Otter Tail Power Company; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions, 31493-31494 [2020-11239]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 26, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31493-31494]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11239]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 10853-022]


Otter Tail Power Company; Notice of Application Accepted for 
Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for 
Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, 
Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 10853-022.
    c. Date Filed: November 27, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Otter Tail Power Company.
    e. Name of Project: Otter Tail River Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The Otter Tail River Hydroelectric Project consists of 
five developments on the Otter Tail River that starts in the Township 
of Friberg, Minnesota and extends downstream (south) of the City of 
Fergus Falls, Minnesota. The project does not occupy federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Michael Olson, Natural Gas Turbine Operations 
and NERC Compliance, Otter Tail Power Company, 215 South Cascade 
Street, Fergus Falls, Minnesota 56537; (218) 739-8411; 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Patrick Ely at (202) 502-8570 or email at 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
prescriptions: 60 Days from the issuance date of this notice; reply 
comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary 
terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions 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).
    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 has been accepted for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    l. The Otter Tail River Project consists of the following five 
existing developments listed upstream to downstream: (1) Friberg 
development; (2) Hoot development; (3) Central development; (4) Pisgah 
development; and (5) Dayton Hollow development.
    The Friberg development consists of: (1) A reservoir with a surface 
area of 340 acres, and negligible storage capacity, at a normal water 
surface elevation of 1,299 feet mean sea level (msl); (2) a 341-foot-
long dam which contains a 31-foot-high and 61-foot-long spillway with 
seven bays, an 80-foot-long and 36-foot-high east earthfill dike, and a 
200-foot-long and 36-foot-high west earthfill dike; (3) a power canal; 
(4) a 194-foot-long, 9-foot-diameter penstock; (5) a 27-foot-wide and 
27-foot-long reinforced concrete powerhouse; (6) a vertical turbine 
rated at 900 horsepower (hp) under a head of 35 feet, connected to a 
560-kilowatt (kW) generator; (7) a tailrace; (8) a 75-foot-long, 2.4-
kilovolt (kV) transmission line; and (9) appurtenant facilities.
    The Hoot development facilities include: (1) A reservoir with a 
negligible surface area and storage capacity (dam diverts river flow) 
at a normal water surface elevation of 1,256 feet msl; (2) a 150-foot-
long, 9-foot-high dam which contains a concrete spillway with six 
stoplogged openings with the two outer openings 5 feet 4 inches wide 
and the other four openings 11 feet 4 inches wide; (3) a 500-foot-long, 
90-inch-diameter concrete tunnel (Hoot Lake); (4) a 20-foot-wide, 700-
foot-long channel between Hoot Lake and Wright Lake; (5) a 20-foot-
wide, 300-foot-long channel leading to the intake structure; (6) a 
1,050-foot-long, 8-foot-square concrete tube; (7) a surge tank; (8) an 
89-foot-long, 6-foot-diameter steel penstock; (9) a reinforced concrete 
powerhouse; (10) a horizontal turbine rated at 1,260 hp under a head of 
68 feet connected to a 1,000-kw generator; (11) a tailrace; (12) a 200-
foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line; (13) a nature-like fishway; and 
(14) appurtenant facilities.
    The Central development consists of: (1) A reservoir having a 
surface area of 15 acres and a storage capacity of 400 acre-feet, at a 
normal water surface elevation of 1,181 feet msl; (2) a 107-foot-long 
and 25-foot-high dam which contains a 70-foot-long and 25-foot-high 
spillway; (3) an intake structure; (4) a 30-foot-wide and 40-foot-long 
brick masonry powerhouse; (5) a vertical turbine rated at 720 hp under 
a head of 22 feet, connected to a 400-kW generator; (6) a tailrace; (7) 
a 40-foot-long, 2.4-kV transmission line; and (8) appurtenant 
facilities.
    The Pisgah development consists of: (1) A reservoir having a 
surface area of 70 acres and storage capacity of 250 acre-feet at a 
normal water surface elevation of 1,156 feet msl; (2) a 493-foot-long 
concrete gravity and earthfill dam ranging in height from 21 feet to 38 
feet which has (a) an earthfill dike, (b) a 123-foot-long and 38-foot-
high concrete wing wall, (c) six spillway bays, (d) a 150-foot-long and 
21-foot-high south earthfill embankment, and (e) a 220-foot-long and 
38-foot-high north earthfill embankment; (3) an intake; (4) a 22-foot-
wide and 32-foot-long reinforced concrete and brick masonry powerhouse; 
(5) a vertical turbine rated at 850 hp under a head of 25 feet, 
connected to a 520-kW generator; (6) a tailrace; (7) a 330-foot-long, 
2.4-kV transmission line; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    The Dayton Hollow development consists of: (1) A reservoir having a 
surface area of 230 acres and a storage capacity of 5,000 acre-feet at 
a normal water surface elevation of 1,107 feet msl; (2) a 265-foot-long 
concrete and earthfill dam varying in height from 11 feet to 40 feet 
which contains (a) an 80-foot-long and 40-foot-high concrete spillway 
section, (b) a 95-foot-long and 11-foot-high east earthfill embankment, 
and (c) a 90-foot-long and 22-foot-high west earthfill embankment; (3) 
an intake structure; (4) a 22-foot-wide and 32-foot-long reinforced 
concrete and masonry powerhouse; (5) a vertical turbine rated at 800 hp 
under a head of 35 feet, connected to a 520-kW generator and a 
horizontal 650 hp turbine connected to a 450-kW generator; (6) a 
tailrace; (7) an 80-foot- long, 2.4-kV transmission line; and (8) 
appurtenant facilities.

[[Page 31494]]

    The Otter Tail River Project is operated in a run-of-river mode 
with an estimated annual energy production of approximately 22,323 
megawatt hours. Otter Tail Power Company proposes to continue operating 
the project as a run-of-river facility and does not propose any new 
construction or modifications to the project.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well 
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) via 
the internet through the Commission's Home Page (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 (P-
10853). At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the 
Commission's Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a 
National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) 
issued by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC 
at [email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3673 or 
(202) 502-8659 (TTY).
    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. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with 
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title PROTEST, 
MOTION TO INTERVENE, COMMENTS, REPLY COMMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, 
PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS, or PRELIMINARY FISHWAY PRESCRIPTIONS; 
(2) set forth in the heading the name of the applicant and the project 
number of the application to which the filing responds; (3) furnish the 
name, address, and telephone number of the person protesting or 
intervening; and (4) otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 
385.2001 through 385.2005. All comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions or prescriptions must set forth their evidentiary basis and 
otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may 
obtain copies of the application directly from the applicant. A copy of 
any protest or motion to intervene must be served upon each 
representative of the applicant specified in the particular 
application. A copy of all other filings in reference to this 
application must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons 
listed in the service list prepared by the Commission in this 
proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    o. Procedural Schedule:
    The application will be processed according to the following 
revised Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made 
as appropriate.

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                  Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms  July 2020.
 and conditions, and preliminary fishway
 prescriptions.
Commission issues EA........................  January 2021.
Comments on EA..............................  February 2021.
Modified terms and conditions...............  April 2021.
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    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

    Dated: May 19, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-11239 Filed 5-22-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P