Notice2023-15081
Ketchikan Public Utilities, Alaska; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments
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Published
July 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45410-45411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15081]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 1922-052]
Ketchikan Public Utilities, Alaska; 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.: 1922-052.
c. Date Filed: October 27, 2022.
d. Applicant: Ketchikan Public Utilities (KPU).
e. Name of Project: Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
f. Location: On Beaver Falls Creek in Ketchikan Gateway Borough,
Alaska. The project currently occupies 478.4 acres of United States
lands administered by U.S. Forest Service.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Jennifer Holstrom, Senior Project Engineer,
Ketchikan Public Utilities, 1065 Fair Street, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901;
(907) 228-4733; or email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#68020d0606010e0d1a0028031c06450903461d1b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="91fbf4fffff8f7f4e3f9d1fae5ffbcf0fabfe4e2">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Kristen Sinclair at (202) 502-6587, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#177c657e6463727939647e79747b767e65577172657439707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e388918a9097868dcd908a8d808f828a91a385869180cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: August 10, 2023.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx</a>. Commenters can submit brief
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the
eComment system at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx</a>. You
must include your name and contact information at the end of your
comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c5a594e5f5372707572794f696c6c736e685c7a796e7f327b736a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7e383b2c3d31101217101b2d0b0e0e110c0a3e181b0c1d50191108">[email protected]</span></a>, (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: Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-
1922-052).
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 Beaver Falls Project consists of two developments,
Silvis and Beaver Falls. The Silvis development consists of: (1) a 60-
foot-high, 135-foot-long concrete-face, rock-filled Upper Silvis Lake
dam; (2) an 800-foot-long excavated rock spillway channel leading from
Upper Silvis Lake to Lower Silvis Lake; (3) a 300-acre reservoir (Upper
Silvis Lake) with gross storage capacity of approximately 38,000 acre-
feet; (4) a 980-foot-long underground power tunnel connecting to a 342-
foot-long, 36-inch-diameter steel penstock that conveys water to the
Silvis Powerhouse; (5) a 30-feet by 40-feet by 25-feet-high Silvis
powerhouse containing a single Francis-type turbine with a rated
capacity of 2.1 megawatts; (6) a 150-foot-long trapezoidal shaped
channel tailrace discharging into Lower Silvis Lake; (7) a 2,900-foot-
long, 5-kilovolt submarine cable beneath Lower Silvis Lake; (8) a
7,000-foot-long, 34.5- kilovolt aerial transmission line; and (9)
appurtenant facilities.
The Beaver Falls development consists of: (1) a 32-foot-high, 140-
foot-long concrete-face, rock-filled Lower Silvis dam; (2) a spillway
with an ungated control weir and unlined rock discharge channel; (3) a
67.5-acre
[[Page 45411]]
reservoir (Lower Silvis Lake) with gross storage capacity of
approximately 8,052 acre-feet; (4) a 3-foot-high, 40-foot-long concrete
diversion dam on Beaver Falls Creek; (5) a 3,800-foot-long underground
power tunnel connecting to a 3,610-foot-long above ground steel
penstock that conveys water from Lower Silvis Lake to the Beaver Falls
powerhouse and supplies water to Units 3 and 4 in the powerhouse; (6) a
225-foot-long adit that taps the 3,800-foot-long underground power
tunnel and discharges water into Beaver Falls Creek approximately 500-
feet upstream of the Beaver Falls diversion dam; (7) a 4,170-foot-long
above ground steel penstock that conveys water from the Beaver Falls
Creek diversion dam to the Beaver Falls powerhouse and supplies Unit 1
in the powerhouse; (8) a 30-feet by 147-feet by 25-feet-high Beaver
Falls powerhouse containing three horizontal Pelton generating units
with a total installed capacity of 5 MW (Units 1, 3 and 4; Unit 2 is
decommissioned); (9) a Beaver Falls substation; and (10) appurtenant
facilities. The project generates an annual average of 54,711,280
megawatt-hours.
KPU operates the project in peaking mode utilizing a combination of
river inflow and storage in the reservoirs to meet the power demands of
the City of Ketchikan (particularly in the summer). Upper Silvis Lake
provides the primary storage for the project.
KPU proposes to continue operating the project in peaking mode with
no new developments or modifications to its existing facilities or
operation.
KPU also proposes to remove 77 acres of land from the Beaver Falls
project boundary to more closely align with the footprint of its
facilities and maintenance needs. KPU's proposed Beaver Falls project
boundary would include 408.8 acres of land within Tongass National
Forest, and approximately 14.2 acres of Federal lands subject to FPA
Section 24, for a total of 423 acres.
m. At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the
Commission's Public Reference Room. Copies of the application can be
viewed on the Commission's website at <a href="https://www.ferc.gov">https://www.ferc.gov</a> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#adebe8ffeee2c3c1c4c3c8fed8ddddc2dfd9edcbc8dfce83cac2db"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7b3d3e293834151712151e280e0b0b14090f3b1d1e0918551c140d">[email protected]</span></a>.
You may also register at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx</a> 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e1a7a4b3a2ae8f8d888f84b29491918e9395a187849382cf868e97"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f2b4b7a0b1bd9c9e9b9c97a18782829d8086b294978091dc959d84">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9cd3ccccdcfaf9eeffb2fbf3ea"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ce819e9e8ea8abbcade0a9a1b8">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 July 11, 2023.
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 <a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a> 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: July 11, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-15081 Filed 7-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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