Public Involvement

Public involvement during the Cascade Crossing Transmission Project (Cascade Crossing) is important. The Oregon Department of Energy-Energy Facility Siting Council (ODOE-EFSC), the federal agencies led by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and Portland General Electric (PGE) will use the information gained from public participation to understand public concerns, inform the environmental analysis and/or refine or change the project.

Your input will be used to help identify key issues with the route, determine potential environmental and/or social impacts, suggest alternate routes and recommend mitigation strategies that would lessen the impact of the proposed project.

Initial input was gathered in mid-2010 during the public scoping and information period for both the NEPA and EFSC processes. This comment period ended on August 2, 2010. There will be additional opportunities to provide input for both processes at future milestones, but informal comments and questions are always accepted.

Working Together

Together ODOE-EFSC, the federal agencies and PGE are committed to providing project information and meaningful public participation opportunities.

Some public involvement efforts will be coordinated between the state and federal agencies to provide a simpler means of participation, and more streamlined information-sharing between the government agencies, as well as with PGE. These efforts will include:

• Co-hosting public meetings for citizen input.
• Providing a streamlined comment process, so comments may be shared between each of these agencies.
• Sending joint notifications, such as meeting invitations, newsletters and placing newspaper announcements.

State Review Process

ODOE-EFSC will manage the state’s energy facility siting application process, which includes a variety of opportunities for public input. Learn more about ODOE-EFSC and the energy facility siting process.

Federal Environmental Review Process

Cascade Crossing, as proposed, would cross federal lands. This makes the project subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. The USFS is the lead federal agency and will coordinate the NEPA process with cooperation from other federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The NEPA process includes multiple opportunities for public participation. Learn more about the federal agencies and the NEPA process.

PGE Public Outreach

Since mid-2009, PGE has and will continue to meet with federal, state and local officials to discuss the project. In fall 2009 and spring 2010, PGE hosted public open houses throughout the project area to solicit feedback and answer questions. PGE’s ongoing public involvement efforts include providing preliminary project design information, answering questions and meeting with community officials and other groups.