Notice2025-09202
STS Hydropower, LLC, Charter Township of Van Buren, Michigan; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
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Published
May 22, 2025
Issuing agencies
Energy DepartmentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 98 (Thursday, May 22, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 98 (Thursday, May 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21916-21917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09202]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 9951-057]
STS Hydropower, LLC, Charter Township of Van Buren, Michigan;
Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and
Establishing Procedural Schedule for Licensing and 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.: 9951.
c. Date Filed: April 29, 2025.
d. Applicant: STS Hydropower, LLC and the Charter Township of Van
Buren, Michigan (applicants).
e. Name of Project: French Landing Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Huron River in Wayne County, Michigan.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Melissa Rondou, Director, Licensing and
Compliance, STS Hydropower, LLC, 116 N. State Street, P.O. Box 167,
Neshkoro, WI 54960; telephone at (920) 293-4628, ext. 347; email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#177a727b7e64647639657879737862577276707b72746572727c65723974787a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e18c848d88929280cf938e8f858e94a18480868d84829384848a9384cf828e8c">[email protected]</span></a>.
i. FERC Contact: Rebecca Brodeur, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes
Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8392;
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ff8d9a9d9a9c9c9ed19d8d909b9a8a8dbf999a8d9cd1989089"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="acdec9cec9cfcfcd82cedec3c8c9d9deeccac9decf82cbc3da">[email protected]</span></a>.
j. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
k. Project Description: The existing French Landing Project
consists of a dam that includes the following sections: (1) a 270-foot-
long east embankment; (2) a 33.2-foot-long east section with a 22.2-
foot-long Tainter gate with a sill elevation of 640 feet National
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29); (3) a 14.3-foot-long east
pier; (4) a 50.5-foot-long, 68-foot-wide powerhouse integral with the
dam that includes three intake openings and trashracks with 2-inch
clear bar spacing; and (b) a 1,800 kilowatt (kW) vertical Francis
turbine-generator unit; (5) a 14.3-foot-long right pier; (6) a 33.2-
foot-long west section with a 22.2-foot-long Tainter gate with a sill
elevation of 640 feet and a 2.5-foot-diameter steel plunger; (7) a 12-
foot-long section with two 2-foot-long slide gates; (8) a 181.1-foot-
long spillway with a crest elevation of 652 feet National Geodetic
Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29); and (9) a 515-foot-long west
embankment that includes an 18-foot-long stoplog gate. The dam creates
an impoundment (Belleville Lake) that has a surface area of 1,270 acres
at a normal maximum surface elevation of 651.5 feet NGVD29.
From the impoundment, water flows through the powerhouse to a 108-
foot-long outlet channel that includes a weir approximately 95 feet
downstream of the powerhouse. The project also includes a 213-foot-long
retaining wall lined with sheet piling on the east riverbank downstream
of the tailrace and a 255-foot-long retaining wall lined with sheet
piling on the west riverbank downstream of the tailrace.
[[Page 21917]]
The generators are connected to the regional electric grid by a
4.16-kilovolt (kV) generator lead line, 525-foot-long 4.16-kV
transmission line, 4.16/41.6-kV step-up transformer, and 50-foot-long
transmission line.
Project recreation facilities include: (1) French Landing Park with
a hand-carry boat impoundment access site on the northern shoreline of
the impoundment, pavilion with picnic tables, two paved parking areas
that can accommodate a total of 19 vehicles, boardwalk with a fishing
platform, and restroom; (2) an approximately 1,150 foot-long portage
route that extends from an impoundment take-out site on the southern
shoreline of the impoundment to a put-in site on the southern bank of
the Huron River; and (3) a tailrace fishing access site immediately
downstream of the powerhouse on the southern bank of the tailrace.
The current license requires the licensee to operate the project in
a run-of-river mode, such that outflow from the project approximates
inflow. The minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse
are 255 and 880 cfs, respectively. The average annual generation of the
project was 6,919 megawatt-hours from 2011 to 2024. The current license
also requires environmental measures for water quality, fish, and
cultural resources.
The applicants propose to modify the current project boundary as
follows, which would decrease the acreage enclosed by the project
boundary from 1,327 to 1,279.9 acres: (1) revise the project boundary
around the impoundment to follow a contour elevation of 652 feet
NGVD29, instead of 655 feet NGVD29 under the current license, which
would remove a net total of 48.8 acres from the project boundary; (2)
add 2.4 acres of land underlying project recreation facilities; (3) add
0.5 acre of land associated with the right embankment; and (4) remove
1.2 acres of land associated with a non-project substation.
The applicants propose to: (1) continue operating the project in a
run-of-river mode; (2) develop an operation compliance monitoring plan,
invasive species management plan, and recreation management plan; (3)
continue to maintain the project recreation facilities; and (4) enhance
the portage route trail and stairs to the put-in site.
l. 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="https://www.ferc.gov">https://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-
9951). For assistance, contact FERC at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#22646770616d4c4e4b4c47715752524d505662444750410c454d54"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0b4d4e594844656762656e587e7b7b64797f4b6d6e7968256c647d">[email protected]</span></a>,
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
m. 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.
n. 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#76392626361013041558111900"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e1aeb1b1a187849382cf868e97">[email protected]</span></a>.
o. 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--May 2025
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--September 2025
Issue Notice of Application Accepted for Filing--November 2025
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--November 2025
p. 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 13, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-09202 Filed 5-21-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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