mailing List Public Files 472 Schedule A Comments on the Preliminary Licensing Proposal and Draft Biological Assessment Your Preliminary License Proposal (PLP) did not contain all of the information required by our regulations for your final license application (FLA) (section 5.18). In general, your PLP did not provide a complete analysis of the effects of your proposed protection, mitigation, and enhancement (PM&E) measures. Below, we identify the areas where additional information and/or environmental analysis will be needed for a complete license application. General When filing your final license application, please attach, as appendices, the final study reports for each study conducted under our approved study plan. Proposed Project Facilities Section 1.2.1 - Transmission Line – This section says your preferred transmission line grid connection would be with Idaho Power Company’s 138-kV line; however, during the December 10, 2009 teleconference, you stated the preferred grid connection would be the existing Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) transmission line at the base of the dam. Please reconcile this information in your final license application. Additionally, bullet 7 identifies the project staging area as incorporated into the project boundary. It is not necessary to include the construction staging area into the project boundary, unless this area also is necessary for project operation. Existing and Proposed Project Operation and Maintenance Section 2.3 – You say that you propose to operate the project in a “run of the river” mode. The term run-of-river indicates a flow release from the project that corresponds to inflow to the reservoir (“inflow equals outflow”); however, given the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the Mason Dam for irrigation storage and release, and flood control, a “run of the river” operation is unlikely. Based on your description in section 2.3, use of the term “run-of-release,” as agreed to by the stakeholders during the study plan meetings, would be a better descriptor of your proposed operations. Section 2.5 – Some of your proposed mitigation and enhancement measures identified in the PLP have not been included in the bulleted list in section 2.5, such as the installation of rip-rap in the project’s tailrace. The bulleted list should be a complete list of all PM&E measures proposed. We note that bullets 9 and 12 are nearly identical. Also, 473 Project No. 12686-001 2 please note that in your final license application, pursuant to section 5.18(b), you are required to provide an estimate of the cost of each proposed PM&E measure. Section 2.5 – Bullet number 7 shows you plan to develop a “tiered mitigation plan” to address operating criteria in the event dissolved oxygen levels fall below state water quality standards. So that we may analyze the proposed measures and the implementation of the plan in our environmental document, please include the plan in your final license application. Please prepare the plan after consultation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. You shall allow a minimum of 30 days for the agencies to comment and to make recommendations before filing the plan with your final license application with the Commission.