[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 107 (Monday, June 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29584-29586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-13610]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment, Conduct 
Site Visit, Solicit Interventions, Protests, and Written Scoping 
Comments

May 26, 1995.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Minor License (existing non-operating).
    b. Project No. 11509-000.
    c. Date filed: December 5, 1994.
    d. Applicant: City of Albany, Oregon.
    e. Name of Project: City of Albany Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the South Santiam River and the Albany-Santiam 
Canal in Linn County, Oregon, in the cities of Albany and Lebanon. 
T12S,R1W, section 19; T12S,R2W sections 2, 3, 11, 23 and 24; T11S,R3W 
sections 6, 7, 15, 18, and 20-25; T11S,R2W section 12; T11S,R4W, 
section 12.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact:

Mark A. Yeager, P.E., Public Works Director, City of Albany, P.O.Box 
490, 250 Broadalbin, Albany, OR 97321, (503) 967-4300.
Beverly Bruesch, Project Planner, David Evans and Associates, Inc., 
2828 SW Corbett Avenue, Portland, OR 97201-4830, (503) 223-6663.

    i. FERC Contact: Ms. Deborah Frazier-Stutely, (202) 219-2842.
    j. Deadline for filing protests, motions to intervene and written 
scoping comments: July 28, 1995.
    k. Status of Environmental Analysis: The application is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time--see attached paragraph D8.
    l. Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment and Invitation for 
Written Scoping Comments: The Commission staff intends to prepare and 
Environmental Assessment (EA) on this hydroelectric project in 
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. In the EA, we 
will consider both site-specific and cumulative environmental impacts 
of the project and reasonable alternatives, and will include an 
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 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 Tuesday, June 27, 1995, at 7:00 pm, 
at the City of Albany, City Hall, 250 Broadalbin, Albany, Oregon. A 
scoping meeting oriented towards the agencies will be held on 
Wednesday, June 28, 1995, at 9:30 am, at the Portland Building, 1120 
South West 5th Avenue, 2nd floor, Room B, Portland, Oregon.
    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 Commission mailing list. 
Copies of the scoping document will also be available at the scoping 
meetings.

Site Visit

    A site visit to the City of Albany Hydroelectric Project is planned 
for June 27, 1995. Those who wish to attend should plan to meet at 8:00 
am at the City of Albany's Water Treatment Plant at 300 Vine Street SW, 
Albany, Oregon. If you plan to attend, contact Mr. G. Matthew Reynolds, 
City of Albany, by June 23, 1995, at (503) 967-4300 for directions or 
additional details.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings the staff will: (1) identify preliminary 
issues related to the proposed project; (2) identify 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 [[Page 29585]] 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 a part of the formal record 
of the Commission's proceedings on the City of Albany 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 comments may be filed with the Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE, 
Washington, D.C. 20426, until July 28, 1995.
    All written correspondence should clearly show the following 
caption on the first page: City of Albany Hydroelectric Project, FERC 
No. 11509-000.
    Intervenors--those on the Commission's service list for this 
proceeding (parties)--are reminded of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, requiring parties filing documents with the 
Commission, to serve a copy of the document on each person whose name 
appears on the official service list. Further, if a party 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. All entities commenting on this scoping document must file an 
original and eight copies of the comments with the Secretary of the 
Commission.
    Any questions regarding this notice may be directed to Ms. Deborah 
Frazier-Stutely, Environmental Coordinator, FERC, at (202) 219-2842.
    m. Description of Project: The proposed project would consist of: 
(1) the existing 6-foot-high, 450-foot-long concrete Lebanon dam, 
consisting of 3-foot-high flashboards with a crest elevation at 100 
feet mean sea level (m.s.l), to be modified to a fixed crest dam with a 
new crest elevation at 101.5 feet m.s.l; (2) four existing fish 
ladders, two to be removed, one replaced and one rehabilitated; (3) the 
existing unscreened canal inlet, to be screened; (4) the existing 18-
mile-long, 20-foot-wide trapezoidal Albany-Santiam Canal, about 12 
miles of which would be dredged; (5) the two existing concrete penstock 
intakes with trashracks, wood plank cover and manual slide gates, one 
to remain closed; (6) the two existing 6-foot-diameter, 55-foot-long 
steel penstocks, one to remain closed; (7) the existing powerhouse 
containing two Francis turbines, one to be removed, and one 
refurbished, two synchronous generators, one to be replaced with an 
induction generator with an installed capacity of 50 kilowatts and the 
other to be removed; (8) the existing switchyard, to be upgraded; (9) 
the existing tailrace discharging project flows into the Calapooia 
River; (10) the existing 2.4-kilovolt, 300-foot-long transmission line 
tying into an existing Pacific Power and Light substation; and (11) 
related facilities.
    The project would operate in a run-of-river mode, and the canal, 
after dredging would have a maximum capacity of 310 cubic feet per 
second (cfs). Albany proposes to operate the project to maintain a 
continuous minimum flow of 1,100 cfs in the South Santiam River bypass 
reach. The proposed project would generate about 3,780,000 
kilowatthours of energy annually.
    n. Purpose of Project: Project power will be used by the City of 
Albany.
    o. This notice also consists of the following standard paragraphs: 
A2, A9, B1, D8.
    p. Available Locations of Applications: A copy of the application, 
as amended and supplemented, is available for inspection and 
reproduction at the Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance 
Branch, located at 941 North Capitol Street, N.E., Room 3104, 
Washington, DC 20426, or by calling (202) 208-1371. A copy is also 
available for inspection and reproduction at the applicant's office 
(see item (h) above).
    A2. Development Application--Any qualified applicant desiring to 
file a competing application must submit to the Commission, on or 
before the specified deadline date for the particular application, a 
competing development application, or a notice of intent to file such 
an application. Submission of a timely notice of intent allows an 
interested person to file the competing development application no 
later than 120 days after the specified deadline date for the 
particular application. Applications for preliminary permits will not 
be accepted in response to this notice.
    A9. Notice of intent--A notice of intent must specify the exact 
name, business address, and telephone number of the prospective 
applicant, and must include an unequivocal statement of intent to 
submit, if such an application may be filed, either a preliminary 
permit application or a development application (specify which type of 
application). A notice of intent must be served on the applicant(s) 
named in this public notice.
    B1. Protests or Motions to Intervene--Anyone may submit a protest 
or a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of Rules 
of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In 
determining the appropriate action to take, the Commission will 
consider all protests filed, but only those who file a motion to 
intervene in accordance with the Commission's Rules may become a party 
to the proceeding. Any protests or motions to intervene must be 
received on or before the specified deadline date for the particular 
application.
    D8. Filing and Service of Responsive Documents--The application is 
not ready for environmental analysis at this time; therefore, the 
Commission is not now requesting comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions, or prescriptions.
    When the application is ready for environmental analysis, the 
Commission will issue a public notice requesting comments, 
recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST'' or ``MOTION TO INTERVENE,'' ``NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE 
COMPETING APPLICATION,'' or ``COMPETING APPLICATION''; (2) set forth in 
the heading the name of the applicant and the project number of the 
application to which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, 
address, and telephone number of the person protesting or intervening; 
and (4) otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 
through 385.2005. Agencies may obtain copies of the application 
directly from the applicant. Any of these documents must be filed by 
providing the original and the number of copies required by the 
Commission's regulations to: The Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426. An 
additional copy must be sent to Director, Division of Project Review, 
Office of Hydropower Licensing, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
Room 1027, at the above [[Page 29586]] address. A copy of any protest 
or motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the 
applicant specified in the particular application.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-13610 Filed 6-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M