Notice2025-04700
Forestport Hydro, LLC; 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
March 20, 2025
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 53 (Thursday, March 20, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 53 (Thursday, March 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13153-13154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04700]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 4900-090]
Forestport Hydro, LLC; 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 License.
b. Project No.: 4900.
c. Date Filed: February 27, 2025.
d. Applicant: Forestport Hydro, LLC.
e. Name of Project: Forestport Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Black River in Oneida County, New York.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Antonio Zarella, Chief Operating Officer,
Forestport Hydro, LLC, 230 Park Avenue, Suite 447, New York, NY 10169;
telephone at (315) 247-0253; email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6c38362c1e0900091a0d18091c031b091e420f0301"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cc98968cbea9a0a9baadb8a9bca3bba9bee2afa3a1">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Erin Mocko, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes
Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8107;
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3f7a4d56511152505c54507f595a4d5c11585049"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="abeed9c2c585c6c4c8c0c4ebcdced9c885ccc4dd">[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: April 28, 2025.
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#4d0b081f0e0223212423281e383d3d223f390d2b283f2e632a223b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8ccac9decfc3e2e0e5e2e9dff9fcfce3fef8cceae9feefa2ebe3fa">[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, 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,
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: Forestport Hydroelectric Project
(P-4900-090).
m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
n. Project Description: The existing project consists of: (1) a dam
(Forestport dam) that includes: (a) a 150-foot-long west embankment
with a crest elevation of 1,132.7 National Geodetic Vertical Datum 1929
(NGVD29); (b) a 315-foot-long ogee spillway with a crest elevation of
1,126.3 feet NGVD29; and (c) a 40-foot long east embankment with a
crest elevation of 1,132.7 NGVD29. The Forestport dam creates an
impoundment that has a surface area of approximately 118 acres at a
normal pool elevation of 1,126.55 feet NGVD29.
From the impoundment, water flows through two 8-foot-wide gates to
an 820-foot-long canal (Feeder Canal) that leads to a forebay (Alder
Pond) that is formed
[[Page 13154]]
by a 550-foot-long earth embankment with a crest elevation of 1,128
feet NGVD29 (Alder Pond dam). The embankment includes a 100-foot-long
fuse plug emergency spillway.
From Alder Pond, water flows through an ungated outlet, located
west of Alder Pond Dam, to a 1,836-foot-long power canal that includes
a 20-foot-long air bladder leaf gate (Dutch Hill Wasteway) with a top
elevation of 1,124.8 feet NGVD29. The power canal provides flow to a
canal control structure that includes: (1) three 4-foot-long vertical
slide gates; and (2) a 21-foot-long intake structure that includes a
12-foot-long stoplog gate and two 9-foot-long trashracks with 1.75-inch
clear bar spacing. From the intake structure, water flows to a 323-
foot-long penstock and a 68-foot-long, 32-foot-wide concrete powerhouse
that includes a 3.3 megawatt (MW) S-type Kaplan turbine-generator. From
the powerhouse, water is released into a 19.8-foot-long tailrace that
discharges into the Black River.
The project generators are connected to the regional electric grid
by six 4.16-kilovolt (kV) generator lead lines and a 4.16/46-kV
transformer.
Project recreation facilities include: (1) Alder Pond parking and
access area, adjacent to the east side of the Alder Pond dam; (2);
Forestport impoundment parking and access area, adjacent to the
Forestport dam on the northwest shore of the Forestport impoundment;
(3) an approximately 1,200 foot-long portage route from the Forestport
impoundment parking and access area to the Alder Pond parking and
access area; (4) an approximately 150-foot-long power canal portage
route around the south side of the canal control structure; and (5) a
powerhouse parking and access area adjacent to the powerhouse.
The minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse are
60 and 870 cubic feet per second (cfs), respectively. The average
annual energy production of the project from 2019 through 2023 was
7,252 megawatt-hours.
The current license requires Forestport Hydro to operate the
project in a run-of-river mode, such that outflow from the project
approximates inflow. The current license also requires Forestport Hydro
to release a year-round minimum flow of 140 cfs or inflow, whichever is
less, to the Black River.
Forestport Hydro proposes to: (1) continue operating the project in
a run-of-river mode and maintaining the surface elevation of the
Forestport impoundment at 1,126.55 feet NGVD29; (2) maintain the
surface elevation of Alder Pond between 1123.6 and 1,124.6 feet NGVD29;
(3) release a minimum flow of 140 cfs or inflow, whichever is less,
over the Forestport dam; (4) implement a draft Bat and Bald Eagle
Management Plan and an Invasive Species Management Plan; (5) develop an
operation compliance monitoring plan; (6) continue to maintain existing
project recreation facilities and update directional and safety signage
at project recreation facilities; (7) move the power canal portage
take-out site to be upstream of the boat barrier; and (8) to protect
cultural resources, consult with the New York State Historic
Preservation Officer before beginning any land-clearing or land-
disturbing activities.
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-
4900). For assistance, contact FERC at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c0868592838faeaca9aea593b5b0b0afb2b480a6a5b2a3eea7afb6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="55131007161a3b393c3b30062025253a272115333027367b323a23">[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,
community organizations, 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#054a555545636077662b626a73"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f5baa5a5b593908796db929a83">[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--April 2025
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--August 2025
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--August 2025
Issue Notice of Application Accepted for Filing--August 2025
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)--September 2025
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--September 2025
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: March 13, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-04700 Filed 3-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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