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3.3.2.2 Public Involvement Option: Recon\mendation Developed by an Existing 

 Regional Entity 



The premise of this option is to empower an existing regional entity to both conduct a 

 public involvement program and make an independent review of the techrucal 

 information, developing a recommendation that would then be presented to the SOR 

 lead agencies. While this would be an advisory reCDmmendation, the political realities 

 would be such that the recommendation would undoubtedly carry great weight with 

 the SOR lead agencies. In addition, some mecharusm would need to be established to 

 ensure that the SOR lead agencies reported back to the regional entity on any deviations 

 from the proposal, and the reasons for those deviations. 



Ideally the regional entity that would develop this proposal would: (1) have qualified 

 technical staff who would be able to evaluate the technical basis for the decision, and (2) 

 have a legal mandate/decisionmaking representation for all the uses of the river. One 

 entity v^th techrucal expertise, the Northwest Power Planning Council, has a mandate 

 that covers power, and also fish and wildlife, but not some of the other uses of the river, 

 such as navigation, flood control, recreation, etc. However, it comes the closest of any 

 existing regional entities to an entity that would be credible or be perceived as "neutral" 

 by all sides. It is not known at this time whether other users would find the Power 

 Council credible in this role. This would be a necessary precondition for this alternative 

 to have any advantage over the previous option. 



The SOR lead agencies could request that the Power Council develop such a 

 recommendation. The likely legal vehicle would be a Memorandtim of Understanding 

 (MOU) between the SOR lead agencies and the Council. This MOU might explicitly 



Final Draft - September 15, 1993 56 



