[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 130 (Friday, July 5, 1996)] [Notices] [Pages 35207-35208] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 96-17072] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [Project No. 11437-001-NC] Hydro Matrix Partnership, Ltd.; Notice Ready for Environmental Analysis, Notice Requesting Interventions, Protests, and Comments, and Notice of Scoping Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 June 28, 1996. On June 21, 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) issued a letter accepting Hydro Matrix Partnership, Ltd.'s application for the Jordan Hydroelectric Project located at the U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers Jordan Dam on the Haw River in Chatham County, North Carolina. The Jordan Hydroelectric Project's principal project features would consist of 80 small turbine generator units installed in two modules placed in slots on the intake tower. Each generator would have a rated capacity of 100 kW for a total rated capacity of 8,000 kW. The project would have an average annual generation of 38 GWh. The project site is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 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. The application is ready for environmental analysis at this time, and the Commission is requesting comments, reply comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions. Interventions, Protests, and Comments 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,'' ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' OR ``PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (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, N.E., 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 must be received 60 days from the issuance date of this notice. The Commission directs, pursuant to section 4.34(b) of the regulations (see order No. 533 issued May 8, 1991, 56 FR 23108 (May 20, 1991)), that all comments, recommendations, terms and conditions and prescriptions concerning the application be filed with the Commission within 60 days from the issuance date of this notice. All reply comments must be filed with the Commission within 105 days from the date of this notice. Anyone may obtain an extension of time for these deadlines from the Commission only upon a showing of good cause or extraordinary circumstances in accordance with 18 CFR 385.2008. 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, and 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 Jordan 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, 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 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, DC 20426, and should show the following captions on the first page: Jordan Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 11437-001. Further, interested persons are reminded of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures, requiring [[Page 35208]] 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, N.E., Washington, DC 20426 at (202) 219-2814. Lois D. Cashell, Secretary. [FR Doc. 96-17072 Filed 7-3-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-M