Coneross Power Corporation; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments, 15164 [2020-05392]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 15164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05392]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 6731-015]


Coneross Power Corporation; Notice 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: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 6731-015.
    c. Date filed: February 28, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Coneross Power Corporation.
    e. Name of Project: Coneross Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The Coneross Hydroelectric Project is located on 
Coneross Creek in Oconee County, South Carolina. The project does not 
occupy Federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Kevin Webb, Hydro Licensing Manager, Enel 
Green Power North America, Inc., 100 Brickstone Square, Suite 300, 
Andover, MA 01810, (978) 935-6039.
    i. FERC Contact: Jeanne Edwards, (202) 502-6181, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: April 9, 2020.
    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 
[email protected], (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-6731-015.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice 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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing Coneross Project consists of: (1) An existing 288-
foot-long, 25-foot-high concrete dam with a 123-foot-long, 20-foot-wide 
concrete spillway with 1.5-foot-high flashboards; (2) an existing nine-
acre reservoir having a gross storage capacity of 13.5 acre-feet at 
elevation 746.5 feet mean sea level; (3); a 780-foot-long, 8-foot in 
diameter concrete penstock with an 8-foot-wide and 8-foot-high intake 
gate and a 25-foot-long, 19-foot-deep trash rack structure with 2.0-
inch clear bar spacing; (4) a powerhouse containing three generating 
units, two Kaplan hydro turbines and one Francis hydro turbine for a 
total installed capacity of 889 kilowatts; (5) a 95-foot-long tailrace; 
(6) a 1,300-foot-long bypassed reach between the dam and the tailrace; 
(7); an existing 93-foot-long, 12.47-kilovolt transmission line; and 
(8) appurtenant facilities. The average annual generation was 2,215,800 
kilowatt-hours for the period 2008 to 2017.
    Coneross Power is operated in a modified run-of-river mode using 
automatic pond level control of the turbine-generator units to minimize 
fluctuations of the impoundment surface elevation, and maintain the 
impoundment elevation within 6 inches of the spillway flashboard crest 
from March 1 through June 30, and within 18 inches of the flashboard 
crest from July 1 through the end of February. The project bypasses 
approximately 1,300 feet of the Coneross Creek. A 36-cubic feet per 
second (cfs) minimum flow is continuously released into the Coneross 
Creek downstream of the project tailrace. In addition, a continuous 
minimum flow release of 35 cfs from February 1 to May 31, and 25 cfs 
from June 1 to January 31, or inflow, whichever is less, is released 
into the bypassed reach. The minimum bypassed reach flow is provided 
through a sluice gate in the west non-overflow section of the dam.
    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 website 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.
    n. 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.
    o. Scoping Process
    Commission staff intend to prepare a single Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the Coneross Hydroelectric 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.
    At this time, we do not anticipate holding on-site public or agency 
scoping meetings. Instead, we are soliciting your comments and 
suggestions on the preliminary list of issues and alternatives to be 
addressed in the EA, as described in scoping document 1 (SD1), issued 
February 20, 2020. We are extending the comment deadline set in the 
February 20, 2020 SD1 to provide an additional 30 days from the date of 
this notice to file comments.
    Copies of the SD1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in 
the EA were distributed to the parties on the Commission's mailing list 
and the applicant's distribution list. Copies of SD1 may be viewed on 
the web 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, call 1-866-208-3676 or 
for TTY, (202) 502-8659.

    Dated: March 10, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-05392 Filed 3-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P