[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27973-27974]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-13063]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 11077-001]


Alaska Power and Telephone Company; Notice of Intent to Conduct 
Environmental Scoping Meetings and Site Visit

May 23, 1995.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received an 
application for a license of the proposed Goat Lake Hydroelectric 
Project, Project No. 11077-001. The project is proposed by Alaska Power 
and Telephone Company (Alaska Power). The project would be located 
along Pitchfork Falls, a tributary to the Skagway River, about 7 miles 
northeast of Skagway, in southeast Alaska. The project lies almost 
exclusively on U.S. Forest (FS) property.
    The FERC and FS (staff) intend to prepare an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) on the proposed Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. In the EA, staff 
will consider both site-specific and cumulative environmental impacts 
of the project and reasonable alternatives, and will include an 
economic, financial, and engineering analysis.
    The draft EA will be issued and circulated for review by all 
interested parties. All comments filed on the draft EA will be analyzed 
and considered by the staff in a final EA. The staff's conclusions and 
recommendations will then be presented for the consideration by the 
Commission in reaching its final licensing decision.

Scoping Meetings

    Staff will hold two scoping meetings. A scoping meeting oriented 
towards the public will be held on June 20, 1995 at 7 p.m., at the 
Skagway School, Multipurpose Room, 15th Avenue and Main Street, 
Skagway, Alaska. A scoping meeting oriented towards the agencies will 
be held on June 22, 1995 at 9:30 a.m., at the U.S. Forest Service, 
Juneau Ranger District, Conference Room, 8465 Old Dairy Road, Juneau, 
Alaska.
    Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
attend either or both meetings and assist the staff in identifying the 
scope of environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA.
    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: (1) Identify preliminary 
environmental issues related to the proposed project; (2) identify 
preliminary resource issues that are not important and do not require 
detailed analysis; (3) identify reasonable alternatives to be addressed 
in the EA; (4) solicit from the meeting participants all available 
information, especially quantified data, on the resource issues; and 
(5) 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 scoping meetings will be recorded by a court reporter and all 
statements (oral and written) will become part of the formal record of 
the FERC proceedings on the Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project. 
Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be asked to 
clearly identify themselves for the record.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and assist 
the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed in the 
EA.
    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 meetings. In 
addition, written scoping [[Page 27974]] comments may be filed with the 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, until July 22, 1995.
    All written correspondence should clearly show the following 
caption on the first page: Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project, FERC 
Project No. 11077-001.
    Intervenors--those on the FERC's service list for this proceeding 
(parties)--are reminded of the FERC's Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
requiring parties filing documents with FERC, to serve a copy of the 
document on each person whose name appears on the official service 
list. Further, if a party or interceder files comments or documents 
with FERC 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.
Site Visit

    A site visit to the proposed Goat Lake Hydroelectric Project is 
planned for Tuesday, June 20, 1995, and is intended to provide 
interested parties a first hand observation of the project site. 
Because of the remoteness and difficulty of ground access at the 
proposed project site, we intend to provide helicopter shuttle to the 
site. To plan on helicopter use in advance of the visit, we must 
identify the number of parties interested in attending the site visit. 
Therefore, if you have a particular interest in visiting the proposed 
project site and plan on participating in scoping of this project as 
identified in section 3 of the Scoping Document 1, you must first 
register with Mr. Stan Selmer at (907) 983-2202, no later than June 5, 
1995. Mr. Selmer will serve as the principle site visit coordinator.
    We will meet at Alaska Power's office at 5th and Spring Street in 
Skagway, Alaska at 7:00 a.m., and promptly leave for the upper project 
area near Goat Lake located about 8 miles away, via helicopter.\1\ 
Those in attendance will then hike down Pitchfork Falls along the 
alignment of proposed project features. Around 1:00 p.m., the 
participants will be picked up around milepost 9 by a flag train on the 
White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, and will travel northbound across 
White Pass to Frazer, Canada to give participants a scenic overview of 
the Klondike area around the proposed project. There will be a cost of 
approximately $64.00 for the train ride to Frazer, and tickets would 
have to be purchased in advance. Vehicles will be parked at Frazer to 
provide transportation back to Skagway along the Klondike Highway.\2\ 
Arrival in Skagway is expected around 4:00 p.m.\3\

    \1\Because of the remote steep topography, shrub thickets, and 
abundant surface water in the project area, those attending the site 
visit should be physically fit and must wear appropriate clothing 
and footgear. In addition, those shuttled by helicopter to the 
project site not on official agency business, may need to sign a 
waiver of liability.
    \2\To enter Canada, proof of U.S. citizenship will be required. 
Therefore, all participants must provide one of the following: birth 
certificate, voters registration card, social security card, or U.S. 
passport.
    \3\One alternate for returning to Skagway would be for 
participants to board an 11:00 a.m. southbound flag train around 
milepost 9 on the WP&YR RR. This train would arrive in Skagway 
around 12:00 noon and the trip would cost $25.00. Another alternate 
for returning to Skagway would be for participants to board a 5:30 
p.m. southbound flag train around milepost 9 on the WP&YR RR. Its 
arrival in Skagway would be around 6:30 p.m. at a cost of $25.00. 
All tickets would have to be purchased in advance.
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    In the event inclement weather precludes the site visit on June 20, 
on alternate site visit will be held on Wednesday, June 21, 1995, with 
the same itinerary.
    Any questions regarding this notice may be directed to Mr. Carl 
Keller, FERC Environmental Coordinator, Washington, DC (202) 219-2831, 
or Ms. Margaret Beilharz, FS Project Manager at (907) 586-8800, Juneau, 
Alaska.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-13063 Filed 5-25-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M