Boardman to Hemingway Routes Released

http://www.argusobserver.com/news/boardman-to-hemingway-routes-released/article_e0346bc0-b511-11e2-9897-0019bb2963f4.html

Vale — The Bureau of Land Management has identified the preliminary preferred alternatives for the proposed Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line. The preferred routes, along with the map released Friday, are the ones that BLM will contemplate in the development of the draft Environmental Impact Statement that will be released later this year.

The BLM, acting as lead Federal agency, is continuing to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the B2H Project under the National Environmental Policy Act. The draft Environmental Impact Statement will identify and document the potential effects of the project as well as a range of reasonable alternatives that may help avoid, minimize or mitigate for these impacts. . .

Malheur County residents have banded together to oppose any part of the route that goes over private land, particularly farm ground. And, while project maps show most of the proposed route through the county sticking to public land, the Tub Mountain alternative, identified as “preliminary environmentally preferred” would cross farm ground between Vale and Willowcreek. This alternative would take the line on a route to the east of Brogan, instead of a routing to the west and north of the community, keeping to public land. A major issue in the choosing of a route for the transmission line over public land is sage grouse habitat and avoidance of grouse breeding grounds. . .

The B2H preferred routes and related map are available online at: www.boardmantohemingway.com

Alternative Route Public Information Meetings

Pilot Rock and Boardman area public information meetings on alternative routes under consideration were held on August 6th and 7th.

New alternative route maps and public meeting information can be found at http://www.boardmantohemingway.com/documents/2012_0719_B2H_Newswire_FINAL.pdf?utm_source=Boardman+to+Hemingway+Transmission+Line+Project+List&utm_campaign=a384f76a45-B2H_Newswire_3_26_2012&utm_medium=email

The Ontario meeting will be held on Thursday, August 16th, from 6-8 p.m. in the Four Rivers Cultural Center, 676 SW 5th Ave, Ontario, Or. Four Rivers Cultural Center

100 employees at Idaho plant laid off

HONOLULU -- Honolulu-based commercial solar power company Hoku Corp. says its subsidiary is laying off about 100 employees at an Idaho manufacturing plant. . .  The Pocatello plant was to have made silicon for solar panels. All contractors stopped construction work at the facility last month. Hoku says some lienholders have started foreclosure proceedings against the plant in Idaho courts. . .

Area farmer fears power line alternative route could hurt operation

April 27 by Larry Meyer
http://www.argusobserver.com/news/area-farmer-fears-power-line-alternative-route-could-hurt-operation/article_890c590a-9093-11e1-b1f5-0019bb2963f4.html

JAMIESON —As Idaho Power continues to prepare a draft proposal for the routing of its 500-kilovolt transmission line between northeast Oregon and southwest Idaho, it is also proposing alternative routes, and one of those has a Malheur County farmer saying it will negatively impact his operation.

Kenneth Jensen, who farms just north of Jamieson, said depending on where the towers are installed, they could interfere with the operation of his center pivots and also restrict aerial spraying of his fields.

 Idaho Power’s proposed route goes west of Brogan and then heads east, north of Brogan. The Jamieson alternative route would head east sooner, cutting away from the proposed route several miles short of Brogan and would cross U.S. Highway 26 and irrigated farm ground about 1.5 miles north of Jamieson, Jensen said. About 1.5 miles of 2.5 miles of irrigated ground the line would cross would be on his farm, he added.

Farm operations would be limited in the proposed 250-foot right of way, Jensen said, as Occupational Safety and Health Agency rules say farm workers would not be allowed within 100 feet of the lines.

“It would make it impossible to do anything,” Jensen said of the line. He believes the line would also interfere with RTK GPS guidance tractors used in no-till farming, he said. “We, the farmers, would have to have our fields cut up by power lines,” Jensen said.

Also, one of the proposed towers for the Willow Creek Alternative would be at the end of his airstrip used by crop dusters and others, making it unusable, Jensen said.

Jensen said the Willow Creek alternative was offered because of concerns about a sage grouse lek the proposed route passes through near Huntington. A group of landowners have proposed their own alternative, which would cut off from the proposed route north of Brogan and skirt south around some leks, staying mostly on public land and joining the Jamieson alternative away from the irrigated farm ground.

In a letter to Jensen, which he shared, Keith Georgeson, Boardman to Hemingway Project leader, said “the proposed alternative route adds 8.1 miles to the 30-mile proposed route and 13.7 miles to the Willow Creek alternative route.” Noting that the landowners’ proposal would decrease the amount of irrigated crop land from 2 miles to 0.1 miles and reduce the amount of private land the line would cross in comparison to the proposed route and the Willow Creek alternative, Georgeson, said, “Idaho Power is not able to justify the proposed alternative because of the increased line length. The route increased the distance from the proposed route by almost 30 to 56 percent over the alternative route.”

Georgeson said Idaho Power continues to pursue the original route around Brogan as its proposed route, but, if permitting is denied, the company needs to have an alternative.

Ontario solar project set to move forward

Tuesday, April 3rd by Larry Meyer
http://www.argusobserver.com/news/ontario-solar-project-set-to-move-forward/article_349ea46a-7dae-11e1-92c2-0019bb2963f4.html

ONTARIO —The Ontario City Council Monday approved ground lease agreements that will allow a solar power project, to be installed at several sites around the city, with generated power to be sold to Idaho Power.

Idaho Power’s Oregon Solar Photovoltaic Pilot program is a pilot mandated by the Oregon Legislature to encourage the development of solar energy in the state, according to information provided by the city. Electrical utilities operating in Oregon are required to purchase electricity at above-market rates from a limited number of non-commercial participants.

Assisted by Site Based Energy, a solar energy developer, Ontario officials applied to participate in the program and received preliminary approval from Idaho Power for installation of 10 solar panels, but two of the sites were pulled from consideration.

Under current plan, the SBE will own the solar panels for the first eight years of the program with the city then taking ownership. In Monday’s action, the council also approved the Idaho Power sales agreement. . . .

Hoku solar plant in Idaho may have power shut off

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/136444588.html?id=136444588

BOISE, Idaho    Idaho Power Co. told a struggling southeastern Idaho solar-industry manufacturer that the utility could shut off its power by Jan. 3 if it doesn't pay its $1.9 million electricity bill from November.

Honolulu-based polysilicon maker Hoku Corp., which has survived so far with help from Chinese financiers, lodged a formal protest with Idaho Public Utilities Commission regulators after getting a termination of service notice on Dec. 22.

The company's Hoku Materials unit told Idaho Power that it can't pay its November power bill until January due to cash flow problems. Hoku says losing electricity would delay its Pocatello plant's commissioning and expose infrastructure to freezing just as winter sets in, causing "material harm." Southeastern Idaho's hopes that Hoku's $390 million plant will eventually add hundreds of green-energy jobs to the local economy have been replaced by uncertainty over whether the project will survive. . .

 Hoku announced it had hooked up to Idaho Power's substation only in November, the same month it couldn't pay its power bill. "With the addition of permanent power, we are able to start-up the plant," Hoku Chief Executive Officer Scott Paul said on Nov. 21. Now, it wants Idaho Power to use some of the $4 million Hoku had previously deposited with the utility as security for its power bills to cover the November charges, according to its filing. . .

. . . The plant was originally supposed to be operational in 2008, but it struggled to raise funds to complete the facility as the economy soured. In March, Hoku received the second installment of a $50 million loan from majority owner Tianwei New Energy Holdings Co. of China that has helped keep the company afloat. As the company's share price has plunged to well below $1, from a 52-week high of $3.24, the company's management has been in turmoil, too. . .

(Note: Supplying electricity to the Hoku plant in Pocatello was one of the rationales for the Boardman to Hemingway line.)

Obama's power line team to visit B2H project

By JAYSON JACOBY Nov. 30, 2011
http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Obama-s-power-line-team-to-visit-B2H-project

A team of federal officials that President Obama tasked with speeding up the permitting process for seven proposed power lines will conduct a site visit next week for an Idaho Power Company line that’s slated to bisect Baker County.

The president’s “Rapid Response Team for Transmission” will be in Boise on Dec. 6, and in Ontario on Dec. 7.

The team is not scheduled to travel to Baker County.

Mark Bennett, the county’s planning director, said he will attend some of the meetings. Bennett said Fred Warner Jr., chairman of the county’s three-member Board of Commissioners, might accompany him. 

Obama announced in early October that he wants to expedite permitting for seven power transmission lines, including Idaho Power’s Boardman-to-Hemingway project that was unveiled several years ago. Idaho Power has suggested several routes for the 300-mile, 500-kilovolt line, some of which — including one that would have run through Baker Valley between Baker City and the Elkhorn Mountains — were discarded.

The company’s current preferred route would run about one mile east of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center near Baker City. That proposal has provoked opposition among some local residents, who formed a group called Move Idaho Power. Their chief complaint is that the 150-foot towers would mar the views from the Interpretive Center.

In response, Idaho Power has proposed an alternative route that would move the power line a few miles to the east. But that location creates conflicts with breeding sites for the sage grouse, a bird that is a candidate for the federal endangered species list.

The route issue remains unresolved. Idaho Power’s current timeline calls for the company to acquire rights-of-way from mid-2012 through mid-2014, with constructed scheduled from 2014 through mid-2016. In the meantime, the president announced his intention to accelerate permitting for Boardman-to-Hemingway (B2H) and six other projects.

“The president wants to get America working again,” Nancy Sutley, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, said in a press release in October. “Building a smarter electric grid will create thousands of American jobs and accelerate the growth of domestic clean energy industries translating into more energy choices and cost savings for American consumers.”

The purpose of the Dec. 6-7 site visit, according to the email invitation Bennett received last week, is to help the president’s Rapid Response Team “better understand the B2H project as the (team) works to expedite and improve the federal government’s evaluation of transmission applications.”

Members of the Rapid Response Team who are slated to attend include Bill Falsey, deputy chief of staff for the BLM; Laura Morton, renewable energy senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy; and Lucas Lucero, BLM’s rights-of-way branch chief.

According to the schedule, the portion of the meeting set aside for local government representatives — including Baker County officials — will start at noon PST on Dec. 7. The agenda doesn’t include a public comment period.

The Rapid Reponse Team wants to discuss a variety of topics, according to the invitation, including:
 • The history and current status of project review, including approach to public engagement
 • The list of permits required and the schedule and timelines for processing permit applications
 • The roles and authorities of each agency involved in the project review
 • The amount of non-federal land that the proposed project would affect and views and roles of non-federal land owners
 • Tribal consultation and interaction with State Historical Preservation Officers
 • Project need, including how and by whom it was identified, and whether the asserted need for the project is controversial
 • The established processes for data collection, data use, and record keeping
 • Reasonable and feasible alternative routes (including the use of previously designated corridors), particularly sensitive environmental resources, and potential mitigation measures (if presently known)
 • Whether approving the line would be inconsistent with any federal, state or local plans, and the processes by which those plans can be amended
 • Any potential “show stoppers” or fatal flaws
 • Strengths that have assisted you in making progress in the review process
 • Challenges and obstacles that you currently face, or expect to experience
 • Recommendations (including the means) to realize efficiencies in project review
 • Any assistance you may need dealing with obstacles and challenges that cannot be directly addressed on-site
 • Recommendations and lessons learned that may be applicable to other projects
 • Issues or concerns the RRTT can help address

Idaho Power Newsletter and Updated Maps

Dear B2H Project Stakeholders,

Thank you for your continued interest and participation in the Boardman to Hemingway (B2H) Transmission Line Project. Idaho Power is working hard to enhance reliability throughout the region and move energy from where it’s generated to where it’s used in homes, farms and communities. A lot has happened on the project since we last met with area stakeholders in summer 2010, so we wanted to provide a brief update about project activities. Please view the B2H Connection recently mailed to project stakeholders or visit the project website using the links below to learn more about: Routing changes in the Boardman, Baker City, Brogan and Owyhee Dam areas as suggested by stakeholders following community and landowner meetings in summer 2010. Field surveys conducted or underway. The latest project schedule outlining Idaho Power’s in-service date change from June 2015 to June 2016 to ensure adequate time for construction. Micrositing as part of Idaho Power’s commitment to refine project routing where possible to lessen impacts to communities and landowners. As you’ll see, a lot of work has been accomplished over the last year, and there’s a lot more work to do. We are working with the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Energy, U.S. Forest Service and many other stakeholders to build this 300-mile line. We encourage you to stay involved in the project by attending future public meetings and visiting the website for the latest project updates. Thanks, Keith Georgeson, Project Manager

Fed Plan to Consolidate Power Over Nation's Power Highway Has States Nervous

by Judson Berger
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/01/fed-plan-to-consolidate-power-over-nations-power-highway-has-states-nervous/


The Obama administration is looking to consolidate control over the nation's power highway, pushing a proposal that would put one federal agency in the driver's seat when it comes to reviewing and approving power-line projects across the country.

The proposal has triggered a rush of complaints, pitting power companies and the federal government against concerned citizens and local lawmakers.

As the Energy Department reviews the immense feedback in the weeks ahead, the ordeal could help determine how and where the nation's power supply is routed.

At the heart of Washington's proposal is a desire to guide and speed up a process that can be slowed by local bureaucratic hurdles. The need for more transmission lines is apparent -- in the vast states where wind and other forms of renewable energy are produced, the energy is often hundreds of miles from where it would be consumed.

But new power lines are not exactly welcome guests.

"Siting transmission is extremely difficult, because no one wants it on their land," said Gene Fadness, with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

Still, he said, "We don't think (the process) takes so long that it's not workable."

The states, which along with local governments have long had authority over whether and where power lines get built, derided the plan as a move that would make it harder for local residents to weigh in.

"It turns the whole process on its head," said Robert Thormeyer, spokesman with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He said the federal government would be "more inclined to build" than the states, if for no other reason than they probably wouldn't have as much interaction with citizens. A bureaucrat in Washington might not hear the not-in-my-backyard pleas as frequently as a bureaucrat in, say, Boise.

The proposed change has drawn the skepticism of at least one senator. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who helped write a 2005 law that initially expanded federal power over power lines, complained about the plan in a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said it appears the commission is trying to "rewrite" the language in the law. He said that's a decision for Congress, not the commission, to make.

The move, he wrote, "would pave the way for the commission to use the newly consolidated powers in ways never intended by Congress. . . "

Routing the power around Adrian

http://argusobserver.com/articles/2011/07/20/news/doc4e27188840940671856922.txt

By Larry Meyer Wednesday, July 20, 2011

ONTARIO — The Bureau of Land Management is working on the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Boardman to Hemingway 500-Kilovolt transmission line and some environmental issues have been raised along proposed route and as part of the EIS process the BLM will be looking for possible alternative to mitigate those concerns or bypass them completely.

According to a letter from Idaho Power to Jon Beal and Bill Lawrence, Malheur County Planning Department, the company is planning to ask the BLM to remove the proposed route from near the Idaho-Oregon border, to a point north of U.S. Highway 20 and Vines Hill.

While most of the alternate routes to be explored are still on federal land, one alternate would move the line closer to Adrian, putting in four miles away, instead of the estimated 12 miles away for the current proposed route. This alternative would follow the Vale District utility corridor for some distance and would cross some private land south of U.S. 20 and southwest of Vale.

“There are four major landowners,” Keith Georgeson, Idaho Power project leader, said. Company officials were in the process of contacting them, he said Tuesday and whether the company would file that alternative as the new proposed route depends on the response of the land owners.

The reason for offering route alternatives is that the proposed route crosses through a “Sensitive Resource Area,” and an “area of critical environmental concern.” A sensitive resource area is one with wilderness characteristics that could be aside as wild-lands in the future.

A second alternative, which has a more southern route is more buildable, but is a little longer and has other challenges, the Idaho Power letter said.

Renee Straub, BLM leader on the Natural Resource Agency review, confirmed the route does go through environmentally sensitive areas, managed under the Resource Management Plan, and under the National Environmental Policy Act, the possible impacts must be considered and reasonable alternatives proposed.

B2H line to be evaluated by BLM and others

by Larry Meyer
http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2011/05/15/news/doc4dcf60c114e3e408792491.txt

ONTARIO — The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service are preparing to work on a draft of an environmental impact statement to evaluate the Boardman to Hemingway 500-kilovolt transmission line project, and has released a report on the issues which will be discussed in the EIS, including purpose and need, transmission line route alternatives and resource inventory, impacts and mitigation.

Idaho Power Company is proposing to build the line between the existing Hemingway Substation, situated in Owyhee County near Melba, Idaho, and planned substation near Boardman, Ore., in Morrow County. The line would be about 300 miles long and would cross private, federal and state lands in six counties in Oregon and Idaho, with about 93 miles of the land the line will cross administered by federal agencies. Idaho Power’s right-of-way application to the BLM and USES initiated a EIS process.

This initial report, which is available online at www.boardmantohemingway.com, reviews the siting process up to now and the public comments garnered from a number of public meetings, referred to as public scoping.

The Environmental Impact Statement will explain the purpose and need to which the BLM, the lead agency, is responding, including the proposed action and what objectives are to be achieved by the action.

Under project description, the EIS will discuss such issues as the physical requirements for transmission line construction, maintenance and operation, plus technical feasibility and constructability of the project and alternative technologies.

The draft EIS will include a study and review of alternative routes. The route issue brought the original scoping process to a halt, while Idaho Power set up a community advisory process which proposed a revised route.

A resource inventory will address impacts on such issues as sage grouse, migratory birds, listed species, habitat fragmentation, farmland, cultural resources, aesthetics and economics.

Issues which will not be addressed, raised by the comments during the scoping period include the following:

— If energy conservation plans were implemented, this project would not be needed.

— Electrical power should be decentralized.

— Suspicion that more transmission lines will be placed in the right-of-way than stated.

Other issues not to be addressed include opposition or support for the project, use of solar energy, development of a wide-range sage-grouse conservation plan and who is going to bear the expense of the project.

The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be released in spring of 2012, followed by a 90-day public comment period, which will include public meetings.

B2H Project Revised Scoping Report Available‏

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have published the revised scoping report for the Boardman to Hemingway 500kV Transmission Line Project (B2H Project). View the report.

The revised scoping report provides a summary of potential issues, impacts and alternatives received during the scoping process and the extent to which those issues and impacts will be analyzed in the B2H Project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Scoping also helps ensure a range of reasonable alternatives will be evaluated in the EIS.

The report adds over 300 comments received during the 2010 scoping period to those received in 2008, as well as more than 900 comments submitted through Idaho Power’s Community Advisory Process. Comments were provided by the public, Tribes, and local, state, and federal agencies.

Next Steps
BLM and USFS will use the revised scoping report to prepare the draft EIS to evaluate the B2H Project and a range of reasonable alternatives for potential impacts to environmental, social and economic resources.

The next opportunity for formal public comment will be the 90-day comment period following the release of the draft EIS, expected in the spring of 2012. BLM will also hold public meetings during the draft EIS comment period.

The public can stay involved prior to the draft EIS release in the following ways:

• Reviewing project documents and maps via the project website atwww.boardmantohemingway.com.
• Sending questions to the federal agencies via:
  
  Email: comment@boardmantohemingway.com
  U.S. mail:
  Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project
  P.O. Box 655
  Vale, OR 97918
  Fax: 888-251-3129

Stay Informed
To learn more about the project, help find document viewing locations, view landowner maps, and learn about future public meeting dates and formal comment periods, visit www.boardmantohemingway.com.

Various agencies reviewing public comments about transmission line

http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2011/03/17/news/doc4d8249a7790cb350683010.txt
By Larry Meyer Thursday, March 17, 2011

ONTARIO — State and federal agencies are continuing to move ahead with their review of Idaho Power Company’s plans to build a transmission line from Boardman to Hemingway — northeast Oregon to southwest Idaho — and are in the process of reviewing public comment during the public scoping period completed last summer.

In the latest project newsletter issued by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Services and Oregon Department of Energy, the ODOE will soon issue a project order outlining the issues and regulations Idaho Power must address in its application for site certificate. ODOE is the state agency that must approve the proposed route through Oregon. Agency officials anticipate that Idaho Power will submit its preliminary application later this year to begin the next phase of the state review process.

The project order includes issues and concerns raised during last year’s public comment period.

After Idaho Power submits its preliminary application for site certificate to ODOE and its Energy Facility Siting Council, the application will be reviewed by state and local agencies to determine if the company addressed the requirements in the project order. When deemed completed, the application will be released for public comment, and another round of informational meetings will be held.

The federal agencies, with the BLM in the lead role, are drafting a revised scoping report summarizing public comments.

The report is expected to be made public in May, and, during the next year, the agencies will evaluate the project for potential impacts on environmental, social and economic resources to be included in the draft Environmental Impact Statement.

For its part, Idaho Power reports that its engineers and surveyors will conduct reviews of the topography and land features along the proposed route, assess corridor rights of way, as well as identify where access roads and landowner permission may be needed. Archaeologists will also be available for possible archaeological or historical sites or other cultural resources in the proposed corridor.

B2H March 2011 Newswire

B2H Newswire

Issue 2 - Winter 2011

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) have published the second issue of the Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line Project newsletter – the B2H Newswire.

In this Edition:

• Recap of summer 2010 scoping period
• Idaho Power submits revised routes
• ODOE to issue Project Order
• BLM and USFS draft Revised Scoping Report

Recap of summer 2010 scoping period

BLM, USFS and ODOE reopened the public scoping comment period and hosted public meetings in summer 2010. The agencies received over 300 public comments.

Your comments are helping the state and federal agencies develop their separate review documents. Thank you for your participation in this early comment period!

Idaho Power submits revised routes

Based on public and landowner feedback, Idaho Power made changes to its proposed route and alternatives. The changes were officially submitted to BLM and USFS in March 2011. View the revised routes.

This spring fieldwork operations are set to continue along Idaho Power’s proposed routes and alternatives. Learn more about Idaho Power’s fieldwork.

ODOE to issue Project Order

ODOE will soon issue a Project Order outlining the issues and regulations Idaho Power must address in its Application for Site Certificate (ASC). ODOE anticipates Idaho Power will submit its preliminary ASC later this year, initiating the next step in the state review process. Learn more about the state review process.

BLM and USFS draft Revised Scoping Report

BLM and USFS are drafting a Revised Scoping Report summarizing the 2008 and 2010 public scoping comments, as well as the comments submitted during the Idaho Powercommunity advisory process. The agencies expect the report will be publically available in May. Over the next year, the agencies will evaluate the project for potential impacts to environmental, social and economic resources, which will be documented in the draft Environmental Impact Statement.Learn more about the federal review process.

Stay informed, visit www.boardmantohemingway.com.

LNG Fast-Track Bills Threaten Landowners, Salmon, and the Climate

Feb 2, 2011 by Nick Engelfried http://www.blueoregon.com/2011/02/lng-fast-track-bills-threaten-landowners-salmon-and-climate/

With the legislative session kicking off this week, Oregon lawmakers should protect private land and our state’s natural resources from an egregious case of big energy corporations trying to overrule the needs of communities. Allies of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry are looking to introduce legislation to re-define the word “applicant” for wetland removal and fill permits, so they can more easily move forward on unpopular pipeline projects that threaten rural economies. . .

2011 has seen the emergence of not one but two versions of the LNG fast-track bill—a legislative concept which companies like Bradwood LNG and Oregon LNG have been pushing for years. In 2009 and 2010 other versions of the fast-track bill were defeated in the legislature, and rightly so. Though the exact language differs from one bill to another, each is designed to make it easier for energy speculators to apply for and receive permits for pipeline construction on private land—without prior permission from landowners.

This is perhaps first and foremost a land rights issue. Though clearly designed to accommodate the LNG industry, the fast-track bill would change the permitting process for every project on private land that requires a wetlands fill permit. Supporters argue it wouldn’t allow companies to set foot on private land without property owners’ consent, but the entire purpose of the fast-track bill is to streamline permitting to allow property rights to be overruled more quickly in the future. . .

Two versions of the LNG fast-track bill have reared their heads this session. House Bill 2589 and Senate Bill 265 would delete the current definition of “applicant” for wetland removal and fill permits, allowing private companies to apply for permits without the permission or knowledge of landowners. The other version, House Bill 2206/Senate Bill 261, would expand the definition of applicant with the same convenient implications for LNG. So far none of these bills have been assigned to a committee, but we’ll how long that lasts.

If Oregon lawmakers want another drawn-out fight over LNG this year, I’m confident the public will give it to them. But I hope legislators concerned about public interest will take the initiative early on, and speak out against any and all forms of an LNG fast-track bill. Lawmakers will have to make many tough decisions this session—but this shouldn’t have to be one of them.