[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 14, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24302-24303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11979]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 11574-000 CT]


City of Norwich, Department of Public Utilities; Notice Not Ready 
for Environmental Analysis, Notice Requesting Interventions and 
Protests, Notice Inviting Competing Applications, and Notice of Scoping 
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

May 8, 1996.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) has issued a 
letter accepting the City of Norwich, Department of Public Utilities, 
application for the Occum Hydroelectric Project, located on the 
Shetucket River, near the City of Norwich, New London County, 
Connecticut.
    The existing Occum Project's facilities consist of a 90-acre 
impoundment; a dam consisting of two adjacent spillway sections, earth 
embankments, and an intake structure; a 225-foot-long by 160-foot-wide 
forebay area; a 40-foot-long by 32-foot-wide powerhouse, housing one 
turbine with a total capacity of 800 kW; and appurtenant facilities. 
The project would have an average annual generation of about 3,750 
megawatthours.
    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; (3) advise all 
parties of their opportunity for comment; and (4) to invite competing 
applications.

Competition

    Any qualified applicant desiring to file a competing application 
must submit to the Commission, on or before the specified deadline date 
for this application, the competing development application or a notice 
of intent to file such an application. Submitting 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 a preliminary permit 
will not be accepted in response to this notice.
    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 a development application. A 
notice of intent must be served on the applicant named in this public 
notice.

Interventions 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 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: 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.
    All filings for any protest or motion to intervene, competing 
application, or notice of intent 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 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 
alternatives, the geographic and 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 Occum 
Hydroelectric Project constitutes a major federal action significantly 
impacting the quality of the human environment. The

[[Page 24303]]

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, commentors 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 than 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: Occum Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 11574-000.
    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 Michael Dees, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of 
Hydropower Licensing, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, 
or at (202) 219-2807.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-11979 Filed 5-13-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M