Notice2023-15702
Tower Kleber Limited Partnership; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments
Primary source
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Published
July 25, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47871-47873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15702]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 10615-058]
Tower Kleber Limited Partnership; 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.: 10615-058.
c. Date Filed: April 28, 2022.
d. Applicant: Tower Kleber Limited Partnership (Tower Kleber).
e. Name of Project: Tower and Kleber Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Black River in Cheboygan County, Michigan.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Nelson Turcotte, General Partner, Tower
Kleber Limited Partnership, 764 Lexington Crescent, Thunder Bay, ON P7B
7B8, Canada; Phone at (807) 633-3362, or email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0860716c7a67486d697b7c64616663266b69"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a2cadbc6d0cde2c7c3d1d6cecbccc98cc1c3">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Arash Barsari at (202) 502-6207, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2c6d5e4d5f4402664d404d40456e4d5e5f4d5e456c4a495e4f024b435a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7f3e0d1e0c1751351e131e13163d1e0d0c1e0d163f191a0d1c51181009">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: August 18, 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#5f191a0d1c10313336313a0c2a2f2f302d2b1f393a2d3c71383029"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="42040710010d2c2e2b2c27113732322d303602242730216c252d34">[email protected]</span></a>, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a
[[Page 47872]]
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: Tower and Kleber
Hydroelectric Project (P-10615-058).
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 Tower and Kleber Hydroelectric Project
consists of two developments, the Tower Development and Kleber
Development.
The Tower Development consists of a 22.75-foot-high concrete
gravity dam that includes a 110-foot-long spillway section with a crest
elevation of 722.2 feet National Geodetic Vertical Dam of 1929 (NGVD
29), and a 35.3-foot-long intake structure with four wooden sluice
gates that are each equipped with a trashrack with 1.25-inch clear bar
spacing. The Tower Development dam creates an impoundment that has a
normal elevation of 722.1 feet NGVD 29. From the impoundment, water
flows through the intake structure to two 280-kilowatt (kW) vertical
Francis turbine-generator units located in an approximately 32.5-foot-
long, 35.3-foot-wide powerhouse. Water is discharged from the turbines
to a tailrace. Electricity generated at the Tower Development
powerhouse is transmitted to the electric grid via an 87-foot-long,
2.4-kilovolt (kV) underground generator lead line, a 2.4/12.5-kV step-
up transformer, and a 12.5-kV underground transmission line.
Project recreation facilities at the Tower Development include: (1)
a boat access site and parking area approximately 1,300 feet upstream
of the dam on the western shore of the impoundment; (2) a canoe take-
out site located west of the non-overflow concrete embankment section
of the dam; (3) an approximately 270-foot-long canoe portage route; (4)
a canoe put-in site immediately downstream of the dam; (5) a
handicapped-accessible fishing site and parking area approximately 700
feet upstream of the dam on the western shore of the impoundment; and
(6) an approximately 370-foot-long tailrace access footpath from the
parking area of the fishing site to the canoe portage route.
The Kleber Development consists of an approximately 535-foot-long
dam that includes a 12-foot-wide ogee spillway and two 11-foot-wide
intake gates that are each equipped with a trashrack with 2.56-inch
clear bar spacing. The Kleber Development dam creates an impoundment
that has a normal elevation of 701.1 feet NGVD 29. From the
impoundment, water flows through the intake gates to two 7-foot-
diameter penstocks that provide flow to two 600-kW vertical Kaplan
turbine-generator units located in a 40-foot-long, 42-foot-wide
powerhouse. Water is discharged from the turbines to a tailrace.
Electricity generated at the Kleber Development powerhouse is
transmitted to the electric grid via a 168-foot-long, 2.4-kV generator
lead line and a 2.4/12.5-kV step-up transformer.
Project recreation facilities at the Kleber Development include:
(1) a boat access site and parking area approximately 4,000 feet
upstream of the dam on the eastern shore of the impoundment; (2) a
canoe take-out site at the western embankment of the dam; (3) an
approximately 580-foot-long canoe portage trail; (4) a tailrace access
site and parking area immediately downstream of the powerhouse at the
northern shore of the Black River; and (5) a tailrace access and canoe
put-in site at the southern shore of the Black River approximately 400
feet downstream of the dam.
The average annual energy production of the project from 2017
through 2021 was 7,742 megawatt-hours.
Tower Kleber is proposing to include the existing Black River
Streamside Rearing Facility (Rearing Facility) as part of the project.
Tower Kleber proposes to remove the following land parcels from the
project boundary: (1) an approximately 8-acre area adjacent to the east
and west shorelines of the Black River from approximately 700 feet
upstream to 900 feet downstream of the Tower Development dam; (2) an
approximately 10-acre area northeast of the east earthen embankment of
the Kleber Development; and (3) an approximately 0.2-acre area south of
the emergency spillway at the Kleber Development. Tower Kleber also
proposes to: (1) continue to operate the project in a run-of-river
mode; (2) continue to maintain an impoundment elevation of 722.1 NGVD
29 for the Tower Development and 701.1 feet NGVD 29 for the Kleber
Development, and limit impoundment fluctuations to no more than +/-
0.25 foot; (3) continue to limit the winter drawdown in the
impoundments to no more than 1 foot, from November 1 through March 31;
(4) continue to maintain the Rearing Facility; (5) implement an
operation compliance monitoring plan; (6) monitor invasive species and
install signage for zebra mussels at the boat launch areas; (7) monitor
dissolved oxygen, sediment, and mercury in the impoundments; and (8)
continue to operate and maintain project recreation facilities.
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
(i.e., P-10615). For assistance, contact FERC at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#175152455458797b7e797244626767786563577172657439707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="41070413020e2f2d282f24123431312e333501272433226f262e37">[email protected]</span></a>, or call toll free, (886) 208-3676 or TTY
(202) 502-8659.
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#397f7c6b7a76575550575c6a4c4949564b4d795f5c4b5a175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="773132253438191b1e191224020707180503371112051459101801">[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#ca859a9a8aacafb8a9e4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3c736c6c7c5a594e5f125b534a">[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
[[Page 47873]]
requirements, irrespective of whether the Commission issues an EA or an
EIS.
At this time, we do not anticipate holding public or agency 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
July 19, 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 the SD1
may be viewed on the web at <a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a> using the ``eLibrary''
link (see item m above).
Dated: July 19, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-15702 Filed 7-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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