Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls), LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments, 81090-81091 [2016-27618]

Download as PDF asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 81090 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 222 / Thursday, November 17, 2016 / Notices c. Date Filed: October 3, 2016. d. Submitted By: Shell Energy North America (US), L.P. e. Name of Project: Hydro Battery Pearl Hill Project. f. Location: On the Columbia River and Rufus Woods Lake, near Bridgeport, Douglas County, Washington. The project would be located on state lands and the lower reservoir and power generation and pumping equipment would be located on Rufus Woods Lake, a reservoir operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. g. Filed Pursuant to: 18 CFR 5.3 of the Commission’s regulations. h. Potential Applicant Contact: Mr. Brian Johansen, Vice President Power Trading West, Shell Energy North America (US), L.P., 601 W. 1st Ave., Suite 1700, Spokane, Washington 99201; phone: (509) 688–6000. i. FERC Contact: Ryan Hansen at (202) 502–8074; or email at ryan.hansen@ ferc.gov. j. Shell Energy North America (US), L.P. (Shell Energy) filed its request to use the Traditional Licensing Process on October 3, 2016. Shell Energy provided public notice of its request on October 13, 2016. In a letter dated November 9, 2016, the Director of the Division of Hydropower Licensing approved Shell Energy’s request to use the Traditional Licensing Process. k. With this notice, we are designating Shell Energy as the Commission’s nonfederal representative for carrying out informal consultation pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and section 305(b) of the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; and consultation pursuant to section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. l. Shell Energy filed a Pre-Application Document (PAD; including a proposed process plan and schedule) with the Commission, pursuant to 18 CFR 5.6 of the Commission’s regulations. m. A copy of the PAD is available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission’s Web site (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 at FERCONlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208–3676 (toll free), or (202) 502–8659 (TTY). A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in paragraph h. n. Register online at https:// www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filing and issuances VerDate Sep<11>2014 21:24 Nov 16, 2016 Jkt 241001 related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support. Dated: November 9, 2016. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2016–27619 Filed 11–16–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project Nos. 2593–031; 2823–020] Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls), LLC; 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: Subsequent Licenses. b. Project Nos.: 2593–031 and 2823– 020. c. Date filed: December 30, 2015. d. Applicant: Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls), LLC. e. Name of Project: Upper Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project and Lower Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project. f. Location: On the Beaver River in Lewis County, New York. The projects are not located on federal lands. g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r). h. Applicant Contact: Robert A. Gates, Executive Vice President, Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, 116 N. State Street, P.O. Box 167, Neshkoro, WI 54960– 0167; (973) 998–8403; bob.gates@ eaglecreekre.com. i. FERC Contact: Andy Bernick, (202) 502–8660 or andrew.bernick@ferc.gov. j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 12, 2017. 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 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include docket numbers P–2593–031 and P–2823–020. 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. These applications are not ready for environmental analysis at this time. l. The existing project works are as follows: The Upper Beaver Falls Project consists of: (1) A 328-foot-long, 25-foothigh concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled overflow spillway; (2) a 48-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 800 acre-feet at elevation 799.4 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88); (3) a 17-foot-high, 26.5-footwide, 27.5-foot-long intake structure with a steel trash rack with 2 5/8-inch clear spacing; (4) a 90-foot-long, 16-footwide, 8-foot-high concrete penstock; (5) a powerhouse containing one turbinegenerator with a nameplate rating of 1,500 kilowatts (kW); (6) a tailrace excavated in the riverbed; (7) a 2,120foot-long, 2.4-kilovolt (kV) overhead and underground transmission line connecting to an existing substation; and (8) other appurtenances. The project generates about 8,685 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually. The Lower Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 400-foot-long concrete gravity dam with a maximum height of 14 feet, including: (i) A 240foot-long non-overflow section containing an 8-foot-wide spillway topped with flashboards ranging from 6 to 8 inches in height and (ii) a 160-footlong overflow section with an ice sluice opening; (2) a 4-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 27.9 acre-feet at a normal elevation of 769.6 feet NAVD 88; (3) an intake structure with a steel trash rack with 1 3/4-inch clear spacing, integral with a powerhouse containing two 500-kW turbine and generator units; (4) a tailrace; (5) a 505-foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line connected to the Upper Beaver Falls powerhouse; and (6) appurtenant facilities. The project generates about 5,617 MWh annually. The Lower Beaver Falls Project is located approximately 600 feet downstream of the Upper Beaver Falls Project. The dams and existing project facilities for both projects are owned by the applicant. The applicant proposes E:\FR\FM\17NON1.SGM 17NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 222 / Thursday, November 17, 2016 / Notices no new project facilities or operational changes, but proposes that both projects be combined under a single license. 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 projects 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 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: Tuesday, December 13, 2016. Time: 9:00 a.m. Place: Croghan Volunteer Fire Department. Address: 6860 Fire Hall Street, Croghan, New York. asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Public Scoping Meeting Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2016. Time: 7:00 p.m. Place: Croghan Volunteer Fire Department. Address: 6860 Fire Hall Street, Croghan, 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 VerDate Sep<11>2014 21:24 Nov 16, 2016 Jkt 241001 81091 at the scoping meeting or may be viewed on the web at https:// www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link (see item m above). DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Environmental Site Review [Docket No. CP16–472–000] The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project Environmental Site Review beginning at 1:00 p.m. on December 13, 2016. All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All participants should meet at the Upper Beaver Falls Project facility, located at 9692 New York State Route 126, Castorland, New York. All participants are responsible for their own transportation to the site and during the site visit. Anyone with questions about the Environmental Site Review should contact Mr. Jeff Kirch, Northern New York Regional Operator for Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls) LLC, at 315–783–5854 or Jeffrey.kirch@ eaglecreekre.com. Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Northern Lights 2017 Expansion Project 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 projects. 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 9, 2016. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2016–27618 Filed 11–16–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P PO 00000 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the Northern Lights 2017 Expansion Project, proposed by Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern) in the abovereferenced docket. Northern requests authorization to construct, operate, and maintain new natural gas facilities in Sherburne, Isanti, and Rice counties, Minnesota, to provide for approximately 76,000 dekatherms per day to serve increased markets for industrial, commercial, and residential uses. The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the Northern Lights 2017 Expansion Project in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The FERC staff concludes that approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. The Northern Lights 2017 Expansion Project includes the following facilities: • Approximately 2 miles of 8-inchdiameter pipeline loop 1 in Sherburne County; • approximately 2.8 miles of 12-inchdiameter pipeline loop in Isanti County; and • an additional 15,900-horsepower compression unit at Northern’s existing Faribault Compressor Station in Rice County. The FERC staff mailed copies of the EA to federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies; elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; Native American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other interested individuals and groups; and newspapers and libraries in the project area. In addition, the EA is available for public viewing on the FERC’s Web site (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. A limited number of copies of the EA are available for distribution and public inspection at: 1 A pipeline ‘‘loop’’ is a segment of pipe installed adjacent to an existing pipeline and connected to the existing pipeline at both ends. Frm 00039 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\17NON1.SGM 17NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 222 (Thursday, November 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81090-81091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27618]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project Nos. 2593-031; 2823-020]


Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls), LLC; 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: Subsequent Licenses.
    b. Project Nos.: 2593-031 and 2823-020.
    c. Date filed: December 30, 2015.
    d. Applicant: Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls), LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Upper Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project and 
Lower Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Beaver River in Lewis County, New York. The 
projects are not located on federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Robert A. Gates, Executive Vice President, 
Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, 116 N. State Street, P.O. Box 167, 
Neshkoro, WI 54960-0167; (973) 998-8403; bob.gates@eaglecreekre.com.
    i. FERC Contact: Andy Bernick, (202) 502-8660 or 
andrew.bernick@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 12, 2017.
    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 numbers P-2593-031 and P-2823-020.
    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. These applications are not ready for environmental analysis at 
this time.
    l. The existing project works are as follows:
    The Upper Beaver Falls Project consists of: (1) A 328-foot-long, 
25-foot-high concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled overflow 
spillway; (2) a 48-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 800 acre-
feet at elevation 799.4 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988 
(NAVD 88); (3) a 17-foot-high, 26.5-foot-wide, 27.5-foot-long intake 
structure with a steel trash rack with 2 5/8-inch clear spacing; (4) a 
90-foot-long, 16-foot-wide, 8-foot-high concrete penstock; (5) a 
powerhouse containing one turbine-generator with a nameplate rating of 
1,500 kilowatts (kW); (6) a tailrace excavated in the riverbed; (7) a 
2,120-foot-long, 2.4-kilovolt (kV) overhead and underground 
transmission line connecting to an existing substation; and (8) other 
appurtenances. The project generates about 8,685 megawatt-hours (MWh) 
annually.
    The Lower Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 
400-foot-long concrete gravity dam with a maximum height of 14 feet, 
including: (i) A 240-foot-long non-overflow section containing an 8-
foot-wide spillway topped with flashboards ranging from 6 to 8 inches 
in height and (ii) a 160-foot-long overflow section with an ice sluice 
opening; (2) a 4-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 27.9 acre-
feet at a normal elevation of 769.6 feet NAVD 88; (3) an intake 
structure with a steel trash rack with 1 3/4-inch clear spacing, 
integral with a powerhouse containing two 500-kW turbine and generator 
units; (4) a tailrace; (5) a 505-foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line 
connected to the Upper Beaver Falls powerhouse; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities. The project generates about 5,617 MWh annually.
    The Lower Beaver Falls Project is located approximately 600 feet 
downstream of the Upper Beaver Falls Project. The dams and existing 
project facilities for both projects are owned by the applicant. The 
applicant proposes

[[Page 81091]]

no new project facilities or operational changes, but proposes that 
both projects be combined under a single license.
    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 projects 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-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: Tuesday, December 13, 2016.
    Time: 9:00 a.m.
    Place: Croghan Volunteer Fire Department.
    Address: 6860 Fire Hall Street, Croghan, New York.

Public Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2016.
    Time: 7:00 p.m.
    Place: Croghan Volunteer Fire Department.
    Address: 6860 Fire Hall Street, Croghan, 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 13, 2016. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at the Upper Beaver Falls Project facility, 
located at 9692 New York State Route 126, Castorland, New York. All 
participants are responsible for their own transportation to the site 
and during the site visit. Anyone with questions about the 
Environmental Site Review should contact Mr. Jeff Kirch, Northern New 
York Regional Operator for Algonquin Power (Beaver Falls) LLC, at 315-
783-5854 or Jeffrey.kirch@eaglecreekre.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 projects.
    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 9, 2016.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-27618 Filed 11-16-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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