Notice2023-17158
Northern States Power Corporation-Wisconsin; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
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Published
August 10, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54313-54314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17158]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2444-042]
Northern States Power Corporation--Wisconsin; Notice of
Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting
Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for
Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
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.: 2444-042.
c. Date Filed: July 21, 2023.
d. Applicant: Northern States Power Corporation--Wisconsin.
e. Name of Project: White River Hydroelectric Project (project).
f. Location: On the White River in Ashland and Bayfield Counties,
Wisconsin.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Matthew Miller, Northern States Power
Company--Wisconsin, 1414 W. Hamilton Avenue, P.O. Box 8, Eau Claire, WI
54702; Phone at (715) 737-1353, or email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6805091c1c000d1f460246050104040d1a28100b0d040d060d1a0f11460b0705"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7815190c0c101d0f561256151114141d0a38001b1d141d161d0a1f01561b1715">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Taconya D. Goar at (202) 502-8394, or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#84d0e5e7ebeafde5aac3ebe5f6c4e2e1f6e7aae3ebf2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c692a7a5a9a8bfa7e881a9a7b486a0a3b4a5e8a1a9b0">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such
requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note
the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation
of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See 94 FERC ]
61,076 (2001).
k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of
the request on the applicant.
l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for
cooperating agency status: September 19, 2023.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status
using the Commission's eFiling system at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx</a>. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c7a796e7f7352505552596f494c4c534e487c5a594e5f125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="82c4c7d0c1cdeceeebece7d1f7f2f2edf0f6c2e4e7f0e1ace5edf4">[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,
MD 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and docket
number on the first page: White River Hydroelectric Project (P-2444-
042).
m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
n. Project Description: The existing project consists of: (1) an
earthen and concrete dam that includes: (a) a 400-foot-long, 37-foot-
high north earthen embankment; (b) a concrete section that includes:
(i) a north abutment; (ii) a 20-foot-long, 36.5-foot-high intake
structure equipped with a trashrack; (iii) a 35-foot-high gated
spillway with two 25-foot-long bays that each contain a Tainter gate;
and (iv) a south abutment; (c) a 300-foot-long, 37-foot-high south
earthen embankment; (2) an impoundment with a surface area of 39.9
acres at an elevation of 711.6 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of
1929 (NGVD 29); (3) a 7-foot-diameter, 1,345-foot-long concrete pipe
that conveys flows from the intake structure to a 16-foot-diameter, 62-
foot-high steel surge tank; (4) two 30-foot-long steel penstocks; (5) a
69-foot-long, 39-foot-wide concrete and brick masonry powerhouse that
contains one 700-kilowatt (kW) horizontal Francis turbine-generator
unit and one 500-kW horizontal Francis turbine-generator unit, for a
total installed capacity of 1,200 kW; and (6) a 220-foot-long, 2.4-
kilovolt (kV) electric line that connects the generators to a 2.4/69-kV
step-up transformer. The project creates an approximately 1,400-foot-
long bypassed reach of the White River. A 1-foot-diameter steel pipe
conveys flow from the intake structure to the bypassed reach.
Project recreation facilities include: (1) a boat access site and
canoe portage take-out site at the north embankment of the dam; (2) an
approximately 2,260 feet canoe portage trail; (3) a canoe put-in site
approximately 90 feet downstream of the powerhouse; and (4) a tailrace
fishing area.
The current license requires the project to operate in a run-of-
river mode, such that outflow from the project approximates inflow to
protect aquatic resources in the White River. The current license
requires the impoundment to be maintained at an elevation between 710.4
and 711.6 feet NGVD 29. The current license also requires a minimum
bypassed reach flow of 16 cubic feet per second (cfs) or inflow to the
impoundment, whichever is less, to protect aquatic resources. The
minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse are 50 and
350 cfs, respectively. The average annual generation of the project was
4,927 megawatt-hours from 2017 through 2022.
The applicant proposes the following changes to the project
boundary: (1)
[[Page 54314]]
revise the project boundary around the impoundment to follow a contour
elevation of 711.6 NGVD 29, which would result in a reduction in the
total acreage of the project boundary upstream of the dam from 76.5 to
41.2 acres; (2) revise the project boundary downstream of the dam to
remove approximately 38.8 acres of land north of the access road to the
powerhouse and non-project substation and approximately 12 acres of
land northeast of the powerhouse; and (3) revise the project boundary
downstream of the dam to include approximately 0.3 acre of land
associated with a non-project substation, approximately 0.6 acre of
land associated with an access road, approximately 1.3 acres of water
downstream of the project, and approximately 0.3 acre east of the south
earthen embankment.
The applicant proposes to: (1) continue to operate the project in a
run-of-river mode to protect aquatic resources; (2) continue to
maintain the impoundment elevation between 710.4 and 711.6 feet NGVD
29; (3) continue to release a minimum flow of 16 cfs or inflow,
whichever is less, to the bypassed reach at all times; (4) develop an
operation compliance monitoring plan; (5) consult with resource
agencies and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa
Indians prior to temporary modifications of project operation,
including non-emergency impoundment drawdowns, and file a report with
the Commission within 14 days after the planned deviation; (6) conduct
shoreline erosion surveys every ten years; (7) develop an invasive
species monitoring plan; (8) pass woody debris from the impoundment to
the bypassed reach; (9) replace recreational signage; (10) maintain
project recreation facilities; (11) implement the State of Wisconsin's
broad incidental take permits/authorizations for Wisconsin cave bats
and wood turtles; (12) avoid vegetation management and construction
activities within 660 feet of bald eagle nests during the nesting
season; and (13) develop a historic properties management plan.
o. 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 docket number excluding the last three
digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-2444). In
addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the Federal
Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity
to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well as other
documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) via the
internet through the Commission's Home Page (<a href="http://www.ferc.gov">http://www.ferc.gov</a>) using
the ``eLibrary'' link. For assistance, contact FERC at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#286e6d7a6b67464441464d7b5d5858475a5c684e4d5a4b064f475e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="64222136272b0a080d0a01371114140b161024020116074a030b12">[email protected]</span></a> or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or (202)
502-8659 (TTY).
You may also register online 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, contact FERC
Online Support.
p. 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#c18e919181a7a4b3a2efa6aeb7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="80cfd0d0c0e6e5f2e3aee7eff6">[email protected]</span></a>.
q. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will
be made as appropriate.
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Issue Deficiency Letter................. August 2023.
Request Additional Information.......... August 2023.
Issue Scoping Document 1................ November 2023.
Request Additional Information (if November 2023.
necessary).
Issue Acceptance Letter................. December 2023.
Issue Scoping Document 2................ January 2024.
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental January 2024.
Analysis.
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r. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice
of ready for environmental analysis.
Dated: August 4, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-17158 Filed 8-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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