[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 249 (Thursday, December 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-32130]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: December 29, 1994]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 2569; Project No. 2538]

 

Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.; Beebee Island Corp.; Notice of Intent 
To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Public Scoping 
Meetings and Site Visits

December 23, 1994.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received 
applications for new licenses (relicense) for the existing Black River 
Project No. 2569 and the existing Beebee Island Project No. 2538. The 
projects are located on the Black River in Jefferson County, New York.
    The FERC staff intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the hydroelectric projects in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act.
    The staff's EIS will objectively consider both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts of the projects and reasonable 
alternatives, and will include economic, financial and engineering 
analyses.
    A draft EIS will be issued and circulated for review by all 
interested parties. All comments filed on the draft EIS will be 
analyzed by the staff and considered in the final EIS. The staff's 
conclusions and recommendations will then be presented for the 
consideration of the Commission in reaching its final licensing 
decision.

Site Visits

    All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited 
to join the staff for visits to the project sites on January 17 and 18, 
1995. We will depart from the Watertown Holiday Inn at 8:30 a.m. each 
day and conclude by noon on January 18. If the site visits are 
cancelled because of weather conditions, they will not be rescheduled.

Scoping Meetings

    The FERC will conduct two public scoping meetings on January 18, 
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 EIS.
    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 EIS 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 EIS;
     Identify significant environmental issues related to the 
proposed project;
     Determine the depth of analysis for issues to be addressed 
in the EIS;
     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 EIS, 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 Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE, 
Washington, D.C. 20426 until February 10, 1995.
    All written correspondence should clearly identify the project on 
the first page of the submittal: Black River Project, FERC No. 2569 or 
Beebee Island Project, FERC No. 2538. 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 Tom Camp at (202) 219-
2832.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-32130 Filed 12-28-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M