Cocheco Falls Associates; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments, 31491-31492 [2021-12378]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 112 (Monday, June 14, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31491-31492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12378]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 4718-039]


Cocheco Falls Associates; 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.: 4718-039.
    c. Date Filed: December 29, 2020.
    d. Submitted By: Cocheco Falls Associates (CFA).
    e. Name of Project: Cocheco Falls Dam Project.
    f. Location: On the Cocheco River in the city of Dover, Strafford 
County, New Hampshire. The project does not occupy any federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)--825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. John Webster, Cocheco Falls Associates, 
P.O. Box 178, South Berwick, ME 03908; Phone at (207) 384-5334, or 
email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Amy Chang at (202) 502-8250, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: July 8, 2021.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. You 
must include your name and contact information at the end of your 
comments. For

[[Page 31492]]

assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via 
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and 
docket number on the first page: Cocheco Falls Dam Project (P-4718-
039).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 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. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing Cocheco Falls Dam Project consists of: (1) A 150-
foot-long, 13.5-foot-high stone masonry arch dam that includes the 
following sections: (a) A 4-foot-long left abutment section; (b) a 140-
foot-long spillway section with 24-inch-high flashboards, a 5-foot-
wide, 10-foot-high low-level outlet gate, and a crest elevation of 
36.25 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29) at the top 
of the flashboards; and (c) a 6-foot-long right abutment section with a 
4-foot-wide, 9-foot-high debris sluice gate; (2) an impoundment with a 
surface area of 20 acres and a storage capacity of 150 acre-feet at an 
elevation of 36.25 feet NGVD29; (3) a 64-foot-wide, 10-foot-high intake 
structure equipped with a trashrack with 1-inch clear bar spacing; (4) 
an 8.5-foot-diameter, 184-foot-long gated steel penstock that 
trifurcates into three 5-foot-diameter, 8-foot-long sections, each 
controlled by a 5-foot-diameter butterfly valve; (5) a 40-foot-long, 
40-foot-wide concrete and brick masonry powerhouse containing three 
238-kW vertical Flygt submersible turbine-generator units for a total 
installed capacity of 714 kW; (6) a 40-foot-long, 40-foot-wide tailrace 
that discharges into the Cocheco River; (7) a 0.48/34.5-kilovolt (kV) 
step-up transformer and a 1,000-foot-long, 34.5-kV underground 
transmission line that connects the project to the local utility 
distribution system; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    CFA voluntarily operates the project in a run-of-river mode using 
an automatic pond level control system to regulate turbine operation, 
such that outflow from the project approximates inflow. The project 
creates an approximately 200-foot-long bypassed reach of the Cocheco 
River.
    Downstream fish passage is provided by a bypass facility located on 
the left side of the dam that consist of a 5.6-foot-wide, 7-foot-long 
fish collection box, a trashrack with 6-inch clear bar spacing, and a 
24-inch-diameter PVC fish passage pipe. Upstream fish passage is 
provided by a Denil fish ladder located on the right side of the dam. 
The Denil fish ladder is owned and maintained by the New Hampshire Fish 
and Game Department, and is not a project facility.
    Article 25 of the current license, as amended on September 24, 
2002, requires a minimum flow release to the bypassed reach of: (1) 20 
cubic feet per second (cfs) through the fish ladder from April 15-June 
30; (2) 20 cfs through the trash sluiceway from April 15-June 15, to 
attract anadromous fish to the fish ladder; and (3) 20 cfs through the 
downstream fish passage facility from April 15 until ice forms on the 
river. The average annual energy production from 2014 to 2018 was 1,438 
megawatt-hours
    CFA proposes to: (1) Continue to operate the project in a run-of-
river mode; (2) continue to facilitate upstream and downstream fish 
passage by providing the minimum flows required by the current license; 
(3) design and install an upstream eel passage facility at the Denil 
fish ladder location within 4 years of the effective date of a 
subsequent license; and (4) consult with the New Hampshire State 
Historic Preservation Officer before beginning any land-disturbing 
activities or alterations to known historic structures within the 
project boundary.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents 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. 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, (866) 208-3676 or TYY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    n. You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx 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 will prepare either an environmental assessment 
(EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that describes and 
evaluates the probable effects, if any, of the licensee's proposed 
action and alternatives. The EA or EIS will consider environmental 
impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action. The 
Commission's scoping process will help determine the required level of 
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of 
whether the Commission prepares an EA or an EIS. Due to concerns with 
large gatherings related to COVID-19, we do not intend to conduct a 
public scoping meeting and site visit in this case. Instead, we are 
soliciting written comments and suggestions on the preliminary list of 
issues and alternatives to be addressed in the NEPA document, as 
described in scoping document 1 (SD1), issued June 8, 2021.
    Copies of the SD1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in 
the NEPA document 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: June 8, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-12378 Filed 6-11-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P