Missisquoi, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments, 37054-37056 [2023-11936]
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37054
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 6, 2023 / Notices
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Comments
Any person wishing to comment on
the project may do so. The Commission
considers all comments received about
the project in determining the
appropriate action to be taken. To
ensure that your comments are timely
and properly recorded, please submit
your comments on or before July 30,
2023. The filing of a comment alone will
not serve to make the filer a party to the
proceeding. To become a party, you
must intervene in the proceeding.
How To File Protests, Interventions,
and Comments
There are two ways to submit
protests, motions to intervene, and
comments. In both instances, please
reference the Project docket number
CP23–483–000 in your submission.
(1) You may file your protest, motion
to intervene, and comments by using the
Commission’s eFiling feature, which is
located on the Commission’s website
(www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. New eFiling
users must first create an account by
clicking on ‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be
asked to select the type of filing you are
making; first select ‘‘General’’ and then
select ‘‘Protest’’, ‘‘Intervention’’, or
‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; or 6
(2) You can file a paper copy of your
submission by mailing it to the address
below. Your submission must reference
the Project docket number CP23–483–
000.
To file via USPS: Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street NE,
Washington, DC 20426.
To file via any other method:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225
Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland
20852.
The Commission encourages
electronic filing of submissions (option
1 above) and has eFiling staff available
to assist you at (202) 502–8258 or
FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov.
Protests and motions to intervene
must be served on the applicant either
by mail or email (with a link to the
document) at: Cindy Thompson,
Director, Regulatory, Compliance &
Information Governance, Southern Star
Central Gas Pipeline, Inc., 4700 State
Route 56, Owensboro, Kentucky 42301,
or by email at cindy.thompson@
southernstar.com. Any subsequent
6 Additionally, you may file your comments
electronically by using the eComment feature,
which is located on the Commission’s website at
www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and
Filings. Using eComment is an easy method for
interested persons to submit brief, text-only
comments on a project.
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submissions by an intervenor must be
served on the applicant and all other
parties to the proceeding. Contact
information for parties can be
downloaded from the service list at the
eService link on FERC Online.
Tracking the Proceeding
Throughout the proceeding,
additional information about the project
will be available from the Commission’s
Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208–
FERC, or on the FERC website at
www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link
as described above. The eLibrary link
also provides access to the texts of all
formal documents issued by the
Commission, such as orders, notices,
and rulemakings.
In addition, the Commission offers a
free service called eSubscription which
allows you to keep track of all formal
issuances and submittals in specific
dockets. This can reduce the amount of
time you spend researching proceedings
by automatically providing you with
notification of these filings, document
summaries, and direct links to the
documents. For more information and to
register, go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
esubscription.asp.
Dated: May 31, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023–12079 Filed 6–5–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Project No. 14876–001]
Western Minnesota Municipal Power
Agency; Notice of Surrender of
Preliminary Permit
Take notice that Western Minnesota
Municipal Power Agency, permittee for
the proposed Gregory County Pumped
Storage Project, has requested that its
preliminary permit be terminated. The
permit was issued on September 7,
2018,1 granted an extension on August
18, 2021,2 and would have expired on
August 31, 2025. The project would
have been located at the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers’ Lake Francis Case
on the Missouri River in Gregory and
Charles Mix Counties, South Dakota.
The preliminary permit for Project
No. 14876 will remain in effect until the
close of business, June 30, 2023. But, if
the Commission is closed on this day,
then the permit remains in effect until
1 164
2 176
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FERC ¶ 62,085 (2021).
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the close of business on the next day in
which the Commission is open.3 New
applications for this site may not be
submitted until after the permit
surrender is effective.
Dated: May 31, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023–12081 Filed 6–5–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Project No. 7186–054]
Missisquoi, LLC; 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: New Major
License.
b. Project No.: 7186–054.
c. Date Filed: September 30, 2022.
d. Applicant: Missisquoi, LLC
(Missisquoi).
e. Name of Project: Sheldon Springs
Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Missisquoi River
in Franklin County, Vermont.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power
Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Kevin
Webb, Licensing Manager, Missisquoi,
LLC, 670 N Commercial St., Suite 204,
Manchester, NH 03101; Phone at (978)
935–6039, or email at kwebb@
centralriverspower.com.
i. FERC Contact: Arash Barsari at
(202) 502–6207, or Arash.JalaliBarsari@
ferc.gov.
j. Deadline for filing scoping
comments: July 27, 2023.
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
assistance, please contact FERC Online
Support at FERCOnlineSupport@
ferc.gov, (866) 208–3676 (toll free), or
(202) 502–8659 (TTY). In lieu of
3 18
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ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 6, 2023 / Notices
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, MD 20852.
All filings must clearly identify the
project name and docket number on the
first page: Sheldon Springs
Hydroelectric Project (P–7186–054).
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. This application is not ready for
environmental analysis at this time.
l. Project Description: The existing
project consists of: (1) a 286-foot-long,
35.5-foot-high concrete Ambursen-type
buttress dam that includes a 262footlong spillway section with a 2-foothigh flashboards and a crest elevation of
328.8 feet National Geodetic Vertical
Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) at the top of
the flashboards; (2) an impoundment
with a surface area of 175 acres at an
elevation of 328.8 feet NGVD 29; (3) a
Main Powerhouse that contains two
10.25-megawatt (MW) vertical Kaplan
turbine-generator units (Units 1 and 2),
for a total installed capacity of 20.5 MW;
(4) a South Mill Powerhouse that
contains a 1-MW Francis turbinegenerator unit (Unit 3); (5) a Grinder
Room Powerhouse that contains two
1.65-MW Francis turbine-generator
units (Units 4 and 5), for a total installed
capacity of 3.3 MW; (6) a 0.165-MW
Kaplan turbine-generator; (7) two
transmission lines; and (8) appurtenant
facilities. The project creates an
approximately 4,700-foot-long bypassed
reach of the Missisquoi River.
Recreation facilities at the project
include: (1) a canoe take-out area that is
located approximately 2,200 feet
upstream of the dam on the northern
shore of the impoundment; (2) a picnic
area with three picnic tables, a seasonal
restroom, an informational kiosk, and a
parking area that is located immediately
downstream of the dam on the western
bank of the bypassed reach; (3) a
whitewater put-in area that is located
approximately 400 feet downstream of
the dam on the western shore of the
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bypassed reach; (4) a picnic area with a
picnic table and a fire pit that is located
approximately 1,000 feet downstream of
the dam on the southern shore of the
bypassed reach; (5) a whitewater takeout area that is located approximately
300 feet upstream of the tailrace of the
Grinder Room Powerhouse; and (6) a
put-in/take-out area adjacent to the
Main Powerhouse tailrace.
Missisquoi voluntarily operates the
project in a run-of-river mode, such that
outflow from the project approximates
inflow. The minimum and maximum
hydraulic capacities of the Main
Powerhouse are 300 and 2,612 cubic
feet per second (cfs), respectively. The
minimum and maximum hydraulic
capacities of the South Mill Powerhouse
are 112 and 260 cfs, respectively. The
minimum and maximum hydraulic
capacities of the Grinder Room
Powerhouse are 160 and 400 cfs,
respectively. The 0.165-MW turbinegenerator is only capable of operating at
70 cfs. The average annual energy
production of the project from 2010
through 2020 was 69,277 megawatthours.
For the purpose of protecting aquatic
resources, Article 35 of the current
license requires Missisquoi to release:
(1) a minimum flow of 70 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, to the bypassed reach;
(2) a minimum flow of 270 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, as measured
immediately below the tailrace of the
South Mill Powerhouse; and (3) a
minimum flow of 285 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, as measured
immediately below the tailrace of the
Main Powerhouse.
For recreational purposes at the
project, the current license requires
Missisquoi to: (1) provide boat access
and take-out facilities below the dam
and upstream of the Main Powerhouse
tailrace, respectively; (2) provide a 24hour telephone message service
regarding flow conditions at the dam;
(3) cooperate with paddling groups to
determine the optimum flows for boats,
and provide the optimum flows for a
maximum of 6 scheduled weekend days
per year up to a maximum of
200,000,000 cubic feet of whitewater
releases each year; and (4) allow yearround access for paddlers regardless of
whether whitewater flows are being
released.
Missisquoi proposes to: (1) revise the
project boundary to include an
approximately 400-foot-long path from
the canoe take-out site to Shawville
Road; (2) revise the project boundary to
include a portion of the Heather Lane
from its intersection with Shawville
Road to approximately 50 feet north of
a non-project Solar Farm, as part of the
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37055
canoe portage route; (3) continue to
operate the project in a run-of-river
mode; (4) continue to provide a
minimum flow of 70 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, from the dam into the
bypassed reach; (5) release a minimum
flow of 285 cfs downstream of the South
Mill Powerhouse tailrace or inflow,
whichever is less; (6) implement an
impoundment refill procedure, in the
event of a drawdown of the
impoundment, whereby 90 percent of
inflow is passed downstream and 10
percent of inflow is used to refill the
impoundment; (7) release
approximately 13 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, over the spillway
flashboard crest to provide an aesthetic
veil of flow over the dam, from 7:00 a.m.
to 8:00 p.m. from May 1 to October 31;
(8) develop an operation compliance
monitoring plan; (9) acquire property
rights of a land associated with the 400foot-long path from the canoe take-out
site to Shawville Road; (10) remount the
sign upstream of the boater exclusion
cable, which says ‘‘Danger Dam
Ahead—Portage Here’’ to be more
visible from the river; (11) provide a
two-car parking area along Heather Lane
approximately 400 feet southeast of the
Main Powerhouse for the put-in/takeout area adjacent to the Main
Powerhouse tailrace; (12) improve the
existing whitewater put-in area by
rearranging existing boulders to provide
a stepped approach to the river in
coordination with Vermont Division of
Historic Preservation; (13) relocate the
existing whitewater take-out area to a
more gently sloped take-out
immediately downstream of the existing
location; (14) release whitewater flows
from the project dam in consultation
with the American Whitewater and
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources;
(15) ramp up and ramp down generation
flows by 500 cfs per hour when
providing whitewater flows; and (16)
implement erosion control measures to
protect cultural resources.
Missisquoi proposes to decommission
Units 4 and 5, and remove the Grinder
Room Powerhouse and associated
facilities from the project boundary.
Missisquoi proposes to file the
following information related to the
decommissioning by September 1, 2023:
(1) an engineering assessment and
historic structures assessment of the
structures to be decommissioned; (2) a
decommissioning plan; and (3) a revised
single-line electrical diagram.
m. A copy of the application can 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
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37056
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 108 / Tuesday, June 6, 2023 / Notices
document. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
You may also register 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, please
contact FERC Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov.
The Commission’s Office of Public
Participation (OPP) supports meaningful
public engagement and participation in
Commission proceedings. OPP can help
members of the public, including
landowners, environmental justice
communities, Tribal members and
others, access publicly available
information and navigate Commission
processes. For public inquiries and
assistance with making filings such as
interventions, comments, or requests for
rehearing, the public is encouraged to
contact OPP at (202)502–6595 or OPP@
ferc.gov.
n. Scoping Process
Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
Commission staff intends to prepare
either an environmental assessment
(EA) or an environmental impact
statement (EIS) (collectively referred to
as the ‘‘NEPA document’’) that describes
and evaluates the probable effects,
including an assessment of the sitespecific and cumulative effects, if any,
of the proposed action and alternatives.
The Commission’s scoping process will
help determine the required level of
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping
requirements, irrespective of whether
the Commission issues an EA or an EIS.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Scoping Meetings
Commission staff will hold two public
scoping meetings to receive input on the
scope of the environmental issues that
should be analyzed in the NEPA
document. The daytime meeting will
focus on the concerns of resource
agencies, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and Indian tribes.
The evening meeting will focus on
receiving input from the public. All
interested individuals, resource
agencies, Indian tribes, and NGOs are
invited to attend one or both of the
meetings. The times and locations of
these meetings are as follows:
Daytime Scoping Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Time: 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
Place: Sheldon Elementary School,
Gymnasium.
Address: 78 Poor Farm Road,
Sheldon, VT 05483.
Evening Scoping Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
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19:24 Jun 05, 2023
Jkt 259001
Time: 6:30 p.m. (EDT).
Place: Sheldon Elementary School,
Gymnasium.
Address: 78 Poor Farm Road,
Sheldon, VT 05483.
Copies of the Scoping Document
(SD1) outlining the subject areas to be
addressed in the NEPA document 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).
Dated: May 30, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
Environmental Site Review
The applicant and Commission staff
will conduct an environmental site
review of the project beginning at 1:00
p.m. on June 27, 2023. All interested
individuals, agencies, tribes, and NGOs
are invited to attend. All participants
should meet at the parking area west of
the project dam, which is located at 104
Upper Shipping Yard Road, Sheldon,
Vermont 05483. All participants are
responsible for their own transportation
and must wear closed-toe shoes/boots
for walking in uneven/sloped terrain
around the project, and for entrance into
the powerhouses during the site visit. If
you plan to attend the environmental
site review, please contact Ms. Miley
Kinney of the Missisquoi, LLC at (603)
732–8162, or via email at mkinney@
patriothydro.com on or before June 21,
2023.
Great Basin Gas Transmission
Company; Notice of Request Under
Blanket Authorization and Establishing
Intervention and Protest Deadline
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, Commission
staff will: (1) summarize the
environmental issues tentatively
identified for analysis in the NEPA
document; (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
NEPA document, including viewpoints
in opposition to, or in support of, the
staff’s preliminary views; (4) determine
the resource issues to be addressed in
the NEPA document; 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 project. Individuals,
NGOs, Indian tribes, 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 NEPA document.
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[FR Doc. 2023–11936 Filed 6–5–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. CP23–485–000]
Take notice that on May 23, 2023,
Great Basin Gas Transmission Company
(Great Basin), P.O. Box 94197, Las
Vegas, Nevada, 89193 filed in the above
referenced docket, a prior notice request
pursuant to sections 157.205, 157.208
and 157.212 of the Commission’s
regulations under the Natural Gas Act
(NGA), and Great Basin’s blanket
certificate issued in Docket No. CP84–
739–000, for authorization to install
meter sets and appurtenant facilities
within the Lovelock Compressor Station
6 Yard (Compressor Station) on both the
inlet and outlet pipelines that run to
and from Great Basin’s H. G. Laub LNG
Plant (LNG Plant). The new inlet meter
set would include a 4-inch SICK
Ultrasonic Meter, filter, and SCADA and
the outlet meter set would include a 10inch SICK Ultrasonic Meter, filter, and
SCADA. All of the proposed facilities
are located within the fenced
Compressor Station yard in Pershing
County, Nevada (LNG Meter Project).
The meter sets would allow Great Lakes
to monitor the amount of natural gas
flowing into and out of the LNG Plant,
which is located about 0.9 miles west of
the Compressor Station site. The
estimated cost for the project is
$606,152.00 all as more fully set forth in
the request which is on file with the
Commission and open to public
inspection.
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 of this
document via the internet through the
Commission’s Home Page
(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
E:\FR\FM\06JNN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37054-37056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11936]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 7186-054]
Missisquoi, LLC; 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: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 7186-054.
c. Date Filed: September 30, 2022.
d. Applicant: Missisquoi, LLC (Missisquoi).
e. Name of Project: Sheldon Springs Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Missisquoi River in Franklin County, Vermont.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Kevin Webb, Licensing Manager,
Missisquoi, LLC, 670 N Commercial St., Suite 204, Manchester, NH 03101;
Phone at (978) 935-6039, or email at [email protected].
i. FERC Contact: Arash Barsari at (202) 502-6207, or
[email protected].
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: July 27, 2023.
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 assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of
[[Page 37055]]
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, MD 20852. All
filings must clearly identify the project name and docket number on the
first page: Sheldon Springs Hydroelectric Project (P-7186-054).
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. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
l. Project Description: The existing project consists of: (1) a
286-foot-long, 35.5-foot-high concrete Ambursen-type buttress dam that
includes a 262-footlong spillway section with a 2-foot-high flashboards
and a crest elevation of 328.8 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of
1929 (NGVD 29) at the top of the flashboards; (2) an impoundment with a
surface area of 175 acres at an elevation of 328.8 feet NGVD 29; (3) a
Main Powerhouse that contains two 10.25-megawatt (MW) vertical Kaplan
turbine-generator units (Units 1 and 2), for a total installed capacity
of 20.5 MW; (4) a South Mill Powerhouse that contains a 1-MW Francis
turbine-generator unit (Unit 3); (5) a Grinder Room Powerhouse that
contains two 1.65-MW Francis turbine-generator units (Units 4 and 5),
for a total installed capacity of 3.3 MW; (6) a 0.165-MW Kaplan
turbine-generator; (7) two transmission lines; and (8) appurtenant
facilities. The project creates an approximately 4,700-foot-long
bypassed reach of the Missisquoi River.
Recreation facilities at the project include: (1) a canoe take-out
area that is located approximately 2,200 feet upstream of the dam on
the northern shore of the impoundment; (2) a picnic area with three
picnic tables, a seasonal restroom, an informational kiosk, and a
parking area that is located immediately downstream of the dam on the
western bank of the bypassed reach; (3) a whitewater put-in area that
is located approximately 400 feet downstream of the dam on the western
shore of the bypassed reach; (4) a picnic area with a picnic table and
a fire pit that is located approximately 1,000 feet downstream of the
dam on the southern shore of the bypassed reach; (5) a whitewater take-
out area that is located approximately 300 feet upstream of the
tailrace of the Grinder Room Powerhouse; and (6) a put-in/take-out area
adjacent to the Main Powerhouse tailrace.
Missisquoi voluntarily operates the project in a run-of-river mode,
such that outflow from the project approximates inflow. The minimum and
maximum hydraulic capacities of the Main Powerhouse are 300 and 2,612
cubic feet per second (cfs), respectively. The minimum and maximum
hydraulic capacities of the South Mill Powerhouse are 112 and 260 cfs,
respectively. The minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the
Grinder Room Powerhouse are 160 and 400 cfs, respectively. The 0.165-MW
turbine-generator is only capable of operating at 70 cfs. The average
annual energy production of the project from 2010 through 2020 was
69,277 megawatt-hours.
For the purpose of protecting aquatic resources, Article 35 of the
current license requires Missisquoi to release: (1) a minimum flow of
70 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, to the bypassed reach; (2) a
minimum flow of 270 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, as measured
immediately below the tailrace of the South Mill Powerhouse; and (3) a
minimum flow of 285 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, as measured
immediately below the tailrace of the Main Powerhouse.
For recreational purposes at the project, the current license
requires Missisquoi to: (1) provide boat access and take-out facilities
below the dam and upstream of the Main Powerhouse tailrace,
respectively; (2) provide a 24-hour telephone message service regarding
flow conditions at the dam; (3) cooperate with paddling groups to
determine the optimum flows for boats, and provide the optimum flows
for a maximum of 6 scheduled weekend days per year up to a maximum of
200,000,000 cubic feet of whitewater releases each year; and (4) allow
year-round access for paddlers regardless of whether whitewater flows
are being released.
Missisquoi proposes to: (1) revise the project boundary to include
an approximately 400-foot-long path from the canoe take-out site to
Shawville Road; (2) revise the project boundary to include a portion of
the Heather Lane from its intersection with Shawville Road to
approximately 50 feet north of a non-project Solar Farm, as part of the
canoe portage route; (3) continue to operate the project in a run-of-
river mode; (4) continue to provide a minimum flow of 70 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, from the dam into the bypassed reach; (5) release a
minimum flow of 285 cfs downstream of the South Mill Powerhouse
tailrace or inflow, whichever is less; (6) implement an impoundment
refill procedure, in the event of a drawdown of the impoundment,
whereby 90 percent of inflow is passed downstream and 10 percent of
inflow is used to refill the impoundment; (7) release approximately 13
cfs or inflow, whichever is less, over the spillway flashboard crest to
provide an aesthetic veil of flow over the dam, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m. from May 1 to October 31; (8) develop an operation compliance
monitoring plan; (9) acquire property rights of a land associated with
the 400-foot-long path from the canoe take-out site to Shawville Road;
(10) remount the sign upstream of the boater exclusion cable, which
says ``Danger Dam Ahead--Portage Here'' to be more visible from the
river; (11) provide a two-car parking area along Heather Lane
approximately 400 feet southeast of the Main Powerhouse for the put-in/
take-out area adjacent to the Main Powerhouse tailrace; (12) improve
the existing whitewater put-in area by rearranging existing boulders to
provide a stepped approach to the river in coordination with Vermont
Division of Historic Preservation; (13) relocate the existing
whitewater take-out area to a more gently sloped take-out immediately
downstream of the existing location; (14) release whitewater flows from
the project dam in consultation with the American Whitewater and
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources; (15) ramp up and ramp down
generation flows by 500 cfs per hour when providing whitewater flows;
and (16) implement erosion control measures to protect cultural
resources.
Missisquoi proposes to decommission Units 4 and 5, and remove the
Grinder Room Powerhouse and associated facilities from the project
boundary. Missisquoi proposes to file the following information related
to the decommissioning by September 1, 2023: (1) an engineering
assessment and historic structures assessment of the structures to be
decommissioned; (2) a decommissioning plan; and (3) a revised single-
line electrical diagram.
m. A copy of the application can 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
[[Page 37056]]
document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
You may also register 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, please
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected].
The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners,
environmental justice communities, Tribal members and others, access
publicly available information and navigate Commission processes. For
public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as
interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is
encouraged to contact OPP at (202)502-6595 or [email protected].
n. Scoping Process
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
Commission staff intends to prepare either an environmental assessment
(EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS) (collectively referred
to as the ``NEPA document'') that describes and evaluates the probable
effects, including an assessment of the site-specific and cumulative
effects, if any, of the proposed action and alternatives. The
Commission's scoping process will help determine the required level of
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of
whether the Commission issues an EA or an EIS.
Scoping Meetings
Commission staff will hold two public scoping meetings to receive
input on the scope of the environmental issues that should be analyzed
in the NEPA document. The daytime meeting will focus on the concerns of
resource agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and Indian
tribes. The evening meeting will focus on receiving input from the
public. All interested individuals, resource agencies, Indian tribes,
and NGOs are invited to attend one or both of the meetings. The times
and locations of these meetings are as follows:
Daytime Scoping Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Time: 10:00 a.m. (EDT).
Place: Sheldon Elementary School, Gymnasium.
Address: 78 Poor Farm Road, Sheldon, VT 05483.
Evening Scoping Meeting
Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Time: 6:30 p.m. (EDT).
Place: Sheldon Elementary School, Gymnasium.
Address: 78 Poor Farm Road, Sheldon, VT 05483.
Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to
be addressed in the NEPA document 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 Commission staff will conduct an environmental
site review of the project beginning at 1:00 p.m. on June 27, 2023. All
interested individuals, agencies, tribes, and NGOs are invited to
attend. All participants should meet at the parking area west of the
project dam, which is located at 104 Upper Shipping Yard Road, Sheldon,
Vermont 05483. All participants are responsible for their own
transportation and must wear closed-toe shoes/boots for walking in
uneven/sloped terrain around the project, and for entrance into the
powerhouses during the site visit. If you plan to attend the
environmental site review, please contact Ms. Miley Kinney of the
Missisquoi, LLC at (603) 732-8162, or via email at
[email protected] on or before June 21, 2023.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, Commission staff will: (1) summarize the
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the NEPA
document; (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 NEPA document, including viewpoints in
opposition to, or in support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4)
determine the resource issues to be addressed in the NEPA document; 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 project. Individuals,
NGOs, Indian tribes, 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 NEPA
document.
Dated: May 30, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-11936 Filed 6-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P