[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 22 (Thursday, February 1, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8585-8586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2723]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


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

January 26, 2001.
    a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
    b. Project No.: FERC No. 459.
    c. Applicant: Union Electric Company (d/b/a Ameren/UE).
    d. Name of Project: Osage Project.
    e. Location: On the Osage River, in Benton, Camden, Miller and 
Morgan Counties, central Missouri. The project occupies federal lands.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    g. Applicant Contact: Jerry Hogg, Ameren/UE, 617 River Road, Eldon, 
MO 65026, (573) 365-9315; [email protected].
    h. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed 
to Allan Creamer at (202) 219-0365, or at [email protected].
    i. Deadline for Comments: March 23, 2001.
    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.

[[Page 8586]]

    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all 
interveners 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 intervener 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.
    Protests, comments on filings, comments on environmental 
assessments and environmental impact statements, and reply comments may 
be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. See 18 CFR 
385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's web site 
at http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm.
    j. Description of the Project: The peaking project consists of an 
2,583-foot-long, 148-foot-high concrete dam; a 92-mile-long, 55,000-
acre impoundment at a full pool elevation of 660 feet mean sea level; a 
powerhouse containing eight main and two in-house generating units, 
having a total installed capacity of 176,200 kilowatts; and appurtenant 
facilities. The project generates approximately 675,000 megawatt-hours 
of electricity annually.
    k. Scoping Process: Ameren/UE intends to utilize the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission's (Commission) alternative licensing process 
(ALP). Under the ALP, Ameren/UE will prepare an Applicant Prepared 
Environmental Assessment (APEA) and license application for the Osage 
Hydroelectric Project. Ameren/UE expects to file with the Commission, 
the APEA and the license application for the Osage Hydroelectric 
Project by February 28, 2004.
    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

    Ameren/UE 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

Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m., Marriott's Tan-Tar-A 
Resort, Suite G, Building D, State Road KK, Osage Beach, MO 65065

Evening Meeting

Wednesday, February 21, 2001, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Marriott's Tan-Tar-A 
Resort, Suite G, Building D, State Road KK, Osage Beach, MO 65065

    To help focus discussions, Scoping Document 1 (SD1), which outlines 
the subject areas to be addressed in the APEA, was mailed to the 
parties on the mailing list on January 12, 2001. Copies of the SD1 also 
will be available at the scoping meeting. Based will include a revised 
list of issues, based on the scoping sessions.

Site Visit

    The Applicant (Ameren/UE) and FERC will conduct a project site 
visit beginning at 10 a.m. on February 22, 2001. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at the Osage Power Plant in the town of 
Lakeside, Missouri. All participants are responsible for their own 
transportation to the site. Anyone with questions about the site visit 
should contact Mr. Jerry Hogg of Ameren/UE at 573-365-9315.

Objectives

    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 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, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the scoping meetings 
and site visit, and to assist Ameren/UE in defining and clarifying the 
issues to be addressed in the APES

David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-2723 Filed 1-31-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M