[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 38 (Friday, February 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9499-9500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4788]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meeting and Soliciting Scoping Comments for an 
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment Using the Alternative 
Licensing Process.

February 22, 1999.
    a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
    b. Project No.: 469.
    c. Applicant: Minnesota Power, Inc.
    d. Name of Project: Winton Hydroelectric Project.
    e. Location: On the Kawishiwi River, in Lake and St. Louis 
Counties, Minnesota. The project is located within the Superior 
National Forest administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. Secs. 791(a)--
825(r).
    g. Applicant Contact: John Paulson, Minnesota Power, Inc., Land and 
Water Section, 30 West Superior Street, Duluth, MN 55802, (218) 722-
5642 (ext. 3569).
    h. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed 
to Tom Dean, E-mail address [email protected], or telephone (202) 
219-2778.
    i. Deadline for filing scoping comments: April 23, 1999.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with:

    David P. Boergers, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 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.
    j. Description of the Project: The project consists of the 
following two developments:
    The Winton Development consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) a concrete dam comprising: (a) a 176-foot-long spillway 
section; (b) a 84-foot-long Taintor gate section; (c) a 80-foot-long 
stop-log gate section; (d) a 111-foot-long and 120-foot-long non-over-
flow section; and (e) a 161-foot-long intake section; (2) approximately 
1,500-foot-long earth dikes; (3) a 2,982-acre reservoir comprising the 
Garden, Farm, South Farm, and Friday Lakes at normal water surface 
elevation of 1,388.0 feet msl; (4) two 250-foot-long, 9-foot-diameter 
penstocks extending to; (5) a powerhouse containing two generating 
units with a total installed capacity of 4,000 kW; and (6) other 
appurtenances.
    The Birch Lake Reservoir Development consists of: (1) a 227-foot-
long rock-filled timber crib dam comprising; (a) a 72-foot-long Taintor 
gate section; and (b) a 85-foot-long sluice gate section; and (2) the 
7,624-acre Birth Lake reservoir at normal water surface elevation of 
1,418.0 feet msl. This development provides water storage for the 
Winton Development.
    k. Scoping Process:
    Minnesota Power, Inc. (Minnesota Power) intends to utilize the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) alternative 
licensing process (ALP). Under the ALP, Minnesota Power will prepare an 
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment (APEA) and license 
application for the Winton Hydroelectric Project.
    On March 30, 1998, Minnesota Power requested, and on May 7, 1998, 
obtained the Commission's approval to use the ALP.
    Minnesota Power expects to file with the Commission, the APEA and 
the license application for the Winton Hydroelectric Project by October 
2001.
    The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the opportunity to 
participate in the upcoming scoping meetings identified below, and to 
solicit your scoping comments.

Scoping Meetings

    Minnesota Power and the Commission staff will hold two scoping 
meetings, one in the daytime and one in the evening, to help us 
identify the scope of issues to be addressed in the APEA.
    The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, 
while the evening scoping meeting is primarily for public input. All 
interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
attend one or both of the meetings, and to assist the staff in 
identifying the environmental issues that should be analyzed in the 
APEA. The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:

Daytime Meeting

    Tuesday, March 23, 1999, 10:00 a.m., Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, 
Sunset Room, 400 North Pioneer Road, Sunset Room, Ely, Minnesota 55731.

Evening Meeting

    Tuesday, March 23, 1999, 7:00 p.m., Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort, 
Sunset Room, 400 North Pioneer Road, Sunset Room, Ely, Minnesota 55731.
    To help focus discussions, Minnesota Power will mail SDI outlining 
the subject areas to be addressed in the APEA to the parties on the 
Minnesota Power's mailing list. Copies of the SDI also will be 
available at the scoping meetings.
    Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document II 
(SDII) may be issued. SDII will include a revised list of issues, based 
on the scoping sessions.

Ojbectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the APEA; 
(2) solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements from experts and the public on issues that should be 
analyzed in the APEA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in

[[Page 9500]]

the APEA; and (5) identify those issues that require a detailed 
analysis, as well as those issues that do not require a detailed 
analysis.

Procedures

    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become 
part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project. 
Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be asked to sign 
in before the meeting starts and to clearly identify themselves for the 
record.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the APEA.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-4788 Filed 2-25-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M