[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 184 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 184

 Expressing the sense of the Congress opposing removal of dams on the 
Columbia and Snake Rivers for fishery restoration purposes, supporting 
  the renewable energy that the dams produce, and agreeing that their 
      removal does not make sound environmental nor fiscal sense.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 12, 2007

   Mr. Sali submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Congress opposing removal of dams on the 
Columbia and Snake Rivers for fishery restoration purposes, supporting 
  the renewable energy that the dams produce, and agreeing that their 
      removal does not make sound environmental nor fiscal sense.

Whereas the dams on the Columbia and Snake River system provide tremendous 
        economic and environmental benefits to the Pacific Northwest and 
        California that should be retained;
Whereas the dams on the Columbia and Snake River system provide renewable power 
        to the Pacific Northwest and California and do not contribute 
        ``greenhouse'' gases to the environment as their replacement power 
        sources would;
Whereas plans for the recovery of federally protected fish species in the 
        Columbia and Snake River System should only rely on relevant and 
        scientifically verifiable causes such as predation of fish stocks, 
        conditions of the ocean, hatchery and mitigation technology, passage 
        around and through hydroelectric projects and ocean harvest levels and 
        only after these options have been exhausted should removal of the dams 
        as a means of ``recovery'' even be considered an option;
Whereas the environmental impact of removing the dams on the Columbia and Snake 
        river system would be devastating to salmon and steelhead stocks and 
        would also negatively impact the surrounding communities which are 
        strong supporters and advocates of improving fish stocks on the Columbia 
        and Snake River System; and
Whereas any comprehensive fish recovery plan for the Columbia and Snake River 
        system must be based on sound science and proven data, taking into 
        consideration the economic and social costs associated with changes to 
        the management and use of the river infrastructure, focusing on new 
        options and not wasting funding on politically sensitive options, such 
        as dam breaching, that has historically been proven infeasible with an 
        extensive amount of Federal taxpayers money and studies: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Preserve our Salmon and 
Renewable Energy Resolution''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO COMMERCE IN THE PACIFIC 
              NORTHWEST.

    It is the sense of Congress that the dams on the Columbia and Snake 
Rivers are essential to commerce in the Pacific Northwest for the 
following reasons:
    (1) The Columbia and Snake River system, located in the States of 
Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, is an essential transportation link for 
the United States, used to export all types of products, including 
annual transport of over $2 billion of agricultural goods for export 
overseas.
    (2) This inland system for barges supports $15 billion annually in 
international trade.
    (3) Breaching these dams would eliminate the ability to barge goods 
and would seriously affect the region's economy.
    (4) Replacing the power currently generated by the dams on the 
Columbia and Snake Rivers would result in significant increases in 
costs to consumers in the Pacific Northwest and California and would 
cause significant harm to the economy of those areas.
    (5) Producers who ship their products on the Columbia and Snake 
River system save approximately $38,000,000 per year by avoiding more 
expensive land based transportation, a savings which keeps United 
States exports competitive on world markets.
    (6) The Columbia and Snake River system allows large volumes of 
freight to be moved with negligible impact on air quality, and replaces 
transportation capacity that would require use of 120,000 rail cars or 
700,000 trucks.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO SURVIVABILITY RATE OF SALMON 
              AND STEELHEAD.

    It is the sense of Congress that the survivability rate of salmon 
and steelhead has increased since the dams have been in place for the 
following reasons:
    (1) Recent studies by the National Marine Fisheries Service 
indicate that the survival rates of salmon and steelhead migrating down 
the Columbia and Snake River system (with 8 dams) are similar or 
greater than survival rates measured in 1961 when there were only 4 
dams on the system.
    (2) Improved fish hatchery processes, including fish acclimation 
processes, have resulted in the first successful run of coho salmon on 
the Yakima River in 3 decades.
    (3) Based on current Corps of Engineers research, survival of adult 
salmon and steelhead at and between hydroelectric dams on the Columbia 
and Snake rivers is averaging 98 percent per dam and reservoir.
    (4) According to the Army Corps of Engineers the survival rate per 
dam on the Columbia and Snake River is averaging 91 to 98 percent for 
juvenile fish passage.
    (5) The survival rate on the Columbia and Snake River is between 98 
and 99 percent for adult passage.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT BREACHING THE DAMS WILL NOT GUARANTEE 
              RECOVERY OF SALMON AND STEELHEAD.

    It is the sense of Congress that breaching the dams will not 
guarantee recovery of salmon and steelhead for the following reasons:
    (1) The Bonneville Power Administration has determined that the 
cost to replace the power and capacity benefits of the Lower Snake 
River dams is between $400,000,000 to $550,000,000 per year.
    (2) The Independent Economic Analysis Board (IEAB) issued analysis 
of the recent ``Revenue Stream'' report in February 2007 and 
determined: ``We note that if the Corps replacement power costs (which 
the IEAB considers to be the more credible numbers) were inserted into 
the Revenue Stream report in place of the power costs estimated by Save 
Our Wild Salmon (SOS)--this change alone would be enough to reverse 
their results. It would be cheaper for the region to keep the dams''.
    (3) Salmon runs between 2001 and 2004 were some of the highest in 
history, with the dams in place.
    (4) Salmon returns in 2000 were about 400,000, and in 2004 returns 
were more than double that amount at 846,000.
    (5) Historically and currently 90 to 95 percent of the juvenile 
salmon that reach the ocean die in the ocean eaten by predators or 
failing to find food.
    (6) The conditions in the ocean that the juvenile fish encounter 
have a huge effect on their success.
    (7) Conditions can be right in fresh water, sending healthy 
juvenile fish down the river and assuring their safe passage, but, if 
ocean conditions are poor, the returns are poor, but if conditions are 
right in fresh water and ocean conditions are good, returns will 
improve.
    (8) Some of the best returns ever counted at Bonneville Dam, which 
began counting fish in 1938, were recorded in the past few years.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF 
              REMOVING THE DAMS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the environmental impact of 
removing the dams will be extremely damaging for the following reasons:
    (1) Breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams would allow the 
annual sediment load of 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 cubic yards to be 
carried downstream to Lake Wallula, where the majority of incoming 
sediment would likely be deposited.
    (2) The Corps of Engineers Lower Snake EIS/Feasibility Study 
indicated breaching would result in the release of 75,000,000 cubic 
yards of silt, expose fish to increased toxins and higher turbidity 
levels and have an effect on fish.
    (3) The Corps of Engineers estimates that the flood control 
provided by the dams on the Columbia and Snake River systems prevented 
$4,600,000,000 in damages from potential floods in 1996 and 1997.
    (4) Water collected in the Columbia and Snake River system 
irrigates half the productive farmland in Oregon, Washington, and 
Idaho.
    (5) If the dams were breached the area would incur a yearly net 
loss of $13,900,000 to $16,900,000 of agriculture goods.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO RENEWABLE FREE ENERGY, GLOBAL 
              WARMING DEBATE, AND BACKUP ENERGY TO CALIFORNIA.

    It is the sense of Congress that the dams on the Columbia and Snake 
rivers provide renewable pollution free energy to the Pacific Northwest 
and also helps backup California's power grid for the following 
reasons:
    (1) The Pacific Northwest is uniquely positioned because more than 
60 percent of its electricity is hydroelectric power generated by dams 
on the Columbia and Snake River System and generation of that 
electricity does not create any air or water pollution and is vital for 
creating and maintaining jobs.
    (2) Replacing the dams would require building or buying energy 
generated from coal or natural gas plants, which are far more expensive 
and produce ``green house gases'' which some feel contribute to global 
warming.
    (3) When California reaches its peak power needs (primarily in the 
summer), the Pacific Northwest is, historically, in a time of lower 
power demand (its higher demand is in the winter) and the Federal 
hydropower system is positioned to provide California with the excess 
power from the Pacific Northwest, so taking out the hydropower dams on 
the Columbia and Snake rivers could have a detrimental effect on 
Southern California's supply of electricity.

SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO PREVIOUS CONCLUSIVE AND 
              EXHAUSTIVE STUDIES ON DAM REMOVAL.

     It is the sense of Congress that two conclusive and exhaustive 
studies have already been completed which considered removing the dams 
or reservoir drawdown on the Snake River and both came to the same 
conclusion that we need to keep the dams for the following reasons:
    (1) In 2002, during the Bush Administration, the Corps of Engineers 
Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Study was 
completed at a cost of $28,000,000 to the American taxpayers which 
recommended that the dams not be breached.
    (2) In 1995, during the Clinton Administration the Corps of 
Engineers completed the Columbia River Systems Operation Review at a 
cost in excess of $20,000,000 to the American taxpayers which concluded 
that the dams should not be breached.
    (3) The review during the Clinton Administration studied major 
reservoir drawdowns on the lower Snake River, the study report did not 
recommend these drawdowns.
    (4) Since 1992, under two different administrations from two 
different political parties, at a cost of over $50,000,000 to the 
American taxpayer, there have been at least 5 studies that have 
investigated dam removal and reservoir drawdown on the lower Snake 
River and none recommended the implementation of dam breaching or 
reservoir drawdowns.
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