[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 70 (Friday, April 11, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 17800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-9320]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 11553-000 Alaska]


Lace River Hydroelectric Project; Notice of Intent To Conduct 
Environmental Scoping Meetings and a Site Visit

April 7, 1997.
    The Energy Policy Act of 1992 allows applicants to prepare their 
own environmental assessment (EA) for hydropower projects and file it 
with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) along with 
their license application as part of the ``applicant-prepared EA'' 
process. Lace River Hydro (LRH) intends to prepare an EA to file with 
the Commission for the proposed Lace River Hydroelectric Project. LRH 
will hold an environmental scoping meeting, pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, to identify the scope of 
issues that should be analyzed in the EA.

Scoping Meeting

    The time and location of the joint public and agency scoping 
meeting is:
    Date: Thursday, May 1, 1997.
    Place: Alaska Division of Governmental Coordination, Court Plaza 
Building, 240 Main Street, Suite 300, Juneau, Alaska.
    Time: 12:00 p.m. (noon).
    At the scoping meetings, LRH will: (1) Summarize the tentative 
environmental issues and concerns on the project, (2) outline those 
preliminary resources that they believe would not require a detailed 
analysis, (3) identify reasonable alternatives to be addressed in the 
EA, (4) solicit from the meeting participants all available baseline 
information, especially quantitative data, on the resource issues, and 
(5) encourage statements from experts and the public on issues that 
should be analyzed in the EA, including views supporting or opposing 
AP&T's preliminary views.
    All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited 
and encouraged to attend either or both meetings to assist in 
identifying and clarifying the scope of environmental issues that 
should be analyzed in the EA.
    To help focus discussions at the meetings, LRH will prepare and 
distribute to the participants prior to the meetings, the Initial 
Consultation Package and Scoping Document 1 for this project. Copies of 
this scoping document can be obtained by calling Mr. Earle V. Ausman of 
LRH at (907) 258-2420, or can be obtained directly at either meeting.

Site Visit

    LRH will also conduct a site visit to the proposed Lace River 
Project on Wednesday, April 30, 1997. Those attending must meet at the 
Echo Bay (at the end of the road) by 10 a.m. and promptly leave for the 
project site, via floatplane. Because of the remoteness, snowpack that 
time of the year, and difficulty of ground access at the proposed 
project site, a flyover would provide an efficient view of the site. 
Those attending the site visit should be physically fit, must wear warm 
clothing and hip waders, and may be asked to sign a waiver of liability 
regarding floatplane use.
    To charter enough floatplanes in advance of the visit, LRH must 
identify the number of individuals interested in flying over the 
project site. Therefore, if you intend on visiting the proposed project 
site, you must first register with Mr. Earle V. Ausman of LRH at (907) 
258-2420 no later than April 24, 1997. If inclement weather prevents a 
site visit on April 30th, the alternate site visit will be Friday, May 
2nd at the same time.

Meeting Procedures

    The meetings will be conducted according to the procedures used at 
Commission scoping meetings. Because this meeting will be a NEPA 
scoping meeting under the APEA process, the Commission will not conduct 
a NEPA scoping meeting after the application and draft EA are filed 
with the Commission.
    The scoping meeting will be recorded by a stenographer, and thus 
will become a part of the formal record of the proceedings for this 
project.
    Those who choose not to speak during the scoping meeting may 
instead submit written comments on the project. Written comments should 
be mailed to: Mr. Earle V. Ausman, Lace River Hydro, 1503 West 33rd 
Avenue, Suite 310, Anchorage, Alaska 99503. All correspondence should 
show the following caption on the first page: Scoping Comments, Lace 
River Hydroelectric Project, Project No. 11553-000, Alaska.
    For further information, please contact Mr. Earle V. Ausman at 
(907) 258-2420 or Mr. Carl Keller of the Commission at (202) 219-2831.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-9320 Filed 4-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M