144 



11 



and BPA's regional programs cquld be built into all of these 



systems, along with expedited arbitration and enforcement 



mechanisms. BPA took an important step in this direction by 



inserting regional environmental safeguards into its Intertie 



Access Policy;'* we can do much more. 



7 . Has BPA adequately accounted for the environmental externalities 

 associated with various energy sources in its resource acquisition 

 process? If not, what specific issues should BPA revisit? 



BPA has not accounted adequately for environmental 

 externalities, particularly those associated with fish and wildlife 

 damage and greenhouse gas emissions. The agency has made some 

 progress and is capable of much more; as shown below, part of the 

 problem originated in other quarters. A brief chronology helps 

 clarify these issues. 



Fish and Wildlife: A major function of the Regional Act's 

 fish and wildlife provisions was to internalize some of the most 

 important environmental costs associated with the hydropower 

 system. That process is far from complete, and a continuing part 

 of the problem is BPA's failure to budget specific amounts for some 

 initiatives called for in the Council's fish and wildlife program. 

 The oft-repeated excuse for the omissions is that "we are waiting 

 for the Recovery Plan." Yet, as the NMFS Regional Director pointed 

 out at a recent Council meeting, NMFS has consistently called for 

 measures that strengthen the Council's program. Congress should 

 press BPA to incorporate fully in its rates the flow and habitat 

 restoration measures called for in the Council's fish and wildlife 

 program. 



Carbon Dioxide Emissions : As BPA prepared to solicit bids for 

 300 MW of new generating resources in the spring of 1991, the 



"BPA's Intertie Access Policy was released in May of 1988; it 

 created rules for the use of the federally-owned transmission 

 system linking the Pacific Northwest and California. Key 

 provisions barred from the system new hydropower facilities built 

 in areas within the Columbia River System designated by the Council 

 as "protected" (§7 (a)); and ensured that individual utilities 

 executing long-term export contracts would bear all risks 

 associated with these transactions (§ 4(a)(4)). 



