[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 189 (Wednesday, September 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 52251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26105]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2964-006]


City of Sturgis; Notice of Site Visit and Scoping Meetings 
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

September 24, 1998.
    On March 31, 1998, the City of Sturgis, Michigan (applicant) filed 
an application for new license for the Sturgis Hydro Project, located 
on the St. Joseph's River in St. Joseph County, near Centerville, 
Michigan.
    The purpose of this notice is to: (1) 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 (2) advise all parties of their opportunity for 
comment.

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 addressed in the environmental document to be prepared 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The 
document entitled ``Scoping Document'' (SD) will be circulated shortly 
to enable appropriate federal, state, and local resource agencies, 
developers, Indian tribes, nongovernmental organizations (NGO'S), and 
other interested parties to effectively participate in and contribute 
to the scoping process. SD 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.

Project Site Visit

    The applicant and the Commission staff will conduct a site visit of 
the Sturgis Hydro Project on October 13, 1998, at 1:30 p.m. They will 
meet at the hydroelectric facility. All interested individuals, NGO's 
and agencies are invited to attend. All participants are responsible 
for their own transportation. For more details, interested parties 
should contact Mr. John Griffith, Electric Department Superintendent, 
at (616) 651-2321, prior to the site visit date.

Scoping Meetings

    The Commission staff will hold scoping meetings on October 13 and 
14, 1998, in preparation for completing an Environmental Assessment 
(EA), under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for 
relicensing the Sturgis Hydro Project.
    Commission staff will hold the scoping meetings in the vicinity of 
the Sturgis Hydro Project: one evening meeting and one morning meeting. 
The evening will focus on receiving input from the public, whereas the 
afternoon meeting will focus on resource agency concerns. We invite all 
interested agencies, NGOs, and individuals to attend one or both of the 
meetings, and to assist staff in identifying the scope of environmental 
issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of 
these meetings are shown below.

Evening Scoping Meeting: October 13, 1998, 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., 
Sturges-Young Auditorium, 201 North Nottawa Rd., Sturgis, MI 49091, 
(616) 651-2321
Morning Scoping Meeting: October 14, 1998, 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., 
Sturges-Young Auditorium, 201 North Nottawa Rd., Sturgis, MI 49091, 
(616) 651-2321

    To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document 
(SD) outlining the areas to be addressed at the meetings to the parties 
on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD also will be 
available at the scoping meetings.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2) 
solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements on environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA, 
including opinions in favor of, or in opposition to, the staff's 
preliminary list of issues; (4) determine the depth of analysis for 
issues addressed in the EA; and (5) identify resource issues that will 
not require detailed analysis in the EA.
    The Scoping meetings will be recorded by a court reporter, and all 
statements (oral and written) will become part of the Commission's 
public record for the project. Before each meeting starts, all 
individuals who attend, especially those individuals that intend to 
make statements during the meeting, will be asked to sign in and 
clearly identify themselves for the record prior to speaking. Time 
allotted for presentations will be determined by staff based on the 
length of the meetings and the number of people wanting to speak. All 
individuals wishing to speak will be provided at least five minutes to 
present their views.
    Interested parties who choose not to speak, or are unable to attend 
the scoping meetings, may provide written comments and information to 
the Commission until November 13, 1998. Written comments and 
information should be submitted to the Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426.
    The first page of all filings should indicate ``Sturgis Hydro 
Project, FERC No. 2964-006'' at the top of the page. All findings sent 
to the Secretary of the Commission should contain an original and eight 
copies. Failure to file an original and eight copies may result in 
appropriate staff not receiving the benefit of your comments in a 
timely manner. Furthermore, participants in this proceeding are 
reminded that if they file comments with the Commission, they must 
serve a copy of their filing to the parties on the Commission's service 
list.
    For further information, please contact Patrick Murphy at (202) 
219-2659.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-26105 Filed 9-29-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M