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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEmail from Kevin Taggart - Letter to FERC Requesting Delay of Licensing Menchaca, Clarissa From: Taggart, Kevin, Sent: Friday,January 5, 2018 2:56 PM To: Lambert, Steve;Wahl, Larry; Connelly, Bill; Teeter, Doug; Kirk, Maureen; Alpert, Bruce Cc: Menchaca, Clarissa; Stafford, Kathleen; Paredes, Miguel; McCracken, Shari; Bennett, Robin; Cook, Holly; Sweeney, Kathleen; Guilickson, Caroll; Ring, Brian Subject: Letter to FERC Requesting Delay of Licensing/Gallagher Attachments: FERC letter-Request Delay Jan 2018.pdf Good Afternoon Board Members: Attached is a copy of the letter going out this afternoon at the request of Assemblyman Gallagher's office. It was eflied as a comment this afternoon on the FERC website,. Bruce and Shari reviewed and modified the template provided to more accurately present the County's position and goals for the rellicensing. Just let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. Kevin KEVpN TAGGART PRW(PAL MANAGEMENT ANALYST q u n t y Butte County Administration 25 County Center Drive Suite 200, Oroyffle, CA 95965 T: 530,552.3317 Twitter I Facebook I YouTube J Pinterest COUNTY OF BUTTE E-MAIL DISCLAIMER:This e-mail and any attachment thereto may contain private, confidential,and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient.Any review,copying,or distribution of this e-mail for any attachments thereto)by other than the County of Butte or the intended recipient is strictly prohibited.If you are NOT the intended recipient,please contact the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copies of this e-mail and any attachments thereto. 1 ••��, '$' 4w•1 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS BILLCONNELLY First District Administration Center LARRY WAHL 25 COUNTY CENTER DRIVE,SUITE 200-OROVILLE,CALIFORNIA 95885 Second District Telephone:(530)538-7639 •a.. ,u MAUREEN KIRK Third District January 5, 2018 STEVE LAMBERT Fourth District Honorable Kevin McIntyre DOUG TEETER Chairman Fifth District Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street,N.E. Washington, D.C. 20426 FERC Project No. 2100—Request for Delay of New License Dear Chairman McIntyre: The purpose of this letter is to respectfully reiterate Butte County's previous request, dated October 19,2017 (including all attachments and exhibits),that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission)delay the issuance of a new license and prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement(Supplemental EIS)for the California Department of Water Resources(California DWR) Oroville Facilities Project(FERC No. 2100). The Commission also received a request in August of 2017 from a coalition of stakeholders requesting that the Commission delay relicensing. Specifically, the coalition urged delay until the parties and the licensee could better understand the causes of the 2017 spillway incident and how it may change the underlying assumptions of the pending license. We are writing to reiterate our request that the Commission, local entities and other relicensing participants should understand the project being relicensed,how the facility will be put back into a proper and safe function,how damages will be compensated and impacts addressed, and whether the Commission's analysis and preferred alternative need to be reassessed in light of the changed conditions at the Oroville Dam complex. The relationships between DWR, local communities,and other relicensing participants remain strained. DWR has never meaningfully evaluated the on-going impacts to local communities, including the impacts of the incidents of 2017. Simply put,the concerns outlined in the August 2417 coalition filing and the County's October 19, 2017 filing remain unresolved. While discussions continue relating to the impacts of spillway failures and appropriate mitigations, more time is needed to fully address these issues and to identify and evaluate all impacts of any changes to the relicensed Oroville Facilities. We understand that the California Department of Water Resources is eager to move forward with the new license implementation. Idowever,it would be prudent for the Commission to delay issuing a new license until all remaining concerns have been addressed by the licensee. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Bruce Alpert, County Counsel, at (530) 538-762L Sincerely, -&A C'a Bill Connelly, Chair Butte County Board of Supervisors cc: Members, Board of Supervisors Congressman Doug LaMalfa Senator Jim Nielsen Assemblyman James Gallagher Paul "Yoder .risti More 2