View Daily Data Tracking History
View Bill Text
View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
HJM002........................................by RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
NORTHWEST POWER ACT - Stating findings of the Legislature and requesting
that Congress amend the Northwest Power Act and other appropriate federal
statutes so that Northwest communities can be eligible for economic grants
to assist communities impacted by Endangered Species Act fish recovery
programs.
02/06 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/07 Rpt prt - to Res/Con
02/20 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/21 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/24 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Cuddy
Title apvd - to Senate
02/25 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/04 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
03/05 10th ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Brandt
Title apvd - to House
03/06 To enrol
03/07 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/10 Pres signed
03/11 To Secretary of State
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session - 2003
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 2
BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTA-
3 TIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL
4 DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED
5 STATES.
6 We, your Memorialists, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the
7 State of Idaho assembled in the First Regular Session of the Fifty-seventh
8 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
9 WHEREAS, for the past decade the Pacific Northwest Power Planning Council,
10 the Bonneville Power Administration and other hydroelectric utilities have put
11 into place numerous measures intended to protect and enhance the survival of
12 anadromous salmon and steelhead, particularly several species native to the
13 state of Idaho; and
14 WHEREAS, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Bureau of Reclamation,
15 the Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have
16 put into place measures for fish recovery that have been guided by both the
17 federal Endangered Species Act and the Northwest Power Act; and
18 WHEREAS, considerable cost for fish recovery has been borne by the elec-
19 trical ratepayers of the Northwest both in the form of higher costs and less
20 power generated because of less storage capacity and water being put into the
21 river for fish restoration purposes; and
22 WHEREAS, the programs and activities associated with the Endangered Spe-
23 cies Act are causing unintended economic hardship in communities in the
24 Pacific Northwest; and
25 WHEREAS, fish advocates who expressed doom for Northwest anadromous fish
26 were surprised to see that the return migration of fish to the Northwest and
27 Idaho was not as they had predicted, which would seem to indicate that the
28 plans in place for fish restoration may not be as scientifically sound as once
29 thought; and
30 WHEREAS, the Northwest Power Act instructs the Bonneville Administrator
31 and other federal operating agencies to adequately protect, mitigate and
32 enhance fish and wildlife and give them equitable treatment with other pur-
33 poses of the hydro system; and
34 WHEREAS, the federal government should establish a mitigation fund; and
35 WHEREAS, amending the Northwest Power Act can provide necessary mitigation
36 resources to Northwest communities that are impacted by fish recovery efforts;
37 and
38 WHEREAS, the federal government and the nation's taxpayers and not the
39 Bonneville Power Administration and Northwest ratepayers should establish a
40 mitigation fund to assist with fish recovery because a vital Northwest fishery
41 benefits the entire nation and is a public benefit; and
42 WHEREAS, the Pacific Northwest region is in an economic downturn and hav-
43 ing cheaper power rates would allow economic recovery to occur more quickly;
44 and
2
1 WHEREAS, Congress can enact legislation providing mitigation funding to
2 communities that are economically impacted by Endangered Species Act efforts
3 for fish restoration.
4 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session
5 of the Fifty-seventh Idaho Legislature, the House of Representatives and the
6 Senate concurring therein, that we request Congress to amend the Northwest
7 Power Act and other appropriate federal statutes so that Northwest communities
8 can be eligible for economic grants to assist communities impacted by Endan-
9 gered Species Act fish recovery programs.
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representa-
11 tives be, and she is hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this
12 Memorial to the President of the United States, the President of the Senate
13 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress, and the congres-
14 sional delegation representing the State of Idaho in the Congress of the
15 United States.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 12661
The purpose of this memorial is to request that the United States
Congress recognize that the recovery of endangered salmon in the
Pacific Northwest is a national concern, therefore the majority
of the funds for the recovery program should be appropriated from
the federal budget. To date, the cost has changed the function
of many federal and private hydroelectric plants in the northwest
which has increased the cost of energy to the consumer. In
addition, the current recovery system does very little to sustain
either native fisheries or reservoir levels.
We believe that this recovery program is in the interest of all
of the citizens in the United States and that we believe the cost
of recovery should be distributed accordingly.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the general fund.
Contact
Name: Representative Chuck Cuddy
Phone: (208) 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE HJM 2