November 18, 2003

Environmental Watch: PSE to issue wind power RFP

BELLEVUE -- Puget Sound Energy will issue a request for proposals by Nov. 19 for long-term purchase power agreements or ownership of windpower projects.

State regulators last week approved the utility's proposed process for seeking approximately 150 megawatts of wind-power capacity as the utility tries to add new resources to its portfolio to meet customers' power needs.

The utility recently developed a plan to meet its goal of supplying at least 10 percent of its customers' total electricity from wind power and other renewable sources by 2013. Proposals will be due Jan. 9. For details visit www.pse.com/about/supply/resourceplanning.html or call (425) 462-3657.

Ecology reviews Columbia water rights

YAKIMA -- The state Department of Ecology will prepare an environmental impact statement for a new plan on how to make Columbia River water-right decisions.

Ecology will prepare an EIS for the Columbia River Initiative, whose goal is to create a program for deciding how to permit new water withdrawals while supporting salmon recovery.

The plan would discuss how to allocate up to 1 million acre-feet for irrigation and municipal use over 20 years. Ecology is also studying possible costs and benefits of diverting new water from the river, and the impact withdrawals could have on endangered species.

For details visit www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cri/crieconrev.html. Submit comments by Dec. 12 to Gerry O'Keefe, Department of Ecology, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 or email to cri@ecy.wa.gov.

State seeks volunteers for habitat program

OLYMPIA -- The state Department of Fish and Wildlife wants volunteers to help guide salmon habitat restoration projects.

Volunteers with the agency's Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group Program serve on an advisory board that meets quarterly to review and approve salmon recovery projects. The volunteers also review and propose regional fisheries enhancement legislation.

Apply by Dec. 1 to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group Program, Attn: Dianne Ludwig, 600 Capital Way N., OIympia, WA 98501-1091. For information call Dianne Ludwig at (360) 902-2252.

Applications due for water-quality funds

OLYMPIA -- The state Department of Ecology on Dec. 1 will begin accepting applications for water-quality improvement and protection loans and grants for the fiscal year 2005 funding cycle.

Loans and grants from the Centennial Clean Water Fund, Clean Water Act Section 319 Nonpoint Source Fund, and Washington State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund are used for wastewater treatment facilities, watersheds, agricultural best-management practices, water-quality monitoring, stormwater controls, wellhead protection, information/education efforts and similar projects.

Ecology will hold application workshops in Spokane Dec. 4, Yakima Dec. 5, Lynnwood Dec. 9 and Tacoma Dec. 10. Local governments, Indian tribes, colleges/universities and not-for-profit groups can apply for funding. For details visit www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/funding/2005.

U of I gets $950K for biodiesel study

MOSCOW, Idaho -- The United States Department of Agriculture gave the University of Idaho a five-year, $950,000 grant to create and distribute public information about biodiesel fuels.

Biodiesel fuels are made from canola, mustard seed and other oil crops and from reused vegetable oils. The university, which has biodiesel development and transportation programs, will use the grant to fund publications, Web sites and workshops on biodiesel opportunities.

Iowa State University also worked on the grant proposal. For details visit www.uidaho.edu or www.uidaho.edu/bae/biodiesel/.

Environmental litigation workshop Dec. 10

SEATTLE -- A workshop called "Environmental Litigation Tool Kit -- A Substantive Workshop on Procedural and Evidentiary Aspects of Environmental Litigation" will be held at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel Dec. 10.

Speakers will include representatives of Stoel Rives, Bricklin Newman Dold, Marten Law Group, Geosphere, Preston Gates & Ellis, Davis Wright Tremaine, Parametrix, the Pollution Control Hearings Board and the Washington State Attorney Generals Office.

Attorneys and consultants will discuss preparing, presenting and defending environmental and land-use cases in Washington and elsewhere. For details see the Law Seminars International events calendar at www.lawseminars.com/frame_seminars.htm.

Wind erosion, air quality meeting Dec. 4-5

RICHLAND -- Scientists from Washington State University and the United States Department of Agriculture will discuss Pacific Northwest wind erosion and air quality issues at a Dec. 4-5 meeting at Red Lion Hotel in Richland.

The annual research review of the Columbia Plateau Wind Erosion/Air Quality Project will cover dryland and irrigated cropping systems research, long-term climactic variability on agriculture, prediction and modeling of dust emissions, and the newly published "Farming with the Wind II."

For details or to register, visit www.pnw-winderosion.wsu.edu/ or contact Cindy Warriner at (509) 659-3214 or warriner@wsu.edu.

Murray to address NW power forum

SEATTLE -- Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and others will discuss the Northwest power industry, federal energy legislation and the causes and effects of compromised power grids Dec. 3 at a breakfast forum at the Westin Hotel at 1900 Fifth Ave.

Representatives of Seattle City Light, the Bonneville Power Administration, Puget Sound Energy and the Athena Institute will also speak at the "Insuring Energy Reliability to Promote Regional Economic Development" forum, hosted by the Economic Development Council of Seattle & King County.

Tickets are $45 for EDC members and $45 for nonmembers. For details call EDC at (206) 389-8661 or visit www.edc-sea.org.

Erosion control conference Dec. 8-12

STEVENSON, Skamania County -- The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Erosion Control Association is holding its annual conference at Skamania Lodge in the Columbia River Gorge Dec. 8-12.

Discussion topics will include restoration efforts after the California fires, and the Flight of Discovery, a team of geologists, agronomists, botanists, ecologists and anthropologists who will follow the river and overland routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

A trip to the Bonneville Dam will look at erosion-prevention materials used during construction of the fish slide on the north side of the dam. For lodging and conference details visit www.pnwieca.org or call Rosemary Andrews at (360) 699-1426.