Notice2024-04179
Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions; Great River Hydro, LLC
Primary source
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Published
February 29, 2024
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 41 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 41 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14825-14826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04179]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 1855-050]
Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To
Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and
Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions,
and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions; Great River Hydro, LLC
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.: 1855-050.
c. Date Filed: May 1, 2017; material amendment filed December 7,
2020.
d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
e. Name of Project: Bellows Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
f. Location: The project is located on the Connecticut River in
Windsor and Windham Counties, Vermont, and Sullivan and Cheshire
Counties, New Hampshire.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great
River Hydro, LLC, 40 Pleasant Street, Suite 202, Portsmouth, NH 03801;
(603) 498-2851 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7b11091a1c14151e081e3b1c091e1a0f09120d1e0913021f091455181416"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c1abb3a0a6aeafa4b2a481a6b3a4a0b5b3a8b7a4b3a9b8a5b3aeefa2aeac">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c4b7b0a1b4aca1aaeaafa5b6b0a5a8ada584a2a1b6a7eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f08384958098959ede9b918284919c9991b096958293de979f86">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments,
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary
fishway 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
motions to intervene and protests, comments, recommendations, terms and
conditions, and prescriptions 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#591f1c0b1a16373530373c0a2c2929362b2d193f3c2b3a773e362f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="edaba8bfaea28381848388be989d9d829f99ad8b889f8ec38a829b">[email protected]</span></a>, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or
(202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a
[[Page 14826]]
paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be
addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC
20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to:
Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first
page of any filing should include docket number P-1855-050.
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. Project Description: The Bellows Falls Project consists of: (1)
a 643-foot-long, 30-foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) two 18-
foot-high, 115-foot-wide steel roller gates; (b) two 13-foot-high, 121-
foot-wide stanchion flashboards; and (c) a 13-foot-high, 100-foot-wide
stanchion flashboard; (2) a 26-mile-long, 2,804-acre impoundment with a
useable storage volume of 7,467 acre-feet between elevations 288.63 and
291.63 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (3) a
1,700-foot-long, 36- to 100-foot-wide, 29-foot-deep stone-lined power
canal; (4) a 130.25-foot-wide concrete forebay that includes trashracks
with 4-inch clear bar spacing; (5) a 186-foot-long, 106-foot-wide, 52-
foot-high steel frame, brick powerhouse containing three 13.6-megawatt
(MW) vertical Francis turbine-generator units, for a total project
capacity of 40.8 MW; (6) three approximately 20-foot-high, 31-foot-wide
concrete draft tubes; (7) a 900-foot-long tailrace; (8) a 12-foot-wide,
10-foot-high ice sluice; (9) three 80-foot-long, 6.6-kilovolt generator
leads that connect the turbine-generator units to two step-up
transformers; (10) a 920-foot-long, 8-foot-wide fishway; (11) a
concrete fish barrier dam in the bypassed reach; and (12) appurtenant
facilities.
Great River Hydro operates the project in a peaking mode in
coordination with its upstream Wilder Project No. 1892 and downstream
Vernon Project No. 1904. Average annual generation is approximately
239,070 MW-hours. Great River Hydro is proposing several protection,
mitigation, and enhancement measures for aquatic, terrestrial,
cultural, recreation resources, and threatened and endangered species,
as well as changes to project operation that would reduce impoundment
fluctuations and increase the stability of downstream flow releases
relative to current project operation, including targeted water surface
elevation levels and flow ramping rates. Great River Hydro also
proposes to install a new turbine on the downstream side of the
spillway that would generate power using the 300-cubic feet per second
proposed minimum flow to the bypassed reach. The specific proposed
changes are described in the amended application, the settlement
agreement filed on August 4, 2022, and the revised relicensing proposal
filed on June 8, 2023.
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.
n. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure,
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
All filings must: (1) bear in all capital letters the title
``PROTEST,'' ``MOTION TO INTERVENE,'' ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,''
``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' or
``PRELIMINARY FISHWAY 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. A copy of any protest or
motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the
applicant specified in the particular application. A copy of all other
filings in reference to this application 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.
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#d897888898bebdaabbf6bfb7ae"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e4abb4b4a482819687ca838b92">[email protected]</span></a>.
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.
o. 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.
p. 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 motions to intervene, April 2024.
protests, comments, recommendations,
preliminary terms and conditions, and
preliminary fishway prescriptions.
Deadline for filing reply comments........ May 2024.
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q. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.
Dated: February 22, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-04179 Filed 2-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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