Docket No. UE 263 Exhibit PAC/301 Witness: Mark R. Tallman BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF OREGON PACIFICORP ___________________________________________________________ Exhibit Accompanying Direct Testimony of Mark R. Tallman FERC Order Issuing New License March 2013 20080626-4003 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 06/26/2008 Exhibit PAC/301 Tallman/1 123 FERC ¶ 62,258 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION PacifiCorp Project No. 935-053 ORDER ISSUING NEW LICENSE (June 26, 2008) 1. On April 28, 2004, PacifiCorp filed an application for a new license, pursuant to sections 4(e) and 15 of the Federal Power Act (FPA),1 for the continued operation and maintenance of the 136-megawatt (MW) Merwin Project No. 935, located on the North Fork Lewis River in Cowlitz and Clark Counties, Washington. The project occupies federal lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).2 2. PacifiCorp’s application for Project No. 935 is one of three applications it filed to relicense its projects on the North Fork Lewis River (referred to as the Lewis River in this order). In addition to the Merwin Project, PacifiCorp filed license applications for two other projects just upstream of the Merwin Project – the Swift No. 1 Project No. 2111 on April 28, 2004 and the Yale Project No. 2071 on May 5, 1999. Also, on April 28, 2004, the Public Utility District of Cowlitz County (Cowlitz PUD) filed a license application for another Lewis River project, the upstream Swift No. 2 Project No. 2213. The existing licenses for these four projects expired between 2001 and 2006.3 In this order, we refer to the four projects collectively as the Lewis River Projects. While the granting 1 16 U.S.C. §§ 797(e) and 808 (2000), respectively. 2 The project is required to be licensed under section 23(b)(1) of the FPA, 16 U.S.C. § 817 (2000), because it occupies federal lands. 3 The expiration date of the Merwin Project license was accelerated from December 11, 2009 to April 30, 2006 to coincide with the expiration dates for the Swift No. 1 and Swift No. 2 licenses. In addition, the Yale Project license expired in 2001, but at the request of PacifiCorp, the processing of that application was held in abeyance so that all four projects could be considered together in a single environmental document. 20080626-4003 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 06/26/2008 Exhibit PAC/301 Tallman/2 Docket No. P-935-053 2 of a new license for the Merwin Project is the subject of this order, I am concurrently issuing three other orders granting new licenses for the other three Lewis River Projects.4 BACKGROUND 3. The Commission issued a new license for the Merwin Project No. 935 on October 10, 1983.5 The license expired on April 30, 2006, and since that time PacifiCorp has operated the project under an annual license pending the disposition of its new license application. 4. On December 3, 2004, PacifiCorp and Cowlitz PUD filed a comprehensive Settlement Agreement (Agreement) entered into with 22 stakeholders.6 The applicants’ proposed action is to relicense the Lewis River Projects in accordance with the terms of the Agreement. The Agreement provides for: (1) a phased approach to produce self- sustaining, naturally-reproducing, harvestable anadromous salmonid populations above Merwin dam; (2) reconnecting all life stages of bull trout populations in the Lewis River basin; (3) funding measures to enhance and improve wetlands, riparian, and riverine habitats; (4) restoring marine-derived nutrients to the upper watershed; (5) developing a hatchery and supplementation (release of artificially propagated fish) program that supports the reintroduction of anadromous fish to the upper watershed upstream of Merwin dam, and the continued harvest of resident and native anadromous fish species; (6) implementing instream flows, including ramping rates, that benefit fish and wildlife in the basin; (7) acquiring interests in land and managing lands to benefit a broad range of fish, wildlife, and native plant species; (8) diversifying and managing a comprehensive 4 See PacifiCorp, 123 FERC ¶¶ 62,257 and 62,260 (2008); and Public Utility District No. 1 of Cowlitz County, 123 FERC ¶ 62,259 (2008). 5 25 FPC 61,052 (1983). 6 PacifiCorp; Cowlitz PUD; National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS); National Park Service; BLM; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service); Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (Yakama Nation); Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (Washington Fish and Wildlife); Washington Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation; Cowlitz County; Cowlitz- Skamania Fire District No. 7; North Country Emergency Medical Service; City of Woodland; Woodland Chamber of Commerce; Lewis River Community Council; Lewis River Citizens-at-Large; American Rivers; Fish First; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Inc; Trout Unlimited; and the Native Fish Society. On February 10, 2005, PacifiCorp filed additional signature pages to add the following four parties to the Agreement: the Lower Columbia River Fish Recovery Board, Clark County, Skamania County, and Cowlitz Indian Tribe (Cowlitz Tribe). 20080626-4003 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 06/26/2008 Exhibit PAC/301 Tallman/3 Docket No. P-935-053 3 suite of recreational opportunities; (9) improving flood management during the likely high-flow event periods; (10) protecting known and yet-to-be discovered cultural resources; and (11) addressing project-related transportation, communications, public safety, and law enforcement needs. These measures are described in detail in the Order on Offer of Settlement and Issuing New License for the Swift No. 1 Project (Master Order), one of the four orders issued concurrently for the Lewis River Projects. The Agreement is attached as Appendix A of the Master Order for informational purposes. 5. On December 9, 2004, the Commission issued a notice of the Agreement, and that the four applications and applicant-prepared environmental assessments were accepted for filing. The notice solicited motions to intervene, protests, comments, and final recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions. Timely motions to intervene were filed by the Washington Fish and Wildlife; jointly by American Rivers, Trout Unlimited, and Native Fish Society; U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior); Forest Service; Washington Department of Ecology (Washington Ecology); Cowlitz PUD; Cowlitz Tribe; NMFS; and Yakama Nation. Fish First filed a late motion to intervene, which was granted.7 None of the intervenors oppose the project. 6. On September 23, 2005, the Commission staff issued a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the relicensing of all four Lewis River Projects. American Rivers, Cowlitz Tribe, Cowlitz PUD, NMFS, PacifiCorp, Swiftview Owners Group, Three Rivers Recreational Area, Interior, Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington Fish and Wildlife, Washington Ecology, and Yakama Nation filed comments on the draft EIS. The final EIS was issued on March 24, 2006. The potential environmental impacts of the measures proposed in the Agreement, along with additional staff-recommended measures, were considered in the EIS. References in this order to the EIS are to the final EIS, unless otherwise noted. 7. On January 5, 2006, PacifiCorp filed draft license articles implementing the terms of the Agreement for each of its projects. Many of these requirements duplicate the mandatory conditions of the section 18 prescriptions and the water quality certifications and the provisions of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Biological Opinion. While the proposed draft articles are not included in the license, this order includes requirements consistent with the Agreement and proposed articles, except as noted below. 8. The motions to intervene, comments, and recommendations have been fully considered in determining whether, and under what conditions, to issue this license. 7 See unpublished notice dated May 30, 2007. 20080626-4003 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 06/26/2008 Exhibit PAC/301 Tallman/4 Docket No. P-935-053 4 PROJECT AREA 9. The Lewis River is a tributary of the Columbia River in southwest Washington, with a drainage area of 1,050 square miles. The river originates in the Cascade Range of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and flows westward about 93 miles, joining the Columbia River near Woodland, Washington. 10. From upstream to downstream, the Lewis River hydropower projects include Swift No. 1 [river mile (RM) 47.9], Swift No. 2 (RM 44), Yale (RM 34.2), and Merwin (RM 19.5), and affect almost 40 miles of river. 11. The Lewis River Basin downstream of Merwin dam supports wild fall Chinook salmon and hatchery stocks of spring Chinook, early and late coho salmon, and winter and summer steelhead. The project area is described in more detail in the Master Order. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 12. The Merwin Project, the oldest and most downstream of the Lewis River Projects, includes a 313-foot-high concrete arch dam extending 1,252 feet across the Lewis River. Deepwater inlets lead to three short penstocks with a total capacity of 11,470 cubic feet per second (cfs), which enter the powerhouse immediately downstream of the dam. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 136 MW. Power from the project is carried by three 115-kilovolt (kV) primary transmission lines 1,000 feet to the Merwin substation. Flows in excess of powerhouse capacity are controlled by five Taintor gates situated above the 206-foot-long spillway. The project impounds the 14.5-mile-long Lake Merwin,