Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P.; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments, 68044-68045 [2013-27045]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68044-68045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27045]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 7320-042]


Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P.; Notice of Scoping Meetings and 
Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric applications have been 
filed with the Commission and are available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 7320-042.
    c. Date filed: July 1, 2013.
    d. Applicant: Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P.
    e. Name of Project: Chasm Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Salmon River, in Franklin County, New York. No 
federal lands are occupied by the project works or located within the 
project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Steven Murphy, Compliance Specialist, 
Brookfield Renewable Power--New York West Operations, 33 West 1st 
Street South, Fulton, NY 13069; (315) 589-6130; email_
steven.murphy@brookfieldpower.com.
    i. FERC Contact: John Mudre at (202) 502-8902; or email at 
john.mudre@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 6, 2014.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You 
must include your name and contact information at the end of your 
comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy to: 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include 
docket number P-7320-042.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all 
interveners filing documents with the Commission to serve a copy of 
that document on each person on the official service list for the 
project. Further, if an intervener files comments or documents with the 
Commission relating to the merits of an issue that may affect the 
responsibilities of a particular resource agency, they must also serve 
a copy of the document on that resource agency.
    k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing Chasm Project consists of: (1) A 201-foot-long, 32-
foot-high maximum height concrete gravity-type dam having a spillway 
section with crest elevation 1,283.8 feet mean sea level (msl) about 
100 feet long, surmounted by 2-foot-high flashboards and having an 
intake section with steel trash racks and headgates; (2) a reservoir 
having a surface area of about 22 acres and a gross storage capacity of 
74 acre-feet at normal pool elevation of 1,285.8 feet msl; (3) a 7-
foot-diameter welded steel pipeline approximately 3,355 feet in length 
connecting to a 6-foot-diameter steel manifold pipeline just upstream 
of the powerhouse; (4) a powerhouse containing three Francis-type 
generating units having a total rated capacity of 3,350 kilowatts 
operated under a 268-foot head and at a flow of 195 cubic feet per 
second; (5) a 20-foot-wide, 850-foot-long tailrace; (6) 50-foot-long 
buried generator leads extending from the powerhouse to a non-project 
substation owned and operated by National Grid; and 7) appurtenant 
facilities.
    m. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the 
Commission's Web site at https://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' 
link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the 
docket number field to access the document. For assistance, contact 
FERC Online Support. A copy is also available for inspection and 
reproduction at the address in item h above.
    You may also register online at https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. Scoping Process
    The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental assessment (EA) 
on the project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and cumulative 
environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
action.

Scoping Meetings

    FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public 
meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and 
non-

[[Page 68045]]

governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public scoping 
meeting is primarily for public input. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend one or both of the 
meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope of the 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and 
locations of these meetings are as follows:

Public Scoping Meeting

    DATE: December 4, 2013.
    TIME: 7:00 p.m.
    PLACE: Holiday Inn Express Conference Room.
    ADDRESS: 3351 State Route 11, Malone, New York.

Agency Scoping Meeting

    DATE: December 5, 2013.
    TIME: 10:00 a.m.
    PLACE: Holiday Inn Express Conference Room.
    ADDRESS: 3351 State Route 11, Malone, New York.

    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the 
scoping meeting or may be viewed on the web at https://www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item m above).

Environmental Site Review

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project Environmental 
Site Review beginning at 1:00 p.m. on December 5, 2013. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express, 3351 
State Route 11, Malone, New York. All participants are responsible for 
their own transportation to the site. Anyone with questions about the 
Environmental Site Review should contact Mr. Steven Murphy at 
steven.murphy@brookfieldpower.com.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2) 
solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements from experts and the public on issues that should be 
analyzed in the EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) identify those issues that 
require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that do not 
require a detailed analysis.

Procedures

    The meetings are recorded by a stenographer and become part of the 
formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meeting and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the EA.

    Dated: November 5, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-27045 Filed 11-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P