[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 29, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16587-16588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-7672]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1895-007 South Carolina]


South Carolina Electric & Gas Company; Notice of Intent To 
Conduct Public Scoping Meetings and Site Visit

March 23, 2000. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or 
FERC) received an application from the South Carolina Electric & Gas 
Company (SCE&G or Applicant) to relicense the Columbia Hydroelectric 
Project No. 1895-007. The 10,600-kilowatt (kW) project is located on 
the Broad River and Congaree River in the City of Columbia and Richland 
County, South Carolina. The Commission will hold public and agency 
scoping meetings on April 12 and 13, 2000, for preparation of an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) under the national Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) for the issuance of a major license for the project.

Scoping Meetings

    FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public 
meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and 
non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public 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:
Agency Scoping Meeting
Date: Thursday, April 13, 2000
Time: 9 a.m.
Place: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, (Rm 335 of the 
Rembert Dennis Building)
Address: 1000 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC
Public Scoping Meeting
Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2000
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: South Carolina State Museum (Red Room)
Address: 301 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC
    To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document 
outlining the subject areas to be addressed at the meeting to the 
parties on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of this document will 
also be available at the scoping meetings.

Site Visit

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project site visit 
beginning at 1:00 p.m. on April 12, 2000. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All participants 
should meet at the parking lot of the Columbia Hydroelectric Plant off 
of Gervais Street. All participants are responsible for their own 
transportation to the site. Anyone with questions about the site visit 
should contact Christina Massey of SCE&G at 803-217-9198.

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 relative 
depth of analysis for issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) 
identify resources this project does not effect and, therefore, do not 
require detailed analysis.

Procedures

    Statements made at the meetings will be recorded by a stenographer 
and will become part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding 
on the project. In addition, written scoping comments may be filed with 
the Secretary, Federal

[[Page 16588]]

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 
20426, until May 15, 2000. All filings should contain an original and 
eight copies, and must clearly show at the top of the first page 
``Columbia Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 1895-007''.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
concerns related to the Columbia Hydroelectric Project are encouraged 
to attend the meetings and to assist the staff in defining the issues 
to be addressed in the EA. For further information, please contact 
Charles Hall at 202-219-2853, or e-mail [email protected]/us.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-7672 Filed 3-28-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M