Notice2023-07015
Notice of Availability of Revised Final Engineering Guidelines for the Evaluation of Hydropower Projects: Chapter 16-Part 12d Program
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Published
April 5, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20160-20162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07015]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. AD20-21-000]
Notice of Availability of Revised Final Engineering Guidelines
for the Evaluation of Hydropower Projects: Chapter 16--Part 12d Program
On December 16, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
issued a Notice of Availability of Final Engineering Guidelines for the
Evaluation of Hydropower Projects: Chapter 16--Part 12D Program.\1\
Chapter 16 provides licensee guidance related to any Periodic
Inspection or Comprehensive Assessment performed, and the report on it
filed, to fulfill the requirements defined in Title 18 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) Part 12, Subpart D. The Chapter includes an overview
of the part 12D program, as well as six appendices. Appendices B, C, D,
and E are outlines for the four major types of reports that must be
submitted. Due to a compilation error during final preparation of the
chapter, four of the included appendices were from an outdated draft
version that did not incorporate all of the changes that staff made to
address comments received on the draft chapter. This notice provides a
revised version of Chapter 16's appendices B, C, D, and E, which were
the only portions of Chapter 16 that were affected by this error.
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\1\ Chapter 16 is one of four new chapters of the Guidelines
providing additional guidance related to 18 CFR part 12, Safety of
Water Power Projects and Project Works, for which a Final Rule was
also issued on December 16, 2021. Final Rule, Order No. 880, 87 FR
1490 (Jan. 11, 2022), 177 FERC ] 61,204 (2021).
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The appendices provide the outlines and instructions for several
required filings that document a Part 12D Inspection and are required
by the Commission's regulations: Appendix B: the Periodic Inspection
Report (PIR), Appendix C: Periodic Inspection Pre-Inspection
Preparation Report (PI-PIPR), Appendix D: Comprehensive Assessment
Report (CAR), and Appendix E: Comprehensive Assessment Pre-Inspection
Preparation Report (CA-PIPR). These revisions to Appendices B through E
ensure that the report outlines and content are consistent with the
corresponding text in the body of Chapter 16. The revisions in each
appendix are described below.
Chapter 16, Appendix B--Outline for the Periodic Inspection Report
<bullet> Section 1.2 Potential Failure Modes and Risk
[cir] Listed the types of potential failure modes (PFMs) to
summarize and provided an example table to document the findings.
<bullet> Section 1.3.3 Hazard Potential Classification
[cir] Clarified that the significant changes to the population at
risk must be identified since the previous Part 12D Inspection.
<bullet> Section 1.4 Recommendations
[cir] Provided an example table to summarize recommendations and
the suggested schedule.
<bullet> Section 2.1 Location and Purpose
[cir] Revised reference to Appendix C: Project Figures.
<bullet> Section 2.2 Description of Project Features
[cir] Clarified that the project information must not be a copy and
paste from the STID.
[cir] Added ``tunnel lining drainage holes'' to the bulleted list
for Water Conveyances.
<bullet> Section 3.3 Recommendations of Previous Independent
Consultants
[cir] Revised heading text.
[cir] Clarified that the summary table must include recommendations
from ``earlier'' Part 12D reports.
<bullet> Section 3.7 Previously Identified PFMs
[cir] Clarified that the IC Team can provide recommendations to
improve the PFMA and PFMs
<bullet> Section 4 Field Inspection Observations and Interpretation of
Monitoring Data
[cir] Revised the use of standard terms to describe the condition
of project features allowing the IC Team to use consistent terminology
provided the terms are identified and defined.
<bullet> Section 4.2.1 Field Inspection Observations
[cir] Revised reference to Appendix E: Inspection Photographs.
<bullet> Section 4.2.2 Review and Evaluation of Instrumentation Data
and Surveillance
[cir] Revised reference to Appendix D: Instrumented Monitoring Data
Plots.
<bullet> Section 5.5 Public Safety Plan
[cir] Inserted the requirement that the Public Safety Plan must
also document the licensee's response and implementation of any
required remediation measures related to project-related public safety
incidents.
<bullet> Appendix B FERC Letter Approving Part 12D Inspection Plan and
IC Team
[cir] Revised appendix title.
<bullet> Appendix C Summary of Independent Consultant's Recommendations
[[Page 20161]]
[cir] Appendix deleted.
<bullet> Appendices D through H
[cir] Redesignated as Appendices C through G due to the removal of
Appendix C.
[cir] Subsequent revisions listed below are for the redesignated
appendix label.
<bullet> Appendix D Instrumented Monitoring Data Plots
[cir] Revised appendix title and text from ``Instrumentation
Monitoring'' to ``Instrumented Monitoring.''
[cir] Revised content to be provided in the appendix from
reproductions of entire Dam Safety Surveillance and Monitoring Reports
(DSSMRs) to excerpts from and citations to previous DSSMRs relevant to
the review.
<bullet> Appendix E Inspection Photographs
[cir] Revised description of how to provide full resolution digital
photographs.
Chapter 16, Appendix C--Outline for the Periodic Inspection Pre-
Inspection Preparation Report (PI-PIPR)
<bullet> Changes to ensure consistency in headings and text with the
above list of changes in Chapter 16, Appendix B
<bullet> Addition of placeholder sections to the outline to ensure
consistent numbering between the PIR and PI-PIPR. Placeholder sections
are marked with the following text: ``This section is reserved as a
placeholder so the numbering is consistent with the PIR. No content is
required to be provided in this section of the PI-PIPR.''
Chapter 16, Appendix D--Outline for the Comprehensive Assessment Report
(CAR)
<bullet> Section 1.2 Potential Failure Modes and Risk
[cir] Section 1.2 is redesignated as Section 1.5 Potential Failure
Modes Analysis, Risk Analysis, and Dam Safety Risk Classification.
[cir] Revised Section 1.5 to provide separate subsections as listed
below, describing the required content:
[ssquf] Section 1.5.1 Potential Failure Modes Analysis
[ssquf] Section 1.5.2 Level 2 Risk Analysis
[ssquf] Section 1.5.3 Dam Safety Risk Classification
<bullet> Sections 1.3 through 1.5
[cir] Redesignated as Sections 1.2 through 1.4 due to the
redesignation of the above listed item.
<bullet> Section 1.6 Recommendations
[cir] Provided an example table to summarize recommendations and
the suggested schedule.
<bullet> Section 2.2 Description of Project Features
[cir] Clarified that the project information must not be a copy and
paste from the STID
[cir] Added ``tunnel lining drainage holes'' to the bulleted list
for Water Conveyances.
<bullet> Section 3.2.1 Design Considerations
[cir] Revised final bullet to clarify that the current state of
practice means ``at the time of the Comprehensive Assessment.''
<bullet> Section 3.5
[cir] Revised heading text from ``Powerplant'' to ``Powerhouse''
<bullet> Section 4: Review and Evaluation of Previous Analysis
[cir] Revised reference to Appendix J: Independent Calculations
<bullet> Section 4.4 Analyses of Project Features
[cir] Redesignated subheadings from ``4.4.X'' to ``4.4.1'' for
Project Feature 1, with a further example provided as ``4.4.2'' for
Project Feature 2 and so forth.
<bullet> Section 5.3 Recommendations of Previous Independent
Consultants
[cir] Revised heading text.
[cir] Clarified that the summary table must include recommendations
from ``earlier'' Part 12D reports.
<bullet> Section 6 Field Inspection Observations and Interpretation of
Monitoring Data
[cir] Revised the use of standard terms to describe the condition
of project features allowing the IC Team to use consistent terminology
provided the terms are identified and defined.
<bullet> Section 6.2.1 Field Inspection Observations
[cir] Revised reference to Appendix E: Inspection Photographs.
<bullet> Section 6.2.2 Review and Evaluation of Instrumentation Data
and Surveillance
[cir] Revised reference to Appendix D: Instrumented Monitoring Data
Plots.
<bullet> Section 7.5 PFMA
[cir] Provided two sets of instructions depending on whether the IC
Team prepared the PFMA report.
<bullet> Section 7.6 Risk Analysis and Summary
[cir] Revised instructions depending on whether the IC Team
prepared the Risk Analysis report.
<bullet> Section 8.8 Supporting Technical Information Document and
Digital Project Archive
[cir] Added ``and Digital Project Archive'' to the heading text.
[cir] Revised subheadings 8.8.5, 8.8.7, 8.8.8, and 8.8.9 to more
closely match the STID headings provided in Chapter 15 of the
Engineering Guidelines.
<bullet> Appendix B FERC Letter Approving Part 12D Inspection Plan and
IC Team
[cir] Revised appendix title.
<bullet> Appendix C Summary of Independent Consultant's Recommendations
[cir] Appendix deleted.
<bullet> Appendices D through H
[cir] Redesignated as Appendices C through J due to the removal of
Appendix C.
[cir] Subsequent revisions listed below are for the redesignated
appendix label.
<bullet> Appendix D Instrumented Monitoring Data Plots
[cir] Revised appendix title and text from ``Instrumentation
Monitoring'' to ``Instrumented Monitoring''
[cir] Revised content to be provided in the appendix from
reproductions of entire Dam Safety Surveillance and Monitoring Reports
(DSSMRs) to excerpts from and citations to previous DSSMRs relevant to
the review.
Chapter 16, Appendix E--Outline for the Comprehensive Assessment Pre-
Inspection Preparation Report (CA-PIPR)
<bullet> Changes to ensure consistency in headings and text with the
above list of changes in Chapter 16, Appendix D
<bullet> Addition of placeholder sections to the outline to ensure
consistent numbering between the CAR and CA-PIPR. Placeholder sections
are marked with the following text: ``This section is reserved as a
placeholder so the numbering is consistent with the CAR. No content is
required to be provided in this section of the CA-PIPR.''
All information related to ``Chapter 16--Part 12D Program,''
including the draft chapter, all submitted comments, the final chapter,
and the revised final chapter incorporating the above listed revisions,
can be found on the FERC website (<a href="http://www.ferc.gov">www.ferc.gov</a>) using the eLibrary
link. Click on the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and enter
the docket number, excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number
field (i.e., AD20-21). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date
range. The Commission also offers a free service called eSubscription
that 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 electronic
notification of these filings and direct links to the documents. Go to
[[Page 20162]]
the Commission's website (<a href="http://www.ferc.gov">www.ferc.gov</a>), select the FERC Online option
from the left-hand column, and click on eSubscription. Users must be
registered in order to use eSubscription.
The revised version of Chapter 16 is also available on the
Commission's Division of Dam Safety and Inspections website at:
Engineering Guidelines for the Evaluation of Hydropower Projects [bond]
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (<a href="http://ferc.gov">ferc.gov</a>).
For assistance with any of the Commission's online systems, please
contact FERC Online Support at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#75331007163a1b191c1b10260005051a0701354914551d07101348" http: ferc.gov">ferc.gov</a>">FercOnlineSupport@<a href="http://ferc.gov">ferc.gov</a></a> or toll free
at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8258.
Dated: March 29, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-07015 Filed 4-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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