Despite the length of time, it has taken the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) to issue this proposed permit—the current permit has been expired for 13 years, as it was issued on May 27, 2004 and expired on December 31, 2008—it does not appear to reflect much careful thought on the part of DEQ and it fails to meet multiple legal requirements.
Actions taken by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) related to its proposed approval of water quality standards developed by the State of Oregon under the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”) for temperature and intragravel dissolved oxygen run the risk of jeopardizing threatened and endangered species that depend upon habitat of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Specifically, EPA’s actions impact Lower Columbia River Chinook salmon (“LCR Chinook”), Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon (“UWR Chinook”), Lower Columbia River steelhead (“LCR steelhead”), Middle Columbia River steelhead (“MCR steelhead”), Upper Columbia River steelhead (“UCR steelhead”), and Upper Willamette River steelhead (“UWR steelhead”) (collectively, “imperiled salmon and steelhead” or the “impacted species”)—among the Pacific Northwest’s iconic salmonid species that depend on cold, clean water for their survival