[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 162 (Monday, August 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45963-45964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21763]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

August 17, 1999.
    Take notice the following hydroelectric application has been filed 
with the Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Minor License.
    b. Project No.: P-11730-000.
    c. Dated Filed: April 21, 1999.
    d. Applicant: Black River Limited Partnership.
    e. Name of Project: Alverno Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Black River in the Townships of Aloha, Benton, 
and Grant, in Cheboygan County, Michigan.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Frank O. Christie, President, Franklyn Hydro, 
Inc., 8 East Main Street, Malone, New York 12953, (518) 483-1961.
    i. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed 
to John Costello, E-mail address [email protected] or telephone 
at (202) 219-2914.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: 60 days from the issuance 
date of this notice.
    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 serve 
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 the resource agency.
    k. Status of Environmental Analysis: This application is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. Description of Project: The constructed project consists of a 
360-foot-long earth filled dam with a power plant located on the right 
riverbank and a gated spillway near the left bank. The project 
impoundment extends approximately 2.5 miles upstream. The powerhouse 
contains 2 horizontal turbine/generator sets.
    m. Locations of the Application: A copy of the application is 
available for inspection and reproduction at the Commission's Public 
Reference and Files and Maintenance Branch, located at 888 First 
Street, NE, Room 2A-1, Washington, DC 20426, or by calling (202) 208-
2326. A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the 
Cheboygan Public Library, 107 South Ball Street, Cheboygan, Michigan.
    n. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) on the project 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 action.

Scoping Meetings

    The Commission will hold scoping meetings, 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
    Tuesday, September 21, 1999, 1:00 PM, Benton Town Hall, corner of 
North Black River Road, and Orchard Beach Road, (Alverno Corner)

Evening Meeting
    Tuesday, September 21, 1999, 7:00 PM, Benton Town Hall, corner of 
North Black River Road, and Orchard Beach Road, (Alverno Corner)

    To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document 
(SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA to the 
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, September 21, 1999. We will meet at the project's 
powerhouse at 10:30 AM. If you would like to attend, please call Frank 
Christie, Black River Limited Partnership, at (518) 483-1961, no later 
than September 17, 1999.

[[Page 45964]]

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 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 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 EA.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-21763 Filed 8-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M