[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4430-4431]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2412]
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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
January 31, 1996
This notice was previously published in the Federal Register and
the Twin Falls Times-News with January 9 and 10 as the dates for the
site visit and scoping meetings. However, Commission staff was unable
to travel and hold the scoping meeting due to the snow storm.
Therefore, this notice is being republished with new dates.
a. Type of Application: Minor license (less than 5MW).
b. Project No: 11060-001.
c. Dated filed: December 9, 1993.
d. Applicant: J.M. Miller Enterprises, Inc.
e. Name of Project: Sahko Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: In the Kastelu drainage area about 0.5 miles from the
confluence with the Snake River in Twin Falls County, Idaho, near the
town of Filer.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. Secs. 791(a)-
825(r).
h. Applicant Contact:
Donald W. Block, P.E., J-U-B Engineers, Inc., 800 Falls Ave., Twin
Falls, ID 83301, (208) 733-2414
Tracy Ahrens, J-U-B Engineers, Inc., 800 Falls Ave., Twin Falls, ID
83301, (208) 733-2414
i. FERC Contact: Ms. Deborah Frazier-Stutely (202) 219-2842.
j. Deadline for filing protests, motions to intervene and written
scoping comments: March 22, 1996.
k. Status of Environmental Analysis: The application is not ready
for environmental analysis at this time--see attached paragraph D8.
1. Intent to Prepare and 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 consideration by the
Commission in reaching its final licensing decision.
Site Visit: A site visit to the proposed Sahko Hydroelectric
Project is planned for February 21, 1996. Those who wish to attend
should plan to meet at 8:00 am at the J-U-B Engineers, Inc. Twin Falls
Office, 800 Falls Ave., Twin Falls, ID. If you plan to attend, contact
Mr. Tracy Ahrens by February 19, 1996, at (208) 733-2414 for directions
or additional details.
Scoping Meetings: Staff will hold two scoping meetings. A scoping
meeting oriented towards the public will be held on Wednesday, February
21, 1996, at 7:00 p.m., at Filer High School, Highway 30, Filer, Idaho.
A scoping meeting oriented towards the agencies will be held on
Thursday, February 22, 1996, at 9:00 a.m., at the Filer City Hall,
Council Chambers, 300 Main Street, Filer, ID 83328.
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.
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 resource issues; and (5) encourage statements
from experts and the public on issues that should be analyzed in the
EA, including points of
[[Page 4431]]
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 Sahko
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, 888 First Street, NE, Washington,
D.C. 20426, until March 22, 1996.
All written correspondence should clearly show the following
caption on the first page: Sahko Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 11060-
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) a 12-foot-high, 12-foot-wide, 80-foot-long earthfill sediment
collection embankment with a crest at elevation 3,397 feet mean sea
level (mSL), containing a broadcrest weir, a 4-foot-high 14-foot-wide
overflow spillway, and a bypass pipe; (2) a 500-foot-long bypass ditch
to be used during maintenance; (3) a 12-foot-high, 12-foot-wide, 110-
foot-long earthfill intake embankment with a crest at elevation 3,394.5
feet msl, containing a concrete overflow spillway, an 8-foot-wide box
shaped intake structure, and bypass pipe; (4) two unnamed springs; (5)
a 24-inch-diameter, 1,950-foot-long partially buried steel penstock
with a butterfly valve; (6) a 25-foot-wide, 50-foot-long masonry block
powerhouse containing one pelton turbine and generating unit with an
installed capacity of 500 kW; (7) a 6-foot-wide, 3-foot-high, 30-foot-
long rock rip-rap tailrace, discharging project flows into the Snake
River; (8) a switchyard; (9) a 2,000-foot-long, 34.5-kV transmission
line tying into an Idaho Power Company line; and (10) related
facilities.
The proposed project would operate run-of-ditch, where the project
will use whatever flows enter the sediment impoundment as either
irrigation waste flows or as emanating from the two unnamed springs on
the applicant's property, and would generate about 1,178,000
kilowatthours of energy annually.
n. Purpose of Project: Project power will be sold to a local
utility.
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 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, 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)
names 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, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 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.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-2412 Filed 2-5-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M