October 9, 2000 Dear Interested Parties, This is to provide notice that the Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) has completed its preliminary review of Fiscal Year 2001 project proposals for the Columbia River Gorge and Inter-Mountain Provinces of the Columbia Basin. The report is available at http://www.nwcouncil.org/library/isrp/isrp2000-8.pdf (Acrobat PDF format). The Next Step: ISRP Response Review and CBFWA Recommendation With this release of the ISRP report, project proponents and the public have the opportunity to respond to the ISRP's preliminary report. Responses should focus on the ISRP's technical comments provided in the report, answer any review questions, and clarify any uncertain facts. Responses should be formatted to address each concern raised by the ISRP point by point, clearly identifying the concern and providing a response. The title and project number of the proposal at issue should be displayed prominently on the front page of the response. In addition, the ISRP welcomes comments on the "General Issues" described in the report that apply across projects and basins. A hard copy and electronic copy on diskette of the response must be received at the Northwest Power Planning Council no later than 5 p.m., October 27th. Mail the response and diskette to: Northwest Power Planning Council If you have any questions regarding the response process please contact Doug Marker at the Northwest Power Planning Council at (503) 222-5161 or 1-800-452-5161, or dmarker@nwppc.org. Concurrently, CBFWA, with the ISRP's technical review in hand, will generate a list of projects recommended for funding and finalize the subbasin summaries as part of its draft annual implementation work plan. The work plan is scheduled for release on November 8th. For more details on the CBFWA process and province reviews in general see www.cbfwf.org/province.htm. The ISRP will then review the responses and CBFWA's recommended list of projects and provide a second and final report to the Northwest Power Planning Council by December 1, 2000. The Final Step: Northwest Power Planning Council Recommendations to the Bonneville Power Administration Finally, based on the advice provided by CBFWA and the ISRP, the Council makes the final selection of annual projects to be recommended for funding and transmits these recommendations to Bonneville by early January 2001. If Council decisions differ notably from recommendations of the ISRP, the basis of their decisions is to be documented and included in the Council's final recommendations. When a project is recommended to Bonneville for funding, sponsors should understand that the amount budgeted by the Council for the project and the description of the project as recommended by the Council becomes the starting point for Bonneville's contracting process. However, during the course of the contracting process further information, such as a project management plan, may be required to establish more specifically the work to be performed and the reasonable cost of that work. The amount of funding ultimately approved by Bonneville for a project may be greater or less than the amount initially budgeted by the Council in its recommendations. Sincerely, Bob Lohn |
Northwest Power Planning Council