[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 173 (Tuesday, September 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47491-47492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23984]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 10725-002]


Little Horn Energy Wyoming Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Public Scoping Meetings and 
a Site Visit

September 1, 1998.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is reviewing 
the hydropower application for an original license for the 1,000-
megawatt Dry Fork Energy Storage Project No. 10725. The proposed pumped 
storage project, to be constructed by Little Horn Energy Wyoming, Inc. 
(Little Horn Energy), would be located on 1,055 acres of United States 
lands within the Bighorn National Forest in Sheridan County, Wyoming. 
The project would include two reservoirs. The lower reservoir would be 
created by impounding the Dry Fork of the Little Bighorn River with a 
265-foot-high dam. The upper reservoir would be created by constructing 
a perimeter dam that would be up to 100 feet high on Dry Fork Ridge.
    The Commission staff has determined that licensing this project 
would constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the 
quality of the human environment. Therefore, the Commission staff 
intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. In 
the EIS, the Commission staff will consider reasonable alternatives to 
Little Horn Energy's proposed action and analyze both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts of the project, including economic and 
engineering impacts.
    A draft EIS will be issued and circulated to those on the mailing 
list for this project, and the Commission staff will hold a public 
meeting to discuss the draft EIS. All comments

[[Page 47492]]

filed on the draft EIS will be analyzed by the staff and considered in 
a final EIS. The staff's conclusions and recommendations presented in 
the final EIS will then be presented to the Commission to assist in 
making a licensing decision.

Scoping

    The Commission staff is asking the resource agencies, Indian 
tribes, non-governmental organizations, and the public to help them 
identify the scope of environmental issues that should be analyzed in 
the EIS and to provide them with information that may be useful in 
preparing the EIS.
    To help focus comments on the environmental issues, a scoping 
document outlining subject areas to be addressed in the EIS will be 
mailed to those on the mailing list for the project.
    Those with comments or information pertaining to this project 
should file it with the Commission at the following address within 60 
days of the issuance date of the scoping document: David P. Boergers, 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    All filings should clearly show the following on the first page: 
Dry Fork Energy Storage Project, FERC No. 10725.
    Intervenors are reminded of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure which require all intervenors filing documents with the 
Commission to serve a copy of that document on each person whose name 
appears on the official service list for the project. Further, if an 
intervenor 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.
    In addition to asking for written comments, the Commission staff 
will hold two scoping meetings to solicit any verbal input and comments 
that you may wish to offer on the scope of the EIS. An agency scoping 
meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. on September 30, 1998, at the Holiday 
Inn, Sheridan, Wyoming. A public scoping meeting will begin at 5:00 PM 
on September 30, 1998, at the Sheridan Jr. High School Auditorium, 600 
Adair Street, Sheridan, Wyoming. The first hour of the public scoping 
meeting will be an informal session where the public will have the 
opportunity to meet with the Commission staff and the applicant to 
discuss the proposed project. The public and agencies may attend either 
meeting.
    There will also be a visit to the project site on September 29, 
1998, to allow the parties to become more familiar with the project 
area. Those planning on attending the site visit should bring a four-
wheel-drive vehicle, blaze orange clothing (if possible), and lunch. We 
plan to hike from the proposed lower reservoir site to the proposed 
upper reservoir site and to one alternative reservoir location.
    More information about the scoping meetings and site visit is 
available in the scoping document. If you have any questions about this 
notice or need a copy of the scoping document, please contact Mr. Doug 
Hjorth at (781) 444-3330 ext. 283 or Mr. Nick Jayjack at (202) 219-
2825.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-23984 Filed 9-4-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M