Notice2024-10041
Pacific Gas and Electric Company; 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
May 8, 2024
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 90 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38891-38892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10041]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 175-032]
Pacific Gas and Electric Company; 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: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 175-032.
c. Date Filed: April 18, 2024.
d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
e. Name of Project: Balch Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the North Fork Kings River in Fresno County,
California. The project occupies 506.28 acres of Federal land managed
by the U.S. Forest Service.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Dave Gabbard, Vice President, Power
Generation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 300 Lakeside Drive,
Oakland, California 94612; telephone at (620) 207-9705; email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0d696c7b6469236a6c6f6f6c7f694d7d6a68236e6260"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2e4a4f58474a00494f4c4c4f5c4a6e5e494b004d4143">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Benjamin Mann, Project Coordinator, West Branch,
Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8127; email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#187a7d7672797571763675797676587e7d6a7b367f776e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b2d0d7dcd8d3dfdbdc9cdfd3dcdcf2d4d7c0d19cd5ddc4">[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: June 17, 2024.
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#f3b5b6a1b0bc9d9f9a9d96a08683839c8187b395968190dd949c85"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a7c7f687975545653545f694f4a4a55484e7a5c5f4859145d554c">[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:
Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street
[[Page 38892]]
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,
MD 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and docket
number on the first page: Balch Hydroelectric Project (P-175-032).
m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
n. Project Description: The Balch Hydroelectric Project (project)
consists of the following facilities: (1) a 135-foot-high, 396-foot-
long diversion dam with a crest elevation of 4,098 feet that includes a
364-foot-long spillway and is located on the North Fork Kings River 9.9
miles upstream of the confluence with Kings River; (2) the 35-acre
Black Rock Reservoir with a usable storage capacity of 1,260 acre-feet
at a normal water surface elevation of 4,097 feet; (3) an 11-foot-high,
concrete tunnel intake; (4) a water conveyance system consisting of:
(a) a 19,336-foot-long tunnel with a maximum hydraulic capacity of 760
cubic feet per second (cfs) that includes the 308-foot-long Black Rock
Adit, the 350-foot-long Weir Creek Adit, an unlined surge chamber, and
two sluice channels; (5) a 4,905.6-foot-long penstock leading to the
Balch No. 1 Powerhouse and a 4,933.3-foot-long penstock leading to the
Balch No. 2 Powerhouse; (6) the 65.5-foot-long, 80.5-foot-wide Balch
No. 1 Powerhouse housing one turbine-generator unit with an authorized
installed capacity of 31.02 megawatts (MW) and a maximum hydraulic
capacity of 213 cfs; (7) the 149-foot-long, 84-foot-wide Balch No. 2
Powerhouse housing two turbine-generator units with a total authorized
installed capacity of 105 MW and a maximum hydraulic capacity of 315
cfs; (8) a 165-foot-high, 238-foot-long afterbay dam with a crest
elevation of 1,704 feet that includes a 238-foot-long spillway; (9) a
7-acre afterbay with a usable storage capacity of 135 acre-feet; (10)
project roads and trails; (11) recreation facilities; (12) a 22-mile-
long, 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting the project with
the grid at Piedra Junction; (13) the 76-acre Balch Camp, which is the
project operating headquarters and includes personnel housing; (14) a
6.2-mile-line, 12-kV distribution line connecting Balch Camp with the
project's diversion dam; and (15) appurtenant facilities.
The Balch Project is located downstream of PG&E's Haas-Kings River
Hydroelectric Project No. 1988 and Helms Pumped Storage Project No.
2735, which use the same reservoirs (Courtright Lake and Lake Wilshon)
for operation. The project is operated as a peaking facility to
generate power that is released from upstream storage to meet power
demand and for irrigation purposes. Project operation is coordinated
with Project No. 1988, whose releases from Lake Wilshon largely control
inflow to Black Rock Reservoir; however, spill fluctuations at the
project are possible at times when inflow exceeds powerhouse capacity
and during powerhouse outages.
The current license requires PG&E to maintain the following
continuous minimum flows in the North Kings River: (1) during normal
water years: (a) from June 1 through November 31, 5 cfs from Black Rock
Reservoir, 15 cfs from Balch Afterbay, and 30 cfs of total river flow;
and (b) from December 1 through May 31, 2.5 cfs from Black Rock
Reservoir, 10 cfs from Balch Afterbay, and 30 cfs of total river flow;
(2) during dry water years, as defined by the California Department of
Water Resources, year-round flows of 2.5 cfs from Black Rock Reservoir,
10 cfs from Balch Afterbay, and 20 cfs of total river flow.
PG&E proposes to continue operating the project in a manner that is
consistent with current operation, with the exception of the following
new proposed measures: (1) minimum flows and water year types, (2) a
recreation plan, (3) a biological resources management plan, (4) a
historic properties management plan, (5) low-level operations, (6)
flood period operations, (7) a hazardous substance plan, (8) a gaging
plan, (9) visual resources management, (10) a fire management and
response plan, and (11) a transportation system management plan.
o. 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. Enter the docket number excluding the last
three digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-175).
For assistance, contact FERC at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c7a796e7f7352505552596f494c4c534e487c5a594e5f125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="80c6c5d2c3cfeeece9eee5d3f5f0f0eff2f4c0e6e5f2e3aee7eff6">[email protected]</span></a>, (866) 208-
3676 (toll free), 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#f8b7a8a8b89e9d8a9bd69f978e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5b140b0b1b3d3e2938753c342d">[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.
Issue Deficiency Letter and Request Additional Information--June 2024
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--August 2024
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--September 2024
Issue Acceptance Letter--November 2024
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)--November 2024
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--November 2024
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: May 2, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-10041 Filed 5-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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