posals. All projects must be tied 

 to the approved subbasin plan. 

 Reimbursable programs that are 

 within that province provide sim- 

 ilar information 



Bonneville should review pro- 

 posed projects and budgets to 

 ensure that regulatoiy needs, 

 including compliance with appli- 

 cable federal law s, are considered, 

 that questions about the adequacy 

 or appropriateness of proposed 

 budgets are resoKed in the Coun- 

 cil's recommendation process, 

 and that any concerns Bonneville 

 has about the performance of 

 ongoing projects are identified 



The Independent Scientific 

 Re\ iew Panel re\ lews proposals 

 and supporting documents in the 

 context of subbasin plans and the 

 fish and wildlife program 



The Independent Scientific 

 Re\ iew Panel conducts subbasin 

 province visits with project spon- 

 sors, managers and others. The 

 visit includes an oppoilunity 

 for project sponsors to present 

 their proposals and for a subse- 

 quent question and answer ses- 

 sion with the Independent Sci- 

 entific Review Panel. In addi- 

 tion, the Independent Scientific 

 Review Panel may conduct proj- 

 ect-specific visits 



After the visit, the Independent 

 Scientific Review Panel produces 

 a draft report on proposals rec- 

 ommended for funding, includ- 

 ing specific questions, and pro- 

 vides it to project sponsors for 

 comments and rc\ isions 



The project sponsors respond to 

 the draft report 



The Independent Scientific 

 Rc\ iew Panel addresses the 

 responses and issues a final 

 report and recommendations to 

 the Council. The Council con- 

 siders the Indepcntlcnt Scientific 

 Review Panel report, other statu- 



tory and programmatic consider- 

 ations, and makes final funding 

 recommendations on program 

 implementation to Bonne\ ille. 

 The Council also makes recom- 

 mendations on the funding of 

 projects within the reimbursable 

 programs to Congress and the 

 relevant federal agencies 



• Systemwide projects will be 

 reviewed as a separate unit within 

 the review schedule. Wherever 

 possible, projects within the 

 mainstem will be re\ iewed as 

 part of the review of the province 

 in which they are located, 

 although certain projects that 

 concern systemwide passage, 

 water management and dissolved 

 gas issues may be reviewed 

 as part of a separate category 

 of integrated mainstem passage 

 activities 



4. Project Funding Priorities 



The Northwest Power Act estab- 

 lishes Bonneville's obligation to 

 fully mitigate for fish and w ildlife 

 impacts tYom the development and 

 operation of the hydropower system. 

 The Council recognizes its obliga- 

 tion, in turn, to construct a program 

 that guides Bonneville's mitigation 

 efforts. The Council recognizes that 

 the work necessary to satisfy Bonn- 

 eville's mitigation obligation must 

 be staged to accommodate yearly 

 budget limitations. The Council also 

 believes that final determination of 

 the yearly direct program budget 

 may properly be reser\ed for a later 

 phase of the program amendment 

 process where the project funding 

 needs will be more greatly intbrmed 

 by subbasin planning. Funding for 

 provincial budgets to implement 

 subbasm plans v\ill be pail of the 

 direct program budget along with 

 any subsequent increases. 



The Council adopts the following 

 funding principles to prioritize among 

 the manv needs to address fish and 



wildlife impacts throughout the basin: 



• The Bonneville Power Admin- 

 istration will fulfill its Fi.sh 



and Wildlife Funding Principles 

 (September 16, 1998) including 

 the commitment to "meet all of 

 its fish and w ildlife obligations" 



• The detennination of provincial 

 budget levels should take into 

 account the level of impact 

 caused by the federally operated 

 hydropower system. Other fac- 

 tors w ill also influence this deter- 

 mination including opportunities 

 for off-site mitigation 



• Wildlife mitigation should 

 emphasize addressing areas of 

 the basin w ith the highest propor- 

 tion of unmitigated losses 



To prioritize among the many 

 needs to address fish and wildlife 

 impacts throughout the basin, the 

 Council will maintain the current 

 funding allocation for anadromous fish 

 (70 percent), resident fish ( 15 percent), 

 and wildlife ( 1 5 percent), until a new 

 budget allocation is adopted. 



Funding Allocation 



5. Coordination with Other 

 Regional Programs 



The Council will pursue opportu- 

 nities to integrate program strategies 

 w ith other federal, state, tribal. Cana- 

 dian, and volunteer fish and wildlife 



2000 COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN FiSH AND WILDLIFE PR' 



47 



