Moriah Hydro Corporation; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments, 79468-79469 [2016-27253]

Download as PDF 79468 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / Notices not serve to make protestants parties to the proceeding. Any person wishing to become a party must file a notice of intervention or motion to intervene, as appropriate. Such notices, motions, or protests must be filed on or before the comment date. On or before the comment date, it is not necessary to serve motions to intervene or protests on persons other than the Applicant. The Commission encourages electronic submission of protests and interventions in lieu of paper using the ‘‘eFiling’’ link at https://www.ferc.gov. Persons unable to file electronically should submit an original and 5 copies of the protest or intervention to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. This filing is accessible on-line at https://www.ferc.gov, using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for electronic review in the Commission’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the Web site that enables subscribers to receive email notification when a document is added to a subscribed docket(s). For assistance with any FERC Online service, please email FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call (866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659. Comment Date: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on November 21, 2016. Dated: November 4, 2016. Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2016–27255 Filed 11–10–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 12635–002] mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES Moriah Hydro Corporation; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection: a. Type of Application: Original Major License. b. Project No.: P–12635–002. c. Date filed: February 13, 2015. d. Applicant: Moriah Hydro Corporation. e. Name of Project: Mineville Energy Storage Project. f. Location: The project would be located in an abandoned subterranean VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:26 Nov 10, 2016 Jkt 241001 mine complex 1 in the town of Moriah, Essex County, New York. No federal lands are occupied by 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: James A. Besha, President, Moriah Hydro Corporation, c/ o Albany Engineering Corporation, 5 Washington Square, Albany, New York 12205, (518) 456–7712. i. FERC Contact: Chris Millard (202) 502–8256 or christopher.millard@ ferc.gov. j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 7, 2016. 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–12635–002. The Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedures require all intervenors 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 intervenor 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 has been accepted for filing, but is not ready for environmental analysis at this time. l. The proposed project consists of: (1) An upper reservoir located within the upper portion of the mine between elevations 495 and 1,095 feet above mean seal level (msl), with a surface area of 4 acres and a storage capacity of 2,448 acre-feet; (2) a lower reservoir in the lower portion of the mine between elevations ¥1,075 and ¥1,555 feet msl, with a surface area of 5.1 acres and a storage capacity of 2,448 acre-feet; (3) a 14-foot-diameter and 2,955-foot-long upper reservoir shaft connecting the 1 The existing mine complex is composed of the interconnected Old Bed, Bonanza open pit, and Harmony mines. PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 upper reservoir to the high-pressure penstock located below the powerhouse chamber floor; (4) a 14-foot-diameter and 2,955-foot-long lower reservoir shaft connecting the lower reservoir and the lower reservoir ventilation tunnel; (5) two 6-foot-diameter emergency evacuation shafts located between the powerhouse chamber and the electrical equipment chamber; (6) a 25-footdiameter main shaft extending 2,955 feet from the surface down to the powerhouse chamber; (7) 15-footdiameter high- and low-pressure steel penstocks embedded beneath the powerhouse chamber floor; (8) a 320foot-long by 80-foot-wide powerhouse chamber, containing 100 reversible pump-turbine units, each with a nameplate generating capacity of 2.4 megawatts; (9) a 274-foot-long by 36foot-wide underground electrical equipment chamber adjacent to the powerhouse chamber; (10) an inclined electrical tunnel connecting the electrical equipment chamber to a new 115-kilovolt (kV) substation constructed adjacent to an existing single circuit 115-kV transmission line located about one horizontal mile from the underground powerhouse chamber; and (11) appurtenant facilities. The project would operate as a closed-loop system to meet energy demands and grid control requirements. The project would have an average annual generation of 421 gigawatt-hours (GWh). The average pumping power used by the project would be 554 GWh. 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. 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. E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM 14NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 219 / Monday, November 14, 2016 / Notices Scoping Meetings FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and nongovernmental 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: Agency Scoping Meeting Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016 Time: 10:00 a.m. Place: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 5 Sub-Office, Conference Room A Address: 232 Golf Course Road, Warrensburg, New York 12885 Environmental Site Review The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project Environmental Site Review beginning at 2:00 p.m. on December 8, 2016. All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All participants should meet at the informal parking area of the Moriah Highway Department at 30 Joyce Rd, Mineville, New York. Anyone with questions about the Environmental Site Review should contact Wendy Carey, consultant for Moriah Hydro Corporation at (518) 456– 7712. mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES Dated: November 4, 2016. Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., Deputy Secretary. BILLING CODE 6717–01–P Date: Thursday, December 8, 2016 Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Moriah Central School Auditorium Address: Moriah Central School, 39 Viking Lane, Port Henry, New York 12974 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). 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 17:26 Nov 10, 2016 Procedures The meetings will be 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. [FR Doc. 2016–27253 Filed 11–10–16; 8:45 am] Public Scoping Meeting VerDate Sep<11>2014 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. Jkt 241001 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. AD16–25–000] Utilization in the Organized Markets of Electric Storage Resources as Transmission Assets Compensated Through Transmission Rates, for Grid Support Services Compensated in Other Ways, and for Multiple Services; Further Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference As announced in the Notice of Technical Conference issued on September 30, 2016 and the Supplemental Notice of Technical Conference issued on November 1, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) staff will convene a technical conference on November 9, 2016, at the Commission’s offices at 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426 beginning at approximately 10:00 a.m. and ending at approximately 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). Commission staff will lead the conference, and Commissioners may attend. The purpose of the technical conference is to discuss the utilization of electric storage resources as transmission assets compensated through transmission rates, for grid support services that are compensated in other ways, and for multiple services. This technical conference will be transcribed and webcast. Transcripts of PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 79469 the technical conference will be available for a fee from Ace-Federal Reporters, Inc. at (202) 347–3700. A free webcast of this event will be available through www.ferc.gov. Anyone with internet access who wants to view this event can do so by navigating to the Calendar of Events at www.ferc.gov and locating this event in the Calendar. The event will contain a link to its webcast. The Capitol Connection provides technical support for webcasts and offers the option of listening to the workshop via phone-bridge for a fee. If you have any questions, visit www.CapitolConnection.org or call (703) 993–3100. Those interested in attending the technical conference or viewing the webcast are encouraged to register at https://www.ferc.gov/whats-new/ registration/11-09-16-form.asp. Commission technical conferences are accessible under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations, please send an email to accessibility@ferc.gov, call (866) 208–3372 (toll free) or (202) 208–8659 (TTY), or send a FAX to (202) 208–2106 with the required accommodations. While this conference is not for the purpose of discussing specific cases, we note that the discussions at the conference may address matters at issue in the following Commission proceedings that are either pending or within their rehearing period: Docket Nos. Electric Storage Participation in Regions with Organized Wholesale Electric Markets. ISO New England Inc. .......... Indianapolis Power & Light Company v. Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. New York Independent System Operator, Inc. New York Independent System Operator, Inc. New York Independent System Operator, Inc. New York Independent System Operator, Inc. AD16–20. ER17–68. EL17–8. ER13–102. ER15–2059. ER16–120. ER16–1404. For more information about this technical conference, please contact: Rahim Amerkhail (Technical Information) Office of Energy Policy and Innovation Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street NE. Washington, DC 20426 (202) 502–8266 rahim.amerkhail@ferc.gov. Sarah McKinley (Logistical Information) Office of External Affairs E:\FR\FM\14NON1.SGM 14NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79468-79469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27253]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12635-002]


Moriah Hydro Corporation; Notice of Scoping Meetings and 
Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Original Major License.
    b. Project No.: P-12635-002.
    c. Date filed: February 13, 2015.
    d. Applicant: Moriah Hydro Corporation.
    e. Name of Project: Mineville Energy Storage Project.
    f. Location: The project would be located in an abandoned 
subterranean mine complex \1\ in the town of Moriah, Essex County, New 
York. No federal lands are occupied by project works or located within 
the project boundary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The existing mine complex is composed of the interconnected 
Old Bed, Bonanza open pit, and Harmony mines.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: James A. Besha, President, Moriah Hydro 
Corporation, c/o Albany Engineering Corporation, 5 Washington Square, 
Albany, New York 12205, (518) 456-7712.
    i. FERC Contact: Chris Millard (202) 502-8256 or 
christopher.millard@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 7, 2016.
    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-12635-002.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures require all 
intervenors 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 intervenor 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 has been accepted for filing, but is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. The proposed project consists of: (1) An upper reservoir located 
within the upper portion of the mine between elevations 495 and 1,095 
feet above mean seal level (msl), with a surface area of 4 acres and a 
storage capacity of 2,448 acre-feet; (2) a lower reservoir in the lower 
portion of the mine between elevations -1,075 and -1,555 feet msl, with 
a surface area of 5.1 acres and a storage capacity of 2,448 acre-feet; 
(3) a 14-foot-diameter and 2,955-foot-long upper reservoir shaft 
connecting the upper reservoir to the high-pressure penstock located 
below the powerhouse chamber floor; (4) a 14-foot-diameter and 2,955-
foot-long lower reservoir shaft connecting the lower reservoir and the 
lower reservoir ventilation tunnel; (5) two 6-foot-diameter emergency 
evacuation shafts located between the powerhouse chamber and the 
electrical equipment chamber; (6) a 25-foot-diameter main shaft 
extending 2,955 feet from the surface down to the powerhouse chamber; 
(7) 15-foot-diameter high- and low-pressure steel penstocks embedded 
beneath the powerhouse chamber floor; (8) a 320-foot-long by 80-foot-
wide powerhouse chamber, containing 100 reversible pump-turbine units, 
each with a nameplate generating capacity of 2.4 megawatts; (9) a 274-
foot-long by 36-foot-wide underground electrical equipment chamber 
adjacent to the powerhouse chamber; (10) an inclined electrical tunnel 
connecting the electrical equipment chamber to a new 115-kilovolt (kV) 
substation constructed adjacent to an existing single circuit 115-kV 
transmission line located about one horizontal mile from the 
underground powerhouse chamber; and (11) appurtenant facilities. The 
project would operate as a closed-loop system to meet energy demands 
and grid control requirements. The project would have an average annual 
generation of 421 gigawatt-hours (GWh). The average pumping power used 
by the project would be 554 GWh.
    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.
    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.

[[Page 79469]]

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-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:

Agency Scoping Meeting

Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Place: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 
5 Sub-Office, Conference Room A
Address: 232 Golf Course Road, Warrensburg, New York 12885

Public Scoping Meeting

Date: Thursday, December 8, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Moriah Central School Auditorium
Address: Moriah Central School, 39 Viking Lane, Port Henry, New York 
12974

    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 2:00 p.m. on December 8, 2016. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at the informal parking area of the Moriah 
Highway Department at 30 Joyce Rd, Mineville, New York. Anyone with 
questions about the Environmental Site Review should contact Wendy 
Carey, consultant for Moriah Hydro Corporation at (518) 456-7712.

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 will be 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 4, 2016.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-27253 Filed 11-10-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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