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[House Report 106-1029]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

106th Congress                                           Rept. 106-1029
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                      Part 1

======================================================================

 
 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REGARDING DAMS ON THE COLUMBIA AND SNAKE RIVER 
                                 SYSTEM

                                _______
                                

               December 14, 2000.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                    ADDITIONAL AND DISSENTING VIEWS

                     [To accompany H. Con. Res. 63]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 63) expressing the sense of 
the Congress opposing removal of dams on the Columbia and Snake 
Rivers for fishery restoration purposes, having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend 
that the concurrent resolution be agreed to.

                          purpose of the bill

    The purpose of House Concurrent Resolution 63 is to express 
the sense of the Congress in opposing removal of dams on the 
Columbia and Snake Rivers for fishery restoration purposes.

                  background and need for legislation

    At the time this Resolution was introduced, as part of the 
ongoing efforts to recover runs of endangered salmon and 
steelhead trout, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was studying the feasibility of 
removing a number of federal dams on the lower Snake River to 
enhance fish runs. These dams include the Ice Harbor Dam, the 
Lower Monument Dam, the Little Goose Dam and the Lower Granite 
Dam. The study was to consider several courses of action, 
including breaching the dams or extreme draw down of the 
operating pools behind them.
    House Concurrent Resolution 63 notes that hydropower from 
dams on the Columbia and Snake River system provide 75 percent 
of the electricity available in the northwestern United States. 
Flood control benefits provided by these dams in 1996 and 1997 
are estimated to be $4.6 billion. Barge transportation on the 
Columbia and Snake River system transports 43 percent of all 
U.S. wheat exports in 1997 and saved $38 million per year over 
land-based operations. Over half the irrigated farmland in 
Oregon, Washington and Idaho are irrigated with River system 
water. Recent studies by the National Marine Fisheries Service 
indicate that survival rates of salmon and steelhead migrating 
down the system have remained the same or increased since 1961, 
even as four dams were added to the Snake River. A federal 
interagency group concluded that removing four dams on the 
lower Snake River could not guarantee meeting fish restoration 
targets. Improved fish hatchery processes have resulted in the 
first successful run of coho salmon on the Yakima River in 
three decades.
    House Concurrent Resolution 63 will express the sense of 
Congress in opposing removal of dams on the Columbia and Snake 
Rivers for fishery restoration purposes. The Resolution 
indicates that: (1) the dams on the Columbia and Snake River 
system provide tremendous economic and environmental benefits 
to the United States that should be retained; (2) plans for the 
recovery of federally-protected fish species in the Columbia 
and Snake River system should not rely on dam removal schemes; 
(3) efforts to maintain healthy and sustainable populations of 
resident and anadromous fish in the Columbia and Snake Rivers 
must address all the factors impacting species population and 
health, including ocean conditions, harvest levels, predation, 
and passage around and through hydroelectric projects; and (4) 
any comprehensive fish recovery plan for the Columbia and Snake 
River system must be based on sound data and consider the 
economic and social costs associated with changes to the 
management and use of the River system infrastructure.

                            committee action

    Congressman Doc Hastings introduced House Concurrent 
Resolution 63 on March 18, 1999. The resolution was referred to 
the Committee on Resources and additionally to the Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure. Within the Committee on 
Resources, the resolution was referred to the Subcommittee on 
Water and Power and the Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, 
Wildlife and Oceans. The two Subcommittees held a joint hearing 
on the resolution on May 27, 1999. On July 21, 1999, the 
Resources Committee met to consider the resolution. The 
Subcommittees were discharged from further consideration of the 
measure by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and 
the resolution was ordered reported to the House of 
Representatives by voice vote.

            committee oversight findings and recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   constitutional authority statement

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this resolution.

                    compliance with house rule xiii

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this resolution. However, clause 
3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides that this requirement does not 
apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely 
submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
resolution does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of 
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on 
Government Reform on this resolution.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this resolution from the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 26, 1999.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed H. Con. Res. 63, expressing the sense of the Congress 
opposing the removal of dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers 
for fishery restoration purposes, as ordered reported by the 
Committee on Resources on July 21, 1999. CBO estimates that 
approval of this resolution would have no impact on the federal 
budget. Because the resolution would not affect direct spending 
or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry A. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

                    compliance with public law 104-4

    This resolution contains no unfunded mandates.

                preemption of state, local or tribal law

    This resolution is not intended to preempt any State, local 
or tribal law.

                        changes in existing law

    If passed, this resolution would make no changes in 
existing law.

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    H. Con. Res. 63 would have the Congress conclude--prior to 
receiving all the facts and without regard to science--that 
removal of four dams on the lower Snake River should not even 
be considered as an option to aid salmon recovery. There is no 
question that dams in the Columbia River region provide 
economic benefits, and it is my view that any fish recovery 
plan should be based on sound data and thoroughly consider 
economic and social costs associated with changes to river 
management and infrastructure. However, because this resolution 
seeks to eliminate dam removal from consideration before 
scientific and economic evaluations are complete, I oppose it. 
Instead, the more responsible approach is to encourage the 
Administration to analyze all options with equal rigor so that 
federal, state, local, tribal, and other stakeholders have 
access to the very best information when making difficult 
decisions.
    H. Con. Res. 63--while superfically reassuring to economic 
interests vested in the status quo--is counterproductive and 
would assure only that selective facts and science are used 
during the difficult process of determining how best to improve 
the conditions for salmon in the Pacific Northwest. This type 
of approach is fundamentally flawed and should be rejected by 
the House.

                                                     Peter DeFazio.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    H. Con. Res. 63 would have the Congress conclude--prior to 
receiving all the facts and without regard to science--that 
removal of four dams on the lower Snake River should not even 
be considered as an option to aid salmon recovery. There is no 
question that dams in the Columbia River region provide 
economic benefits, and it is our view that any fish recovery 
plan should be based on sound data and thoroughly consider 
economic and social costs associated with changes to river 
management and infrastructure. However, because this resolution 
seeks to eliminate dam removal from consideration before 
scientific and economic evaluations are complete, we strongly 
oppose it. Instead, the more responsible approach is to 
encourage the Administration to analyze all options with equal 
rigor so that federal, state, local, tribal, and other 
stakeholders have access to the very best information when 
making difficult decisions.
    The Columbia River system once contained the largest 
chinook salmon population in the world. The Snake River, the 
largest tributary of the Columbia River, provides a vital 
migration route for salmon traveling between the Pacific Ocean 
and rivers in central Idaho to complete their life cycle. These 
fish require riverine habitat for spawning, ocean habitat for 
growth to sexual maturity, and the means to travel in between 
the two. Snake River salmon populations have experienced such 
dramatic declines that every one (sockeye, spring/summer 
chinook, fall chinook, and steelhead) is listed under the 
Endangered Species Act. Coho have been declared extinct. 
Although the resolution states that survival rates of salmon 
and steelhead migrating down the Columbia and Snake River 
system have stayed the same or increased since 1961, the 
critical variable--numbers of adult fish that return to 
reproduce--has declined to a level far below what is required 
even to maintain the depleted populations.
    Plummeting salmon numbers in the Columbia River region have 
been attributed by scientists to several causes: dams that 
impede migration, loss or degradation of habitat (including 
losses due to reservoirs of still, warm water associated with 
dams), predation, fishing, and climatic conditions. In addition 
to supplementing natural populations with hatchery-reared fish, 
other methods such as fish ladders, spillage of juveniles over 
dams, and trucking/barging of juveniles currently are used to 
try to maintain viable salmon populations. These efforts, 
however, have failed miserably.
    The Administration is in the process of analyzing 
alternatives available to facilitate recovery of endangered and 
threatened salmon populations along the Snake River in 
Washington. A decision that reflects analysis consequences and 
salmon recovery benefits is due in late 1999. One option under 
consideration involves breaching four dams on the lower Snake 
River (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower 
Granite Dams); these are 4 of the 29 federal dams in the 
Pacific Northwest. It is important to recognize that some of 
the assertions made in H. Con. Res. 63 address dams throughout 
the entire Columbia River basin rather than the four dams being 
considered for breaching. These four dams produce approximately 
5% of the total electricity in the Pacific Northwest, provide 
no flood control, and irrigate a minute fraction of the 
farmland in the region. And while the dams effectively 
subsidize barge transportation, other modes of commercial 
transport are placed at a disadvantage.
    Underlying H. Con. Res. 63 is the ``slippery slope'' fear 
that the entire Pacific Northwest hydropower system could be at 
risk. But among a number of alternatives, the Administration is 
only evaluating the removal of four dams on the Snake River, 
and neither the final recommendation nor the scientific or 
economic analyses have yet been completed. Moreover, the 
Administration has not yet released the documents--a draft 
biological opinion on operation of the Columbia/Snake federal 
dams; a draft recovery plan for Snake River salmon; and an 
environmental impact statement on future management of the 
lower Snake River dams--upon which it will base its December 
1999 decision. Although the Administration has not submitted a 
formal position on this resolution, the U.S. Army Corps 
testified on May 27, 1999, before the Subcommittees on Power 
and Water and Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans, 
that current studies of all options should be allowed to be 
completed before deciding on the best course of action 
regarding the Snake River dams.
    If restoring salmon populations were the only goal, the 
vast majority of independent scientists agree that the best 
available recovery plan would include removal of the four lower 
Snake River dams. However, removing four dams in the lower 
Snake River will also have an economic impact on the region, 
affecting some stakeholders more than others. These impacts 
should be and are being considered during the decisionmaking 
process. However, it is important to acknowledge that there are 
also substantial costs to maintaining the current system, 
including the demise of recreational and commercial fishing 
industries, potential lawsuits by Canada and the Tribes for 
broken treaty agreements, and increased expenses related to 
fish restoration practices. For example, estimates of current 
expenditures related to salmon recovery in the region--
expenditures which are currently failing to produce needed 
results--are on the order of $1 billion per year.
    H. Con. Res. 63--while superfically reassuring to economic 
interests vested in the status quo--is counterproductive and 
would assure only that selective facts and science are used 
during the difficult process of determining how best to improve 
the conditions for salmon in the Pacific Northwest. This type 
of approach is fundamentally flawed and should be rejected by 
the House.

                                   George Miller.
                                   Grace Napolitano.
                                   Bruce Vento.
                                   Mark Udall.
                                   Neil Abercrombie.
                                   Rush Holt.

                                  
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