[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-31843]


[Federal Register: December 28, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 2645-045]


Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment and Conduct Public Scoping Meetings

December 21, 1994.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received an 
application for license (relicense) of the existing Beaver River 
Project No. 2645. The project consists of eight developments on a reach 
of the Beaver River between 11 and 29 miles upstream of the confluence 
with the Black River. The project is located in Herkimer and Lewis 
Counties, New York.
    The FERC staff intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) 
on the hydroelectric project in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act.
    The staff's EA will objectively consider both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts of the project and reasonable 
alternatives, and will include economic, financial and engineering 
analyses.
    A draft EA will be issued and circulated for review by all 
interested parties. all comments filed on the draft EA will be analyzed 
by the staff and considered in the final EA. The staff's conclusions 
and recommendations will then be presented for the consideration of the 
commission in reaching its final licensing decision.

Scoping Meetings

    The FERC will conduct two public scoping meetings on January 10, 
1995. The first meeting will be held from 1:00 to 5:00 PM and will 
focus on resource agency concerns. This will be followed by an evening 
scoping meeting from 7:00 to 10:00 PM geared primarily for public 
input. Both scoping meetings will be held at Watertown High School--
Large Group Instruction Room, 1335 Washington Street, Watertown, New 
York. All interested individuals, organizations and agencies are 
invited to attend and assist the staff in identifying the scope of 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA.
    Everyone in attendance is encouraged to participate during the 
public meetings. Speaking time allowed for individuals will be 
determined before each meeting, based on the number of persons wishing 
to speak and the approximate amount of time available for the session. 
All speakers will be provided at least 5 minutes to present their 
views.
    To help focus discussions at the meetings, a Scoping Document 
outlining subject areas to be addressed in the EA will be mailed to 
agencies and interested individuals on the FERC mailing list. Copies of 
the scoping document will also be available at the scoping meetings.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will:
     Identify reasonable alternatives that should be evaluated 
in the EA;
     Identify significant environmental issues related to the 
proposed project;
     Determine the depth of analysis for issues to be addressed 
in the EA;
     Identify resource issues that are not important and do not 
require detailed analysis;
     Solicit from the meeting participants all available 
information, especially quantitative data on the resources at issue; 
and
     Encourage statements from experts and the public on issues 
that should be analyzed in the EA, including points of view in 
opposition to, or in support of, the staff's preliminary views.

Procedures

    The meetings will be recorded by a court stenographer and all 
statements (oral and written) will become a part of the formal record 
of the Commission proceedings for the project. Individuals presenting 
statements at the meeting will be asked to clearly identify themselves 
for the record.
    Persons choosing not to speak at the meetings, but who have views 
on the issues or information relevant to the issues, may submit written 
statements for inclusion in the public record at the meeting. In 
addition, written scoping comments may be filed with the Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426 until February 10, 1995.
    All written correspondence should clearly identify the project on 
the first page of the submittal: Beaver River Project, FERC No. 2645. 
Intervenors in this proceeding are reminded that if they file comments 
with the Commission, they must also serve a copy of their filing on the 
license applicant and all intervenors whose names appear on the 
official service list. Further, if a party or interceder 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.
    If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Camp at (202) 219-
2832.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-31843 Filed 12-27-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M