NOTICE AND INVIATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE APPLICATION FOR WATER QUALITY CERTIFICATION FOR A NEW LICENSE FOR THE PRIEST RAPIDS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT,

FERC LICENSE NO. 2114

On October 4th, 2005, Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County (Grant PUD) resubmitted its application to the Department of Ecology (Ecology) for a water quality certification in accordance with Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act. Ecology expects to issue a Draft of the Section 401 Certification for the Priest Rapids Project in 2006.

Comment and Review Period: Ecology is soliciting comments concerning the application from the public, tribes, state, local, and federal agencies and officials, and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the water quality impacts of the continued operation of the Project as proposed in the Application for a new license. Any comments received will be considered by the State in its decision to issue, condition, or deny a certification for the Project. The comment period is from the date of first publication and ending December 30, 2005.

Comments concerning the application may be mailed to Ecology. Comments should be sent to Jim Bellatty, Section Manager Water Quality Program, Washington Department of Ecology Eastern Region, 4601 N. Monroe St. Spokane Washington 99205-1295. Comments may be emailed to DWAR461@ecy.wa.gov. Written comments must be received before December 30, 2005 at 4:30 PM.

Summary Information About the Application

PROJECT: Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project, FERC License No. 2114 application for a new license as described in the exhibits to the Final License Application.

LOCATION: The Project is located on the Columbia River in Washington State between river miles 395 and 453. The Project borders Grant, Yakima, Kittitas, Douglas, Benton, and Chelan Counties in Washington.

APPLICANT: Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County (Grant PUD)

30 C Street SW

Ephrata, WA 98823

Contact: Laurel Heacock

(509) 754-6622

Proposed Project: The waters affected by releases from the project are portions of the Columbia River in central Washington State, within and immediately downstream of the Project. This Final License Application developed pursuant to the relevant relicensing regulations (18 CFR S4.51), contains a detailed description of the Project, how it has been operated historically, and how Grant PUD proposes to operate it in the future. Included are proposals for capital improvements and operational changes in all resource areas. Exhibit E of the application describes the environmental resources potentially affected by the Project. Exhibit E-3 specifically identifies the proposed additional protection, mitigation and enhancement programs for water quality that Grant PUD has identified through consultation with affected agencies, tribes and the public, and provides detailed study data and analyses that support its proposals. To improve water quality and fishery resources, Grant PUD proposes to make major investments in the Priest Rapids Project, including installation of advanced-design turbines, improvements to downstream fish bypass facilities and initiation of programs to protect and enhance migrant and resident fish and wildlife. The proposed measures to improve water quality may be found in a document entitled "DRAFT WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN" in Exhibit E-3 of the Final License Application.

The primary components of the application are Exhibits A-H. In addition, technical reports, study results, and the record of pre-filing consultation are appended to the Final License Application. An Executive Summary of the Final License Application is available at the Grant website; http://www.gcpud.org/Relicensing. Three "cd-rom" disks containing the entire final application can also be ordered through the website or by calling 1-800-894-6960. Questions concerning the Final License Application material should be directed to Grant PUD by calling 1-800-894-6960.

Evaluation: When considering the effects of the Project's release on water quality, the decision to issue, deny or condition the water quality certification will be based on the project's compliance with the applicable provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act, Washington's Water Pollution Control Act, the State's Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters, and all other applicable laws of the State.

#012021

Pub.: December 1, 8, 2005