Permanent Engineering Board

The Columbia River Treaty is an international agreement between the United States and Canada on the coordinated development and operation of the Columbia River Basin.

The Treaty established Canadian and United States Entities and a Permanent Engineering Board. 

In Canada, B.C. Hydro is the Canadian entity. In the United States, the U.S. Entity includes the Administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration and the Division Engineer of the North Pacific (currently Northwestern) Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A Presidential Executive Order created the U.S. Entity and the U.S. Section of the Permanent Engineering Board.

The Entities appoint representatives to the operating and hydrometeorological committees, while the Permanent Engineering Board appoints members of the PEB Engineering Committee. 

Entities are responsible for overseeing the conduct of the Columbia River Treaty and include B.C. Hydro, Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Northwestern Division with the Permanent Engineering Board handling tasks such as assembling flow records, assisting in settling differences that may arise between the Entities, and creating annual reports of the results being achieved.

The Columbia River Treaty established the Permanent Engineering Board (PEB). Article XV of the Treaty established the Board consisting of four members, two appointed by Canada, and two by the U.S

The duties of the Permanent Engineering Board include:

• Assembling records of the flows of the Columbia River and the Kootenay River at the Canada - U.S. boundary;
• Reporting to the U.S. and Canada whenever there is substantial deviation from the hydroelectric and flood control operating plans and if appropriate include in the report recommendations for remedial action and compensatory adjustments;
• Assisting in reconciling differences concerning technical or operational matters that may arise between the entities;
• Making periodic inspections and require reports as needed from the entities with a view to ensuring that the objectives of the Treaty are being met;
• Making reports to the U.S. and Canada at least once a year of the results being achieved under the Treaty and make special reports concerning any matter which it considers should be brought to their attention;
• Investigating and reporting with respect to any other matter coming within the scope of the Treaty at the request of either the U.S. or Canada.

For the U.S. Section of the PEB, the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Energy each appoint one person as a U.S. member. At the time of appointment such members may be but need not necessarily be, officers or employees of the U.S., and shall serve as a member of the Board at the pleasure of the appointing Secretary.

In addition to the two members, there are two alternate U.S. members of the Permanent Engineering Board, with one each appointed by the respective Secretaries. The appointed members and alternate members compose the U.S. Section of the PEB. The member appointed by the Secretary of the Army is the Chairman of the U.S. Section.