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Box Canyon License Implementation Measures Final Environmental Impact Statement On July 11, 2005, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a new 50-year license for the Pend Oreille PUD’s Box Canyon Hydroelectric Project. The new license replaced the original license for the project, which was issued in 1952, for a 50-year term that expired January 31, 2002. During the interim years, the project operated under an annual license. The new license order contained conditions mandated by FERC, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. All of the conditions are contained in the Box Canyon License. Click here to read the Box Canyon License and Appendix A The initial phase for complying with many of the conditions was the preparation of a plan. A total of 47 plans have been prepared, in consultation with the various agencies, and filed with FERC. The plans that have been prepared and filed include the following:
With all of the required plans completed and filed, the PUD’s Regulatory & Environmental Division and other staff and consultants are focusing their efforts on monitoring and implementation processes. Just a few of the monitoring and habitat enhancement projects completed during 2007 include monitoring of the bald eagles & other birds of prey along the reservoir; wind, wave, and erosion monitoring; fish stranding studies; cottonwood plantings on PUD habitat properties; noxious weed surveys; and placement of waterfowl nesting structures; Public education measures include a Bald Eagle Brochure and Bear and Cougar Information Kiosks on District habitat lands. The District, along with Ponderay Newsprint, filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit contending that some of the license conditions are unreasonable, burdensome, and not supported by the evidence. On January 16, 2007, the Court responded by ordering a stay pending appeal on the conditions of the license covering fish passage at Box Canyon and the Calispell Creek Pumping Project and the Trout Assessment and Restoration Plan. The stay places a hold on all work on projects including all fishery studies related to fish passage; all fishery studies related to the Trout Assessment and Restoration Plan; construction of the temporary upstream fishway; and investigation and pre-engineering design of downstream fishway at Box Canyon. With permission granted by the U.S. District Court of Appeals, the District, Ponderay Newsprint, Dept. of Interior, USDA Forest Service and the Kalispel Tribe entered into a mediation process, with a goal of negotiating a cooperative settlement for these conditions.
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