[7] Power Council Re-Constitutes FPC Oversight Board

A board to oversee activities of the Fish Passage Center will soon be back in business, according to discussions at last month's meeting of the Northwest Power and Planning Council.

The last incarnation of the board was created by amendment in the 2003 fish and wildlife process, but its duties were never very clear from the outset. And it was never very effective.

In December, 2005 when discussion among Council members was held on how to replace the FPC after its funding was cut by Congressional fiat, Washington member Larry Cassidy, who chaired the original board, said most of its members, including himself, didn't have the technical qualifications to make judgments on the technical and scientific analyses done by the Center. He said when the board was created, "I don't think the Council fully understood how complicated that technical part was, and here we are today."

But a ruling in the 9th Circuit Court has kept BPA funding the Center secure for the foreseeable future, and now the Council is asking for public comment on changing the make-up of the board.

Originally, it included one member each from the Council, NOAA Fisheries, upper Columbia tribes, lower Columbia tribes, state fish and wildlife managers, the scientific community, and two from the public at large.

Now, the Council is entertaining several possible changes to the board's makeup by adding more members from state agencies, upstream-downstream agency representation, or including more non-agency representatives with scientific backgrounds.

They have decided to consider a new alternative that would place the Council representative in the position of chair, and adding more representation from state agencies--one from each state, or two upstream and downstream members from agencies, and adding one more member from the scientific community, without any specific representation from the public at large.

In a memo to Council members about the potential changes, NPCC attorney John Shurts pointed out that amendments in the 2003 F&W program outlined the role of the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority, its director, and the Fish Passage Center, including the provision that the FPC manager will be selected by and be subordinate to the CBFWA director, in consultation with the oversight board.

But that has not happened, nor has an annual review of the manager's performance been completed, as directed. The amendments also called for the fish and wildlife managers to develop a liaison position at CBFWA between the public and the FPC "to ensure that all parties have timely and thorough access to the database."

NPCC staffers also suggested that an ad hoc mainstem peer review group established by the independent panel who reviews F&W proposals serve as the technical advisory committee to the FPC oversight board that was also called for in the 2003 amendments.

The memo says the 2003 amendments aren't very clear about the FPC's role in implementing the Council's program, and now would be a good time to clarify those tasks. Shurts said his understanding is that the Council intended for the FPC to base its in-season analyses and requests for changes to hydro operations in a way that was "consistent with a good faith attempt" to implement 2003 Council amendments regarding spill, passage and water management.

The Council has already designated Montana member Bruce Measure as board chair, and will call for nominations of individuals to serve on the oversight board once the categories are finalized. Measure said that should be completed at the April Council meeting. He stressed the need for some type of scientific review process that would report to the board.

Measure told NW Fishletter that he will work to develop a set of by-laws to guide the board's action that will work, and ensure that it is a defensible part of the Council's fish and wildlife program. -B. R.

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