Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct a Public Scoping Meeting for the Bluestone Hydropower Project, Hinton, Summers County, WV, 55775-55776 [06-8126]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers
• Engineers Corps
• Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 185 (Monday, September 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55775-55776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-8126]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Conduct a Public Scoping Meeting for the Bluestone Hydropower Project, 
Hinton, Summers County, WV

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD, Huntington District will 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate potential 
impacts to the natural, physical, and human environment as a result of 
the proposed installation of hydropower generation facilities at 
Bluestone Dam, Hinton, Summers County, WV (Hydropower Project). The 
proposed hydropower project would utilize three of the six existing 
penstocks which were part of the original construction of the dam. The 
proposed project would also involve the discharge of dredged and fill 
material into waters of the United States (U.S.) and would involve work 
in the New River, a navigable water of the U.S. Therefore, the subject 
proposal would require a Department of the Army (DA) permit pursuant to 
section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404) and Section 10 of the 
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (Section 10). This EIS will document the 
agency's evaluation of all reasonable alternatives as they affect 
stability of the dam and control the release of water from Bluestone 
Dam, and will document analysis of impacts to Waters of the U.S. 
sufficient to accommodate the NEPA process for permitting under section 
10 and section 404.

DATES: A public scoping meeting is announced for October 2, 2006, from 
11 a.m.-8 p.m. at Hinton Technology Center, 301 Summers Street, Hinton, 
Summers County, WV.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning this 
proposed project to John Preston, PM-PD-R, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Huntington District, 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, WV, 
25701-2070. Telephone: (304) 399-5870. Electronic mail: 
John.S.Preston@usace.army.mil. Requests to be placed on the mailing 
list should also be sent to this address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain additional information about 
the proposed project, contact Kenneth Halstead EC-WH, U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, Huntington District, 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, WV, 
25701-2070. Telephone: (304) 399-5811. Electronic mail: 
Kenneth.C.Halstead@usace.army.mil.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Public Participation: a. The Corps of 
Engineers will conduct a public scoping meeting (open house format) to 
gain input from interested agencies, organizations, and the general 
public concerning the content of the EIS, issues and impacts to be 
addressed in the EIS, and alternatives that should be analyzed. The 
meeting is scheduled for (see DATES).
    b. The Corps invites full public participation to promote open 
communication and better decision-making. All persons and organizations 
that have an interest in potential effects

[[Page 55776]]

of hydropower development and electric power generation at Bluestone 
Dam and the affected environment are urged to participate in this NEPA 
environmental analysis process. Assistance will be provided upon 
request to anyone having difficulty.
    c. Public comments are welcomed anytime throughout the NEPA 
process. Formal opportunities for public participation include: (1) 
Public meetings to be held near the community of Hinton; (2) Anytime 
during the NEPA process via mail, telephone or e-mail: (3) During 
Review and Comment on the Draft EIS (DEIS)--approximately late Summer 
2007; and (4) Review of the Final EIS (FEIS)--Winter 2007/2008. 
Schedules and locations will be announced in local news media. 
Interested parties may also request to be included on the mailing list 
for public distribution of meeting announcements and documents (see 
ADDRESSES).
    d. To ensure that all issues related to the proposed project are 
approximately addressed, the Corps invites input from interested 
agencies, local and regional stakeholders and the general public to 
assist in identifying areas of concern, issues and impacts to be 
addressed in the EIS, and the alternatives that should be analyzed. 
Scoping for the DEIS will continue to build upon the knowledge and 
information developed during the more than 50 years of Corps of 
Engineer operation of the Bluestone Dam.
    2. Background: a. The Bluestone Lake project is located in southern 
West Virginia, with the uppermost reaches of the lake extending into 
Virginia. Bluestone Dam is on the New River at Hinton, WV. Authorized 
in the 1935 and 1938 Flood Control Acts (FCAs) for flood control and 
hydropower, the Bluestone Lake project was completed in 1949. As the 
first of four authorized reservoirs in the Kanawha River Basin, 
Bluestone is operated for flood control. During construction hydropower 
development at Bluestone was delayed until other basin flood control 
projects could be constructed, with penstocks incorporated to permit 
future power facilities installation. Two of the three planned projects 
(Sutton and Summerville Lakes) have been constructed and the third was 
de-authorized. The Bluestone project was designed to operate at a 
normal summer pool elevation of 1490 feet and maximum flood control 
pool elevation of 1520 feet; 40 percent of the active storage was 
planned for flood control and almost 60 percent for hydropower. Current 
operations maintain the summer pool at 1410, with maximum flood control 
pool at 1520 and 97 percent of the active storage for flood control. 
The 1944 FCA authorized the Secretary of the Army to permit recreation 
development at water resources projects, and during the 1950s and in 
1970 project operations at Bluestone were changed to provide a 
conservation pool that allowed lake recreation. Section 6 of the 1988 
Water Resources Development Act added recreation and downstream 
recreation as project purposes at Bluestone Lake.
    b. Section 547 of Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 
106-541) authorized the Tri-Cities Power Authority to construct 
hydroelectric generating facilities at the Bluestone dam. ``Tri-Cities 
Power Authority '' (TCPA) refers to the entity established by the City 
of Hinton, WV, the City of White Sulphur Springs, WV, and the City of 
Philippi, WV, pursuant to a document entitled ``Second Amended and 
Restated Intergovernmental Agreement'' approved by the Attorney General 
of West Virginia on February 14, 2002. Further, this act directs the 
Secretary of the Army to enter into a binding agreement with the 
Secretary of Energy and TCPA to accomplish construction of the project.
    c. Section 122 of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations 
Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-103) amended the aforementioned legislation. 
These amendments include the designation of TCPA as the owner and 
operator of said hydropower project. Further, section 122 removed 
hydroelectric power as an authorized project purpose ``so long as Tri-
Cities Power Authority continues to exercise its responsibilities as he 
builder, owner, and operator of the hydropower facilities at Bluestone 
Dam.'' In addition, this legislation focused the approval that the 
Secretary of the Army must exercise for the proposed project, which is 
``to review the design and construction activities for all features of 
the hydroelectric project that pertain to and affect stability of the 
dam and control the release of water from Bluestone Dam to ensure that 
the quality of construction of those features meets all standards 
established for similar facilities constructed by the Secretary.''
    d. Reasonable alternatives for hydropower development are limited 
to those which will provide profitable power generation, meet 
established design criteria with respect to stability of the dam, do 
not significantly affect other Bluestone Lake project purposes as 
related to flow, and are environmentally acceptable. Only one physical 
hydropower facility design has been found feasible by TCPA. No changes 
to pool elevations are proposed.
    e. The proposed hydropower facility would utilize up to 9000 cubic 
feet per second (cfs) of flow. Under current operating procedures for 
the dam, a minimum discharge of 610 cfs is maintained. The alternatives 
to be considered in the EIS are those which evaluate various discharges 
through the stilling basin of the dam, including providing all flow up 
to 9000 cfs through the hydropower facility. In addition, the no-action 
alternative will be evaluated. As necessary, any reasonable 
alternatives that may become apparent as the evaluation process will be 
addressed.
    3. Cooperating Agencies: a. At this time, no other federal, state, 
or local agencies are expected to be cooperating agencies in 
preparation of this EIS. However, numerous federal and state agencies, 
including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Elkins West Virginia Field Office, 
Department of Interior National Park Service, West Virginia Department 
of Environmental Protection, and the West Virginia Division of 
Wildlife, are expected to be involved in this process.
    4. Additional Information and Review: a. Compliance with other 
federal and state requirements that will be addressed in the EIS 
include, but will not be limited to, State Water Quality Certification 
under section 401 of the Clean Water Act, West Virginia Pollution 
Discharge Elimination System section 402 permit, section 7 of the 
Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act and 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
    5. Availability of the Draft: a. The draft EIS is projected to be 
available late Summer 2007. A formal public hearing will be conducted 
following release of the Draft EIS.

Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 06-8126 Filed 9-22-06; 8:45 am]
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