Notice2024-07148
Consolidated Hydro New York, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments
Primary source
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Published
April 4, 2024
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 66 (Thursday, April 4, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 66 (Thursday, April 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23597-23598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07148]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 7153-018]
Consolidated Hydro New York, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings and
Environmental Site Review and 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.: 7153-018.
c. Date filed: April 29, 2022.
d. Applicant: Consolidated Hydro New York, LLC.
e. Name of Project: Victory Mills Hydroelectric Project (Victory
Mills Project or project).
f. Location: On Fish Creek in Saratoga County in the Village of
Victory, New York.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Curtis Mooney, Manager, Regulatory Affairs,
Patriot Hydro, LLC, 59 Ayers Island Road, Bristol, NH 03222, (603) 744-
0846, or, Kevin Webb, Hydro Licensing Manager, Patriot Hydro, LLC, 670
N Commercial Street, Suite 204, Manchester, NH 03101, (603) 623-8222.
i. FERC Contact: Jacob Harrell, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b3d9d2d0dcd19ddbd2c1c1d6dfdff3d5d6c1d09dd4dcc5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b6dcd7d5d9d498ded7c4c4d3dadaf6d0d3c4d598d1d9c0">[email protected]</span></a>, (202) 502-
7313.
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: May 30, 2024.
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#40060512030f2e2c292e25133530302f323400262532236e272f36"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="02444750414d6c6e6b6c67517772726d707642646770612c656d74">[email protected]</span></a>, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy via
U.S. Postal Service 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. All
filings must clearly identify the project name and docket number on the
first page: Victory Mills Hydroelectric Project (P-7153-018).
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. The Victory Mills Project consists of: (1) a dam that includes:
(a) an approximately 150-foot-long concrete spillway varying in height
from 4 to 6 feet with a crest elevation of 187.5 feet National Geodetic
Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29), and (b) a sluice gate section
approximately 19 feet high and 40 feet long with four gated spillway
bays, each with a sill elevation of 181 feet NGVD29 and containing a 7-
foot-high by 8-foot-wide wooden timber gate; (2) a 4.3-acre reservoir
with a gross storage capacity of approximately 18 acre-feet at the
normal surface elevation of 187.5 feet NGVD29; (3) an intake channel
feeding a 51-foot-long, 25-foot-high concrete intake structure; (4) an
8-foot-diameter, 300-foot-long steel penstock; (5) a 27-foot by 46-foot
concrete powerhouse containing a single turbine-generator unit with an
installed capacity of 1,656 kilowatts; (6) an approximately 30-foot-
wide by 530-foot-long tailrace channel; (7) a 90-foot-long generator
lead extending through the powerhouse to a transformer and then a 100-
foot-long underground and a 20-foot-long aerial, 4.16-kilovolt
transmission line to the point of interconnection; and (8) appurtenant
facilities. There are no recreation facilities at the project. An
average of 6,073 MWh is generated at the project annually.
The Victory Mills Project operates as a run-of-river facility with
no storage or flood control capacity. A continuous minimum bypassed
reach flow of 36 cubic feet per second (cfs), or inflow, whichever is
less, is maintained through operation of a sluice gate at the dam. The
minimum hydraulic capacity for operating the turbine unit is 60 cfs,
therefore, the minimum river flow needed for project operation is 96
cfs (36 cfs plus 60 cfs). When inflow at the project is less than 96
cfs, river flows are allowed to pass downstream through the bypassed
reach. When the inflow exceeds the maximum hydraulic capacity of the
project at 590 cfs, the impoundment level is permitted to rise over the
spillway.
m. 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.
You may also register online at <a href="http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp">http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp</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 at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#feb1aeaebe989b8c9dd0999188"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3b746b6b7b5d5e4958155c544d">[email protected]</span></a>.
n. 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.
Scoping Meetings
Commission staff will hold two public scoping meetings and an
environmental site review in the vicinity of the project to receive
input on the scope of the NEPA document. An evening meeting will focus
on receiving input from the public and a daytime meeting will focus on
the concerns of resource agencies, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and Indian Tribes. We invite all interested agencies, Indian
Tribes, NGOs, and individuals to attend one or both meetings. The times
and locations of these meetings are as follows:
Evening Scoping Meeting
Date: Monday, April 29, 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
[[Page 23598]]
Place: Village of Victory Town Hall
Address: 23 Pine Street, Victory Mills, NY 12884
Daytime Scoping Meeting
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m. EDT
Place: Village of Victory Town Hall
Address: 23 Pine Street, Victory Mills, NY 12884
Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to
be addressed in the NEPA document were distributed to the parties on
the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at
the scoping meeting or 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).
Environmental Site Review
The applicant and Commission staff will conduct an environmental
site review of the project. All interested individuals, agencies,
Indian Tribes, and NGOs are invited to attend. All participants are
responsible for their own transportation to the site. Please RSVP via
email to Miley Kinney at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#86cbedefe8e8e3ffc6f6e7f2f4efe9f2eeffe2f4e9a8e5e9eb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="226f494b4c4c475b62524356504b4d564a5b46504d0c414d4f">[email protected]</span></a> or by phone at (603)
732-8162 by April 19, 2024, if you plan to attend the environmental
site review. The time and location of the environmental site review is
as follows:
Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
Place: Village of Victory Town Hall
Address: 23 Pine Street, Victory Mills, NY 12884
All persons attending the environmental site review must adhere to
the following requirements: (1) all persons must wear sturdy, closed-
toe shoes or boots; (2) persons with open-toed shoes/sandals/flip
flops/high heels, etc. will not be allowed on the environmental site
review; (3) persons must be 18 years or older; (4) no photography will
be allowed inside the powerhouse; (5) no weapons are allowed on-site;
(6) no alcohol/drugs are allowed on-site (or persons exhibiting the
effects thereof); and (7) no animals (except for service animals) are
allowed on the environmental site review.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, Commission staff will: (1) summarize the
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the NEPA
document; (2) solicit from the meeting participants all available
information, especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue;
(3) encourage statements from experts and the public on issues that
should be analyzed in the NEPA document, including viewpoints in
opposition to, or in support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4)
determine the resource issues to be addressed in the NEPA document; and
(5) identify those issues that require a detailed analysis, as well as
those issues that do not require a detailed analysis.
Procedures
The meetings are recorded by a stenographer and become part of the
formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project. Individuals,
NGOs, Indian Tribes, and agencies with environmental expertise and
concerns are encouraged to attend the meeting and to assist the staff
in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed in the NEPA
document.
Dated: March 29, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-07148 Filed 4-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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