HABITAT HOTLINE
OCTOBER 1999 NUMBER 43
Table of Contents:
I. 106th Congress
II. Federal
III. Regional
IV. Columbia Basin
V. Washington
VI. California
VII. Alaska
VIII. Weather/Ocean/Climate
I. 106TH CONGRESS
OCS Legislation
Several bills have been introduced which would direct Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas revenues to fund coastal restoration efforts, state fish and wildlife programs, and federal land purchases (including funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund*). Two OCS bills receiving the most attention are S. 25, introduced by Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and H.R. 701, introduced by Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) (see Habitat Hotline Number 42).
According to Environment and Energy Weekly (09/13/99), markup of S. 25 has been postponed as Senators "seek broader consensus on the issue." A point of contention over S. 25 involves the distribution formula for OCS receipts. Also, Western Republicans have raised concerns about federal land purchases in their already heavily federally-owned states. Concerns raised in the House about H.R. 701, according to Environment and Energy Weekly, include listing the Great Lakes states as coastal states (even though they don’t conduct drilling); and addressing the sizable maintenance backlog at federal sites before more land is acquired.
Other OCS revenue bills include H.R. 798, introduced on 02/23/99 by Representative George Miller (D-Calif.); its companion bill, S. 446, introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); and S. 532, introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif) (See Habitat Hotline Number 42). On 09/09/99, S. 1573 was introduced by Senators Leiberman (D-Conn.), Chafee (R-R.I.), Leahy (D-Vt.), and Jeffords (R-Vt.). This bill, according to Environment and Energy Weekly, seeks to overcome the divisive nature of the other proposals by more evenly distributing the revenues to all 50 states.
Also in the mix is the Clinton Administration’s proposal, the "Lands Legacy" initiative. The proposal seeks just over $1 billion in a one-time allocation to fund wilderness, parks and coastal areas in Fiscal Year 2000, which begins October 1, 1999 (See Habitat Hotline Number 41). In the current appropriations debate for FY00, it appears likely that the final Congressional budget will not include all of the Administration’s $1 billion request.
For further information on the issue visit the Teaming with Wildlife coalition website at http://www.teaming.com or call them at (202) 624-7890.
[*The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a "trust fund" to accumulate revenues from federal outdoor recreation user fees, the federal motorboat fuel tax, surplus property sales, and oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, for subsequent appropriation by Congress. The fund was authorized to provide up to $900 million annually for acquisition of federal park and wildlife refuge lands and to provide matching grants to states for outdoor recreation planning and development and land acquisition. In recent years, the LWCF has not been fully funded.]
II. FEDERAL
- In April of 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the 1997 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). According to the EPA, the TRI is a valuable source of information about toxic chemicals that are being used, manufactured, treated, transported, or released into the environment. The TRI Report and the State Fact Sheets can be viewed, printed, or downloaded (in PDF format) through the TRI Homepage at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/tri. Hard copies of the reports can be ordered by calling (800) 490-9198.
- On 05/21/99, environmental and fishing groups represented by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, filed suit in federal district court against the federal government (i.e., National Marine Fisheries Service), and the New England, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, North Pacific and Pacific Fishery Management Councils (Councils), challenging their failure to protect essential fish habitat (EFH). Essential fish habitat identification and protection was mandated by the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 (also known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act) (see Habitat Hotline Numbers 34, 35, 39). The suit requests the court to require the Councils to revise the EFH amendments so that they comply with the Sustainable Fisheries Act’s mandate to protect EFH from adverse effects of fishing (e.g., trawl fishing gear). Groups involved in the suit are: The Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, American Oceans Campaign, Florida Wildlife Federation, Reefkeeper International, Center for Marine Conservation, Institute for Fisheries Resources, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. Most recently, the plaintiffs have sent a settlement offer to the federal government and are waiting for a response. For further information contact Steve Roady, Director of the Ocean Law Project, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund at (202) 667-4500.
III. REGIONAL
- On 09/09/99, the National Marine Fisheries Service made the following Endangered Species Act announcements:
Stocks that do not warrant listing:
- Oregon’s Deschutes River chinook salmon (Summer/Fall-run);
- Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal chinook salmon;
- Central Valley Fall and Late Fall-run chinook salmon population (note: this stock is still a "candidate species" for listing under the ESA "due to concerns over specific risk factors").
Stocks listed as Threatened:
Central Valley (California) Spring-run chinook salmon;
California Coastal chinook salmon.
There are now 26 West Coast anadromous salmonid species listed under the Endangered Species Act. A complete ESA status list of West Coast anadromous salmonids can be accessed at NMFS’s website at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov and clicking on ESA salmon.
IV. COLUMBIA BASIN
- By late 1999, the Clinton Administration (National Marine Fisheries Service) was supposed to choose a long-term plan to restore Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead. The decision will include how many salmon and steelhead are to be left in-river versus transported by truck or barge. Variables to be considered in the recovery plan could include dam removal, reservoir drawdown, dam modifications (including adult passage improvements), and juvenile bypass improvements (including spilling the fish over the dams). However, there are indications that the upcoming 1999 decision and the controversial proposal to remove lower Snake River Dams could go well into the next century. On 09/03/99, The Oregonian newspaper reported that NMFS is considering delaying the decision "until more scientific information [is] available."
- On 08/23/99, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that the Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Study (study) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be delayed until December 1999. The study focuses on ways to modify the Corps’ four lower Snake River dams to improve migration of juvenile salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act. Study pathways under consideration include maintaining the existing system, making major system improvements, and natural river drawdown and/or dam breaching. The final EIS is expected to be released in the year 2000. This study is important because it factors into the decision-making process on management of the Columbia-Snake system (see story above). For further information on the feasibility study contact Nola Conway of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District at (509) 527-7019; or on the web go to http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/html/offices/pl/er/studies/lsrpublic/lsrmain.htm.
- On 08/04/99, more than 100 members of Congress sent a letter to President Clinton urging him to keep under consideration the option of removing the four lower Snake River dams. The letter was sent two weeks after the House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution that opposed the removal of the four lower Snake River dams to aid salmon and steelhead (Source: Environmental News Network, 08/08/99).
- At its June 1999 meeting, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) adopted a resolution on the recovery of Snake River salmon and steelhead, fundamentally endorsing removal of the four lower Snake River dams as the best option for rebuilding these depleted and listed stocks. Portions of the resolution are excerpted below:
Whereas, fishing cultures, livelihoods, economies, and recreation along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to California, and east to Idaho and Montana, have been dramatically affected by the precipitous decline and subsequent listing under the Endangered Species Act of anadromous fish in the Snake River Basin;
WHEREAS, rigorous scientific review by the Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses (PATH)1, has demonstrated much, if not most, of this decline is due to cumulative impacts of the Federal Columbia River Hydroelectric System, and, that retiring Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite dams on the lower Snake River and returning this river reach to a normative river2 condition is most likely to avoid extinction and recover Snake River salmon and steelhead stocks;
THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED, that the Pacific Fishery Management Council finds the extinction of wild Snake River salmon unacceptable, and recommends implementation of the measures deemed by scientific analysis to recover wild anadromous fish in the Snake River Basin to sustainable fisheries levels. The Council recommends full consideration and mitigation of negative impacts of the selected recovery option on affected individuals and their communities.
1
*PATH (Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses): PATH tests hypotheses underlying key salmon management decisions in the Columbia River Basin with scientists/managers from BPA, NPPC, NMFS, IDFG, ODFW, WDFW, and the CRITFC and their member tribes, as well as independent peer reviewers.
2
i.e., a more natural river.
The full text of the resolution can be found on the web at http://www.pcouncil.org and clicking on "newsletter (June)" or by calling the PFMC at (503) 326-6352.
- On 07/09/99, Trout Unlimited released a study saying that wild Snake River spring and summer chinook salmon could be extinct by the year 2017 unless steps are taken soon to stop the declining population levels. The peer reviewed study, conducted by Dr. Philip Mundy, found that:
All five brood lines of Snake River wild spring and summer chinook populations are declining rapidly and, if present trends continue, will be categorized as extinct between the years 2008 and 2017. While some of these salmon may be returning to spawn in 2017, the population of the species would have declined to such a degree that they would have lost their ability to be self-sustaining beyond that point in time.
For a copy of the study, contact Jeff Curtis of Trout Unlimited at (503) 827-5700; or on the web go to http://www.tu.org and click on "newsstand" and "press releases."
- Comments on the "Final Integrated Feasibility Report for Channel Improvements and Environmental Impact Statement: Columbia and Lower Willamette River Federal Navigation Channel" are being accepted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) until October 25, 1999. The controversial project has a recommended alternative to deepen the current 40-foot federal navigation channel in the Columbia and Willamette Rivers by three feet. Numerous concerns have been raised about this massive project’s impact on fish and shellfish resources. Concerns include:
- Exposing Columbia, Willamette, and Snake River Endangered Species Act-listed salmonids to contaminated sediments from dredging activities;
- Year round dredging without full consideration of life history patterns of migrating fishes;
- The lack of sufficient mitigation for impacts to aquatic resources;
- Impacts to forage species, such as the sand lance;
- Impacts to crab and fishery resources in the ocean dump site.
Written comments on the report should be mailed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Policy Review Branch, Attention CECW-AR-(IP), 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA, 22315-3861. Comments must be received by Oct. 25, 1999.
Copies of the entire report (including the appendices) are available on request from the District Engineer, Portland District, CENWP-EC-E, ATTN: Steven J. Stevens, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR, 97208-2946, or by e-mail at the following address: steven.j.stevens@usace.army.mil. The main report/EIS is also available on the Internet at http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/pm/projects/crnci/final_crs.htm.
For further information contact Steve Stevens of the Corps at (503) 808-4768. For further information on concerns raised about the impact to salmonids and other aquatic resources, contact the Columbia River Estuary Study Task Force at (503) 325-0435.
V. WASHINGTON
- On 09/22/99, a voluntary agreement among the Yakama Indian Nation, PacifiCorp, environmental groups, and state and federal fishery agencies was reached to remove Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in southwestern Washington State.
- On 6/21/99, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that it would conduct a year-long biological "status review" on seven species of fish in Puget Sound as a first step to determine if they need protection under the Endangered Species Act. The seven Puget Sound populations are Pacific herring, Pacific cod, Pacific hake, walleye pollock and brown, copper and quillback rockfish. According to NMFS, it is also the first time the agency has been asked to conduct such a review of a West Coast fish species other than salmon. The status review (also according to NMFS) is scheduled for completion next February. The complete Federal Register Notice announcing this action is available from NMFS’s Northwest Region home page, at http://www.nwr.noaa. gov/1gdfsh/marfish.pdf. The original petition is also available as a PDF file at: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ 1salmon/salmesa/pubs/petmfish.pdf. For further information contact Brian Gorman of NMFS at (206) 526-6613.
VI. CALIFORNIA
- On 07/03/99, the Bureau of Reclamation began releasing water from Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River for environmental purposes (i.e., riparian restoration) for the first time in over 50 years. This action comes as part of a potential settlement in a longstanding lawsuit filed in 1989 by environmental and fishery groups against the federal government (i.e., Bureau of Reclamation). The purpose of the lawsuit was to force water releases from Friant Dam for fish as required by California law. The Friant Water Users Association and environmental and fishery groups (former foes over the issue) worked together on the water releases, which are planned through September 1999.
- On 07/22/99, the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit challenging government approval of instream gravel mining operations in Humboldt County that the groups say are killing ESA-listed coho salmon. The suit, filed in Federal District Court in San Francisco, alleges that the "National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Army Corps of Engineers improperly granted gravel mining corporations permission to kill the fish." More recently, on 09/23/99, Kevin Bundy of EPIC said that NMFS and the Corps have agreed to initiate consultation on gravel mining. It is also hoped, according to Bundy, that NMFS will also move forward with quantifying the impact to coho from gravel mining. For further information contact either Kevin Bundy of EPIC at (707) 923-2931 or Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity at (510) 841-0812.
VII. ALASKA
- On 07/12/99, the British Broadcasting Corporation Online Network reported the following:
An ecological disaster greater than the Exxon Valdez oil spill 10 years ago could hit Alaska at any moment, according to senior employees of the BP Amoco company. The six employees--who have not been named--have written to BP Amoco’s Chief Executive, Sir John Browne, warning that "irresponsible operations" at a major oil pipeline are posing an imminent threat to human life and the environment. But the man in charge of the pipe-line has rejected the claim. "We’re confident that the pipeline is safe," Bob Malone, President of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, told BBC News Online. "We know of no situation that exists to make it unsafe." The employees say they fear that the 22-year-old pipeline--which carries one million barrels of oil a day--may rupture, or that there might be an explosion at the Valdez oil tanker terminal.
- On 07/21/99, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (one of the world’s largest passenger cruise lines), agreed to pay a record $18 million criminal fine and has agreed to a 21 federal felony count plea agreement for dumping waste oil and hazardous chemicals and lying to the U.S. Coast Guard. In a plea agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in six cities, Royal Caribbean admitted that it routinely dumped waste oil from its fleet of cruise ships, such as in the environmentally sensitive Inside Passage of Alaska. It also pleaded guilty to the unprecedented charge that it deliberately dumped into U.S. harbors and coastal areas many other types of pollutants, including hazardous chemicals from photo processing equipment, dry cleaning shops and printing presses.
- On 08/07/99, the State of Alaska announced that, following the settlement of federal charges for dumping oil and hazardous wastes into Alaska waters, it will file a civil action suit against Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and seek the maximum penalties allowed under state law.
VIII. WEATHER/OCEAN/CLIMATE
- On 09/10/99, the Climate Prediction Center/National Centers for Environmental Protection (NCEP) issued a "Cold Phase" El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Advisory:
The lack of any significant eastward shift in the positive subsurface temperature anomalies in the west-central equatorial Pacific indicates that the cold episode is likely to continue for the next several months. This assessment is supported by the most recent NCEP coupled model forecasts and other available coupled model and statistical predictions indicating cold episode conditions persisting through May 2000.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: We welcome information on habitat news in your area. Information should pertain to habitat of marine, estuarine, or anadromous fish or shellfish. Feel free to fax us newspaper articles, copies of letters, press releases, public hearing notices, etc., to (503) 650-5426. Funding for this publication comes in part from Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration. If you have any questions regarding the contents of this publication, or about our habitat education program, please contact: Stephen Phillips, Editor, Habitat Hotline, 45 SE 82nd Drive, Suite 100, Gladstone, Oregon 97027-2522. Phone: (503) 650-5400, Fax: (503) 650-5426. Messages can also be e-mailed to Stephen_Phillips@psmfc.org. Editorial assistance and layout by Liza Bauman. Date of Issue: 09/29/99.