EONY Generation Limited; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments, 87865-87866 [2024-25631]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87865-87866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25631]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 4349-033]


EONY Generation Limited; 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.: 4349-033.
    c. Date Filed: April 26, 2024.
    d. Applicant: EONY Generation Limited.
    e. Name of Project: Moose River Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: On the Moose River in Lewis County, New York.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Rodney Foster, Manager, Maintenance and Asset 
Management, EONY Generation Limited, 2711 Hunt Club Road, P.O. Box 
8700, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1G 3S4; telephone at (613) 225-0418, 
extension 7056; email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Kelly Wolcott, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes 
Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-6480; 
email at [email protected].
    j. Deadline for Filing Scoping Comments: November 29, 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/QuickComment.aspx. You 
must include your name 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, 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, 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: Moose River Hydroelectric Project (P-4349-033).
    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. Project Description: The Moose River Project includes a dam that 
consists of: (1) a southern section that includes a 39-foot-long intake 
structure with a 3-foot-long debris sluice gate and a 15-foot-long 
sluice gate equipped with a trashrack with 2-inch clear bar spacing; 
and a 10-foot-long stoplog gate; and (2) a northern section that 
includes a 240-foot-long spillway with a crest elevation of 1,024.6 
feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) and a 58-foot-
long, 0.5-foot-high notch.
    The dam creates an impoundment that has a surface area of 21 acres 
at 1,024.6 feet NGVD 29. From the impoundment, water flows through the 
intake structure to an approximately 5,000-foot-long tunnel with a 
surge chamber and a 93-foot-long steel penstock. The penstock conveys 
water to a powerhouse that contains a 12.6-megawatt Kaplan turbine-
generator. Water is discharged from the turbine to an approximately 
82.5-foot-long tailrace. From the impoundment, water also flows through 
the debris sluice gate and stoplog gate to a 170-foot-long excavated 
rock channel that discharges into the Moose River. The project creates 
an approximately 6,200-foot-long bypassed reach of the Moose River.
    Electricity generated at the project is transmitted to the electric 
grid via a 13.8-kilovolt (kV) underground generator lead line and a 
switchyard approximately 400 feet east of the powerhouse that includes 
a 13.8/115-kV step-up transformer.
    The minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse are 
200 and 1,300 cfs, respectively. The average annual energy production 
of the project from 2016 through 2022, was 51,350 megawatt-hours.
    Project recreation facilities include: (1) the Agers Falls 
Recreation Area on the south bank of the bypassed reach; (2) the Moose 
River Trail; (3) a boat portage trail around the north side of the dam; 
and (4) a hand-carry boat launch on the south shoreline of the 
impoundment.
    The current license requires EONY to operate the project in a run-
of-river mode, such that project outflow approximates the inflow to the 
impoundment. EONY maintains the normal maximum surface elevation of the 
impoundment at the spillway crest elevation of 1,024.6 feet NGVD 29 
during non-winter months. During winter months, EONY maintains the 
surface elevation of the impoundment at 1,024.1 feet NGVD 29, which 
corresponds to the crest elevation of the notch in the spillway, to 
manage ice.
    The current license also requires EONY to release a year-round 
minimum flow of 60 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, to the bypassed 
reach. EONY is required to provide annual whitewater flow releases 
downstream of the dam on ten scheduled days and ten unscheduled days, 
from 12:00 to 7:00 p.m., or one-half hour prior to sunset, whichever is 
earlier. The current license requires the licensee to implement the 
cultural resource management plan for the protection of historic 
properties.
    In its application for a new major license, EONY proposes to 
decrease the amount of land and water enclosed by the project boundary 
from 184.3 to 168.4 acres. EONY proposes to continue operating the 
project in a run-of-river mode and maintaining the same impoundment 
elevations as under the current license. EONY proposes to: (1) release 
a year-round minimum flow of 80 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, to 
the bypassed reach; (2) implement an Impoundment Drawdown and Cofferdam 
Plan, an Invasive Species Management Plan, and a Bat and Eagle 
Protection Plan, all filed in Appendix C of the license application; 
(3) continue to maintain the project recreation facilities, and the 
interpretive display and trail through the historic Agers Mill Complex; 
(4) install directional signage at a non-project hand-carry boat take-
out site along the Moose River Trail; (5) continue to provide up to 20 
whitewater flow releases per year; (6) continue generator ramping 
during whitewater release days as outlined in the current license; (7) 
consult with the New York State Historic Preservation Officer (New York 
SHPO) on the need for any surveys or protection measures prior to 
implementing any land-disturbing activities in the project boundary; 
and (8) to protect previously unidentified cultural resources that are 
discovered during any construction, stop construction and consult with 
the New York SHPO to determine the need for any surveys or protection 
measures.

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    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 
project's docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket 
number field to access the document (P-4349). 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.
    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 will 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 on-site scoping 
meetings. 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 
October 29, 2024.
    Copies of the SD1 outlining the proposed project and 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 (see item m above).

    Dated: October 29, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-25631 Filed 11-4-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P