Ampersand Gilman Hydro, LP; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments, 18632-18633 [2024-05415]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 51 (Thursday, March 14, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18632-18633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05415]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2392-040]


Ampersand Gilman Hydro, LP; 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: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: P-2392-040.
    c. Date Filed: March 29, 2022.
    d. Applicant: Ampersand Gilman Hydro, LP.
    e. Name of Project: Gilman Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The project is located on the Connecticut River and 
straddles the Village of Gilman, within the Town of Lunenburg, Essex 
County, Vermont, and the Town of Dalton, Coos County, New Hampshire.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Sayad Moudachirou, Licensing Manager, 717 
Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A, Boston, MA 02111; (617) 933-7206 or 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Ousmane Sidibe, (202) 502-6245 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: April 8, 2024.
    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/.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 electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Debbie-
Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852. All filings must clearly 
identify the following on the first page: Gilman Hydroelectric Project 
(P-2392-040).
    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. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing Gilman Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) a 
38.3-foot-high, 324.5-foot-wide concrete gravity dam with a crest 
elevation of 826.8 feet (NGVD29) that includes: (a) a 5-foot-high, 108-
foot-long rubber bladder along an overflow spillway on the New 
Hampshire side of the dam; (b) a 6.5-foot-high, 109-foot-long rubber 
bladder along the overflow spillway on the Vermont side of the dam; and 
(c) an 18-foot-high, 27-foot-wide hydraulically operated crest gate; 
(2) a 130-acre project reservoir with a storage capacity of 705 acre-
feet at a normal maximum surface elevation of 833.3 feet; (3) a brick 
and steel/timber-framed powerhouse integral to the dam on the Vermont 
side that contains four generating turbine units with a total 
generating capacity of 4.95 megawatts; (4) a 242-foot-long, 23.75-foot-
wide trash rack with approximately 2-inch spacing and 11 wooden or 
steel head gates that span 117 feet across the upstream face of the 
powerhouse; (5) a downstream fish passage facility that diverts and 
guides fish to a 5-foot-wide bypass at the dam controlled by a tilting 
gate that releases water a 5-foot-deep plunge pool immediately 
downstream of the dam; (6) a tailrace channel; (7) a 34.5-kilovolt, 
200-foot-long transmission line connecting to the grid; and (8) 
appurtenant facilities.
    Ampersand Gilman Hydro, LP proposes to continue to operate the 
project in a run-of-river mode with no storage or flood control 
capacity. In accordance with Condition A of the Vermont Department of 
Environmental Conservation's water quality certification issued for the 
project, the project adheres to the following downstream minimum flow 
release requirements: (1) from June 1 through October 15, whenever 
inflow to the project is 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) or less, 
maintain a continuous downstream minimum flow of 210 cfs or inflow to 
the project, whichever is less; (2) when inflow falls below 600 cfs, 
conduct dissolved oxygen sampling downstream of the dam to determine 
whether additional flow release is

[[Page 18633]]

necessary; and (3) in instances of operational issues or should the 
need to refill the impoundment, maintain a minimum instantaneous flow 
of 757 cfs until normal operations can be restored. The project can 
operate in most of the extreme conditions of the Connecticut River and 
generate electricity from flows of 130 cfs up to high flood conditions 
of 35,000 cfs. The estimated average annual generation of the project 
from 2008 to 2018 is 25,000 megawatt-hours.
    m. Copies of the application can be viewed on the Commission's 
website at https://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the 
project's docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket 
number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected].
    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].
    n. 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].
    o. 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. At this time, we do not 
anticipate holding an on-site scoping meeting. 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 March 8, 2024.
    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: March 8, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-05415 Filed 3-13-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P