[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16440-16441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8264]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

March 30, 1999.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2192-008.
    c. Date Filed: June 26, 1998.
    d. Applicant: Consolidated Water Power Company.
    e. Name of Project: Biron Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Wisconsin River, at river mile 219, in the 
townships of Biron, Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Plover, and 
Whiting, in Wood and Portage Counties, Wisconsin. There is one parcel 
of federal lands, partially occupied by Biron Dam, located within the 
project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 USC 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Mark Anderson, Consolidated Water Power 
Company, P.O. Box 8050, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495-8050, (715) 422-
3927.
    i. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed 
to Michael Spencer, E-mail address, [email protected], or 
telephone (202) 219-2846.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: May 13, 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.
    k. Status of environmental analysis: This application is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. Description of the Project: The project consists of the 
following existing facilities: (1) a 34-foot-high dam consisting of 
3,572.3 feet of concrete gravity wall in five sections, three

[[Page 16441]]

spillway sections containing 22 Taintor gates, and 15,900 feet of 
earthen dikes; (2) a 2,078-acre reservoir at water surface elevation of 
1,035.3 feet msl, and a storage capacity of 19,500 acre-feet; (3) a 
powerhouse, integral with the dam, containing two 1,450-kW turbine 
generators, and an adjacent industrial (grinder) building containing 
seven turbine generators, with a total project installed capacity of 
6,710 kW and an average annual generation of 38.6 GWh; (5) generator 
leads; and (6) appurtenant electrical facilities necessary to 
interconnect with the transmission system.
    m. Locatoins of the application: A copy of the application is 
available for inspection and reproduction at the Commission's Public 
Reference Room, located at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington, 
DC 20426, or by calling (202) 208-1371. This filing may be viewed on 
the web at http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call 202-208-2222 
for assistance). A copy is also available for inspection and 
reproduction at the address shown in item h.
    n. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare a multiple 
project Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed relicensing of 
the Biron Project, Stevens Point Project (FERC No. 2110), and 
Rhinelander Project (FERC No. 2161), in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed actions.

Scoping Meetings

    The Commission will hold joint scoping meetings for the Biron and 
Stevens Point Projects, one in the daytime and one in the evening, to 
help us identify the scope of issues to be addressed in the EA.
    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 scope of the environmental issues that should be 
analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of these meetings are as 
follows:

Daytime Meeting

    Wednesday, April 14, 1999, 1 p.m., Board Room, Plover Municipal 
Building, 2400 Post Road, Business Highway 51, Plover, Wisconsin.

Evening Meeting

    Wednesday, April 14, 1999, 7 p.m., Stevens Point Holiday Inn, 1501 
Northpoint Drive, Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
    To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document 
(SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA to parties 
on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will be 
available at the scoping meetings.

Site Visit

    The applicant and Commission staff will conduct a project site 
visit on Tuesday, April 13, 1999. We will meet at the Power Service 
Building of Consolidated Papers, 610 High Street, Wisconsin Rapids, 
Wisconsin, at 2 p.m. If you would like to attend, please call Mark 
Anderson, Consolidated Water Power Company, at (715) 422-3927, no later 
than April 9, 1999.

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 from experts and the public on issues that should be 
analyzed in the EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) identify those issues that 
require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that do not 
require a detailed analysis.
    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become 
part of the formal record of the Commission's proceeding on the 
project. Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be 
asked to sign in before the meeting starts and to identify themselves 
clearly 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 EA.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-8264 Filed 4-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M