NOR'WESTER NEWSLETTER ISSUE #468                                                                         

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July 2nd, 2013
In This Issue:
PNWA welcomes American Construction to the membership
U.S. Entity releases Columbia River Treaty "Working Draft of a Regional Recommendation" for public comment
PNWA in the news
Northwest delegation members join Representative Larsen in sending letter of support for Section 214
UPDATE: New meeting date for Lower Columbia River Infrastructure Meeting - July 31st

PNWA welcomes American Construction to the membership 

 

PNWA is pleased to welcome our newest member, American Construction Company. American Construction is a General Marine Contractor that has been in business since 1903. Their longevity and stability as a company is demonstrated by its loyal and experienced work force. Having been in business over the last hundred years, American has the breadth and depth of experience to handle any marine project. Due to their extensive experience and specialized equipment they will remain on the cutting edge of the Marine Construction environment for many years to come. Currently highlighted project locations include the Seattle Aquarium, Port Townsend Ferry Terminal, Gray's Harbor dredging, and the 520 West Connection Bridge. For more information, please contact Matt Childs.   

 

U.S. Entity releases Columbia River Treaty "Working Draft of a Regional Recommendation" for public comment 

 

A "Working Draft of a Regional Recommendation" for the Columbia River Treaty has been released by the U.S. Entity, which is comprised of Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Northwestern Division.  The Entity is currently accepting public comment on the working draft through August 16th. To access the working draft, learn more about the Treaty, or to submit comment, visit the Treaty site here. Please note that all comments submitted to the Entity will be publicly available on the Treaty Review website.

 

Two webinars are being offered this month for stakeholders who would like to learn more about the Working Draft of a Regional Recommendation. They will be held on Tuesday, July 16th from 9 - 11 a.m. and Tuesday, July 23rd from 3 - 5 p.m. For stakeholders in the Portland area who want to attend in person, the webinars will be at this address: New BPA Rates Hearing Room, 1201 NE Lloyd Blvd., Suite 200 Portland, OR 97232. Call-in instructions are expected shortly.

 

The U.S. Entity expects to complete a third round of modeling and analysis in August, followed by a September release of a final draft recommendation. The September final draft recommendation will be open to public comment as well. The Entity plans to make a recommendation to the State Department by mid-December.

 

PNWA's navigation, utility, flood control, and irrigation members have been involved in numerous meetings with the U.S. Entity for the past year. Our members had the opportunity to hear from a U.S. Entity speaker at our Summer Conference in La Conner last week, which was followed by a PNWA member discussion of the Treaty work to date.

 

PNWA staff will continue to work with the various sections of our membership that are engaging on the Columbia River Treaty, and strongly encourage our interested members to provide comment to the Entity by August 16th. For more information regarding the Columbia River Treaty and PNWA's work on this important issue, please contact Kristin Meira.

PNWA  in the news 
 

PNWA staff has been able to provide key information to the press in recent weeks. Click below to read the most recent articles:

 

Corps looks to dredge lower Snake River this winter, Capital Press, June 26, 2013  

 

U.S. House committee approves $30 million for small port dredging, The Longview Daily News, June 30, 2013  

 

Northwest delegation members join Representative Larsen in sending letter of support for Section 214  

PNWA is very pleased to announce that our Northwest delegation continues to champion Section 214 permanence among their colleagues. On June 21st, Rep. Rick Larsen (D, WA-2), along with nearly every member of the Northwest House delegation, sent a letter to House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) leadership requesting their support for the effort. With the inclusion of language in the Senate WRDA bill to make Section 214 permanent, our goal is to ensure that similar language is included in the House WRDA bill expected to be released later this year. We thank Rep. Larsen, as well as all of our Representatives who signed on, and we look forward to working with these offices as this effort continues.

In addition to working with the delegation on this issue, PNWA has also been working closely with our national association counterparts. On June 18th, PNWA partnered with the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and the National Waterways Conference (NWC) to send a letter to T&I Chairman Bill Shuster and Ranking Member Nick Rahall, as well as Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee Chairman Bob Gibbs and Ranking Member Tim Bishop. This was a follow up to the joint letters that our associations sent in February to the Senate EPW and House T&I Committees.  Both rounds of letters highlight the national support for Section 214 and its importance in allowing permit review decisions to be made in a timely fashion. 

 

If you would like additional information, or would like to join our Section 214 coalition, please contact Heather Stebbings.

 

UPDATE: New meeting date for Lower Columbia River Infrastructure Meeting - July 31st     

The date of the next Lower Columbia River Future Infrastructure Needs meeting has been moved to July 31st, 2013. The meeting will take place from 1:30-3:30pm at the Port of Portland. To view the notes from the last meeting, please click here.