[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 27, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66968-66969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-31288]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 11120-002-MI]


Commonwealth Power Company; Notice Not Ready for Environmental 
Analysis Notice Requesting Interventions and Protests, and Notice of 
Scoping Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

December 20, 1995.
    On November 29, 1995, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) issued a letter accepting Commonwealth Power Company's 
application filed on March 4, 1994, as amended December 29, 1994, for 
the Middleville Hydroelectric Project, located in the Thornapple River 
in Barry County, Michigan.
    The Middleville Project's principal project features would consist 
of an existing 125-foot-high concrete gravity dam, an existing 
reservoir with a storage capacity of 30 acres and a normal maximum 
surface elevation of 708.5 feet msl, a 25-foot-long penstock, an 
existing powerhouse containing one generating unit with a rated 
capacity of 350 kW and an existing 100-foot-long transmission line. The 
project would have an average annual generation of 1,400,000 kWh. The 
project site is owned by the applicant.
    The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time. A public notice will be issued in the future indicating its 
readiness for environmental analysis and soliciting comments, 
recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions on the 
application and the applicant's reply comments.
    The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Invite interventions and 
protests; (2) advise all parties as to the proposed scope of the 
staff's environmental analysis, including cumulative effects, and to 
seek additional information pertinent to this analysis; and (3) advise 
all parties of their opportunity for comment.

Inverventions and Protests

    All filings must: (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST,'' ``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 my 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: Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE., Washington, D.C. 20426.
    An additional copy must be sent to: Director, Division of Project 
Review, Office of Hydropower Licensing, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, at the above address. A copy of any protest or motion to 
intervene must be served upon each representative of the applicant 
specified in the particular application.
    All filings for any protest or motion to intervene must be received 
60 days from the issuance date of this notice.

Scoping Process

    The Commission's scoping objectives are to:
     identify significant environmental issues;
     determine the depth of analysis appropriate to each issue;
     identify the resource issues not requiring detailed 
analysis; and
     identify reasonable project alternatives.
    The purpose of the scoping process is to identify significant 
issues related to the proposed action and to determine what issues 
should be covered in the environmental document pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The document entitled 
``Scoping Document I'' (SDI) will be circulated shortly to enable 
appropriate federal, state, and local resource agencies, developers, 
Indian tribes, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other 
interested parties to effectively participate in and contribute to the 
scoping process. SDI provides a brief description of the proposed 
action, project alternative, the geographic and 

[[Page 66969]]
temporal scope of a cumulative effects analysis, and a list of 
preliminary issues identified by staff.
    The Commission will decide, based on the application, and agency 
and public comments to scoping, whether licensing the Middleville 
Hydroelectric Project constitutes a major federal action significantly 
impacting the quality of the human environment. The Commission staff 
will not hold scoping meetings unless the Commission decides to prepare 
an environmental impact statement, or the response to SDI warrants 
holding such meetings.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to comment on SDI and assist the 
staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed.
    All filings should contain an original and 8 copies. Failure to 
file an original and 8 copies may result in appropriate staff not 
receiving the benefit of your comments in a timely manner. See 18 CFR 
4.34(h). In addition, commenters may submit a copy of their comments on 
a 3\1/2\-inch diskette formatted for MS-DOS based computers. In light 
of our ability to translate MS-DOS based materials, the text need only 
be submitted in the format and version that it was generated (i.e., MS 
Word, WordPerfect 5.1/5.2, ASCII, etc.). It is not necessary to 
reformat word processor generated text to ASCII. For Macintosh users, 
it would be helpful to save the documents in Macintosh word processor 
format then write them to files on a diskette formatted for MS-DOS 
machines. All comments should be submitted to the Office of the 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, and should show the following captions on 
the first page: Middleville Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 11120-002.
    Further, interested persons are reminded of the Commission's Rules 
of Practice and Procedures, requiring parties or interceders (as 
defined in 18 CFR 385.2010) to file documents on each person whose name 
is on the official service list for this proceeding. See CFR 4.34(b).
    The Commission staff will consider all written comments and may 
issue a Scoping Document II (SDII). SDII will include a revised list of 
issues, based on the scoping process.
    For further information regarding the scoping process, please 
contact Ms. Julie Bernt, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office 
of Hydropower Licensing, 888 First Street NE., Washington, D.C. 20426 
at (202) 219-2814.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-31288 Filed 12-26-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M