Rep. Simpson’s framework would create a $32 billion fund administered by the Dept. of Energy and headquartered at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA. The package includes salmon restoration and dam removal, along with energy development, storage and transmission, transportation and irrigation for agriculture, recreational development, community economic development, tribal resource protection, and some limitations on litigation.

The framework is organized into nine elements, with some crossover between elements. Select funding includes :

• Salmon/Conservation: The funding centers on the long-sought goal of breaching four lower Snake River dams. The framework also includes major investments in watershed/salmon restoration on the Washington Coast, Puget Sound and Montana as well as the Snake and Columbia Basins. The framework goes beyond salmon and also includes investments in sturgeon and lamprey recovery and also includes some limits on litigation.

• Tribes: Tribes become co-equal primary NW Fish Managers, with funds through annual block grants. Along with salmon and other fish recovery investments, the framework also includes cultural resource protection in the lower Snake River area.

• States: As co-equal primary NW Fish Managers, states get $123M in block grants. The framework includes investments in energy infrastructure and conservation as well as dam mitigation and indemnification.

• Communities: The framework focuses on infrastructure and economic development in Lewiston, Clarkston, and Tri-Cities. It includes tourism promotion in all three, as well as waterfront development in Lewiston-Clarkston and funding for commercial industry.

• Recreation: The framework designates a Lower Snake River National Recreation Area, with investment dollars for recreation and tourism promotion for Lewiston-Clarkston, Spokane, and Tri-Cities, and lower Snake River marina relocation.

• Transportation: The framework centers on investments in grain transportation, ports in Lewiston-Clarkston, and road and rail infrastructure needs. It also includes funding for shippers who used waterways for barging and tours.

• Agriculture: The framework establishes and funds seven Watershed Partnerships from Montana to the coast that will improve water quality, temperature, and quality in the Columbia Basin. It also includes litigation exemption and investments in irrigation and animal waste management.

• Energy: The framework includes investments in energy replacement for four lower Snake River dams and NW grid resilience and optimization. It also establishes and funds a Snake River Center for Advanced Energy Storage in Lewiston-Clarkston and Richland. The framework provides certainty for dams in the Columbia Basin producing more that 10Mw/yr and extends FERC licenses 35 years, and includes a hydro-related litigation moratorium for the same period.

• BPA: The framework increases BPA’s borrowing authority to $15 billion (from $7.7 billion) and provides tax credits. It caps fish mitigation at $600 million annually and removes BPA from direct fish management.