U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined three of their Republican colleagues from the Pacific Northwest delegation in urging the Biden administration to include intervenor defendants in its negotiations regarding a breach of the Lower Snake River Dams.
Their request follows action last month by the Biden administration and a coalition of Northwest tribes, environmental groups, and others who agreed to continue negotiations that could lead to breaching the Lower Snake River Dams in an effort to help endangered salmon recover.
The parties asked a federal court in Oregon for a 60-day extension of a stay in litigation that was set to expire in August, suggesting that both sides may be close to resolving more than two decades of legal battles over the operations of federally managed dams and their impact on salmon.
But according to Rep. McMorris Rodgers, Rep. Newhouse, and their colleagues, stakeholders during the past two years continually have complained that they’re being left in the dark as negotiations take place.
“While the mediation process is confidential, many of the intervenor defendants have expressed deep reservations and considerable disappointment regarding the overall process that has been followed,” wrote wrote Rep. McMorris Rodgers, Rep. Newhouse, and their colleagues in a Sept. 13 letter sent to Brenda Mallory, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). “Of particular concern is the Biden administration’s apparent push to forgo trying to reach a “consensus” resolution and instead advance a predetermined outcome of dam removal.”
If the shared goal is to establish “a durable long-term strategy,” they wrote, then it is imperative that an inclusive mediation process takes place to best account for the impacts to the region’s ratepayers and the economy.
“It is unacceptable that the mediation negotiations are being conducted behind closed doors via private caucuses to craft concessions to plaintiffs without regard to the impacts to the region’s ratepayers, the economy, or ensuring that the Congressionally authorized purposes of the Columbia River System are met,” wrote the lawmakers. “We implore you to redirect your efforts towards engaging all stakeholders in the region rather than solely focusing on the plaintiffs. This will ensure a more productive, inclusive, and transparent mediation process.”