Regulatory Agencies

As a bi-state project the Columbia River Crossing project is subject to both Oregon and Washington regulations as well as many federal requirements. The project team worked with state and federal agencies to develop an effective approach for coordinating their involvement, and streamlining regulatory reviews and permits. The result is explained in Interstate Collaborative Environmental Process (InterCEP) Agreement.

The goal of InterCEP is to allow the CRC project to efficiently plan, design, and build a solution that successfully addresses the project’s goals and meets state and federal environmental regulations.

The following regulatory agencies signed the InterCEP Agreement:

National Marine Fisheries Service
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Washington State Department of Ecology
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife
Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development
Oregon Department of State Lands
Oregon State Historic Preservation Office
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

The main goal of this process is to ensure the project team is aware of any potential concerns that could complicate the permitting process in the final proposed project. In addition, the project team engages in an ongoing dialogue with the necessary state and federal agencies prior to making major decisions. By getting approval at key milestones, CRC project managers can work toward reducing environmental impacts and avoid delays often associated with large scale projects.

InterCEP serves as a key advisory group to the CRC project, providing formal feedback to the project team at milestones, including:

Project Purpose and Need
Screening Criteria for Alternatives
Methods for analyzing impacts
Range of Alternatives to carry into the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
Preliminary Draft EIS
Draft EIS