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UlH:.l f' . WESTE STATE WATE ~ April 22, t~:;;c.f"," . ;' Issue No. _1 - j (__-< ..a...->~__,_.>_~{ Y' A ~: :i~_: I i > RECElVE.fJ.' ;'.:. ~:~;~=T''- .iJ94j\~ .~! F ~ 1, I CW";B .l cled rl~Jle L /' IT. <.,'" nserves '~!':r;;()'," ~ ~:.' (1 THE WEEKLY NEWSLEITER OF THE WFSfERN STATES WATER COUNCIL Creekview Plaza, Suite A-201 /942 East 7145 So. / Midvale, Utah 84047/(801) 561-5300 / FAX (801) 255-9642 Chairman - Dave Kennedy; Executive Director - Craig Bell; Editor - Norm Johnson; Typist - Carrie Curvin ENERGYIWATER aUAUTY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission/Clean Watec Act . Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA), Chair of the Senate Energy Committee, recently requested comments on S. 1114, to reauthorize the Clean Water Act (CWA), from FERC Chair Betsy Moler. The bill is now under consideration by the Senate Environment Committee. Senator Johnston asked for comments on the bill's effect on FERC's role in licensing and regulating hydropower projects. Ms. Moler responded that the pending legislation includes provisions "which would effectively transfer control over the uses of the Nation's rivers from the federal government to the...states. This marks a change which would directly contravene the current statutory scheme whereby the commission Iicenses...projects by comprehensively balancing competing uses of water resources." . Ms. Moler pointed out four sections of the bill that would increase "the ability of local governments to impose restrictions upon hydropower projects," thus "changing the nature of the commission's role in the...licensing process." These sections deal w~h water quality cr~eria and standards, non-point source pollution control, water-shed planning, and state certification under CWA Section 401. Moler concluded that the first three sections could allow states to delay, or prevent, project construction. Her proposed solution is to amend them to exempt hydro-licensing from their application. S. 1114 Section 602 would clarify the scope of state authority under CWA Section 401. States would certify that federally licensed activ~ies comply w~h water quality standards, including the protection and maintenance of designated and existing uses which are part of the standards. Ms. Moler sees the section as "expanding the scope of state certification," giving states authority to impose "a broad range of cond~lons upon projects that have little to do w~h water quality, such as cond~ions relating to fish, wildlife, and recreation." She calls Section 602 "the most fundamental change in the legislation" and requests that, "to avoid duplicative regulation and the dismantling of the balanced scheme of federal regulation of hydropower Iicensing,...state certification ... [be) lim~ed to...water quality and...not include issues related to fish, wildlife, and recreation...." Thirteen organizations including WSWC, Western Governors' Association, National Governors' Association, Conference of Western Attorneys General, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, and National Audubon Society have sent Senator Max Baucus (D-Ml) , Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, a letter supporting Section 602. It concludes that the clarifying amendment would assure that "responsible state water management activ~ies are not disrupted by an arb~rarily narrow interpretation of Section 401." ENVlRONMENT!UTlGAT10N Endangered Species ActJSaImon A federal district judge in Oregon has ruled that a 1993 biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service on operation of the Columbia River power system is arb~rary and capricious, Idaho Depanment of Fish and Game v. National Marine Fisheries Service, Civ. No. 92-973-MA (March 28, 1994). The 38-page decision reviews historical and legal developments concerning salmon recovery in the