Notice2023-26165
City of Nashua, New Hampshire; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions
Primary source
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Published
November 28, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 227 (Tuesday, November 28, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83116-83117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26165]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 3442-029]
City of Nashua, New Hampshire; Notice of Application Ready for
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms
and Conditions, and Prescriptions
Take notice that the following license application has been filed
with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: New License.
b. Project No.: P-3442-029.
c. Date filed: July 30, 2021.
d. Applicant: City of Nashua (Nashua).
e. Name of Project: Mine Falls Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The existing project is located on the Nashua River in
Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. The project does not affect federal
lands.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: James W. Donchess, Mayor, City of Nashua, 229
Main Street, P.O. Box 2019, Nashua, NH 03060; (603) 589-3260; or email
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a4eac5d7d1c5e9c5ddcbd6e4cac5d7ccd1c5cacc8ac3cbd2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fab49b898f9bb79b839588ba949b89928f9b9492d49d958c">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Khatoon Melick, (202) 502-8433, or email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a6cdcec7d2c9c9c888cbc3cacfc5cde6c0c3d4c588c1c9d0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a5cecdc4d1cacacb8bc8c0c9ccc6cee5c3c0d7c68bc2cad3">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and
conditions, and prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this
notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this
notice.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions
using the Commission's eFiling system at <a href="https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERC.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERC.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/Quick.aspx">https://ferconline.ferc.gov/Quick.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#276162756468494b4e494274525757485553674142554409404851"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="33757661707c5d5f5a5d56604643435c414773555641501d545c45">[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: Mine Falls
Hydroelectric Project (P-3442-029).
The Commission's Rules of Practice 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. This application has been accepted and is ready for
environmental analysis at this time.
l. The existing project consists of: (1) A 242-acre impoundment
with a normal storage volume of 1,970 acre-feet and a normal headpond
elevation of 158.76 feet (NAVD 88); (2) a rock filled concrete cap,
variable in height dam with an approximately 132-foot-long spillway at
a permanent crest elevation of 154.66 feet, and nominal 4.0-foot-high
wooden flashboards maintaining a
[[Page 83117]]
normal headpond elevation of 158.76 feet; (3) a 22-foot-wide and 170-
foot-long reinforced concrete power canal located between the right
bank of the Nashua River and the single flood sluice gate; (4) two
12.5-foot-long wooden stoplog bays located immediately upstream of the
intake to the right of the concrete capped spillway (viewed facing
downstream) with a 10-foot-wide gate and a short spillway section above
the gate; (5) a 40-foot-wide, 20-foot-high intake structure with steel
trash rack with two square-to-round transition openings that feed the
two penstocks that terminate at the two turbines; (6) two 64-foot-long,
104-inch-diameter steel penstocks between the intake and turbine units;
(7) a 44-foot-long, 44-foot-wide multi-level reinforced concrete
powerhouse containing two 1,500 kilowatt turbine-generator units; (8)
an approximately 22-foot-wide, 1,100-foot-long tailrace that is a
channel cut into the Nashua River bedrock downstream of the powerhouse
that returns water back into the Nashua River; (9) a 278-foot-long
bypassed reach extending from the spillway crest and stoplog bays to
the downstream of the powerhouse at the tailrace, bypassing 20 cubic
feet per second (cfs) of water for environmental flows; (10) an
upstream fish passage; (11) a 610-foot-long, 34.5-kilovolt underground
transmission line connects the generator transformer to the
interconnect point; and (12) appurtenant facilities. The estimated
gross head of the project is 38 feet. The powerplant has a maximum
nameplate capacity of 3 megawatts. The project generates an annual
average of 12,563 megawatt-hours.
Nashua proposes to continue to operate the project in a run-of-
river mode with no storage or flood control capacity. The project
operates within a flow range of 180 cfs (150 cfs minimum hydraulic
capacity to start a single turbine, plus 20 cfs minimum flow release at
the dam into the bypassed reach and a 10 cfs flow routed through the
Mill Pond gatehouse to the Mill Pond and canal) and 1,100 cfs (maximum
hydraulic capacity of the plant--two turbines combined) or a river flow
of 1,130 cfs. Any flow above the maximum hydraulic capacity of the
turbines plus minimum flows and Mill Pond diversion is spilled over the
dam spillway and through the overflow section of the flood sluice gate.
m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's
website 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, contact FERC Online
Support.
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.
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#c689969686a0a3b4a5e8a1a9b0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bdf2ededfddbd8cfde93dad2cb">[email protected]</span></a>.
All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title
``COMMENTS'', ``REPLY COMMENTS'', ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND
CONDITIONS,'' or ``PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (2) set forth in the heading the
name of the applicant and the project number of the application to
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone
number of the person submitting the filing; and (4) otherwise comply
with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions must
set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the
requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the
application directly from the applicant. Each filing must be
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with
18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
n. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date
of issuance of this notice: (1) a copy of the water quality
certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including
proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request;
or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note
that the certification request must comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b),
including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted
to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the
certification request. Please also note that the certification request
must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission
concurrently.
o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as
appropriate.
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Milestone Target date
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Deadline for Filing Comments, January 2024.
Recommendations, and Agency Terms and
Conditions/Prescriptions.
Licensee's Reply to REA Comments............ March 2024.
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p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.
Dated: November 21, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-26165 Filed 11-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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