[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 11, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 36276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-17310]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 77-110; California]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Application Tendered 
for Filing with the Commission and Soliciting Comments

July 5, 2001.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Amendment to License Amendment Application.
    b. Project No.: 77-110.
    c. Date filed: June 14, 2001.
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
    e. Name of Project: Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: Eel River and East Fork Russian River, in Mendocino 
and Lake counties, California. The project is partially located within 
the Mendocino National Forest, on federal lands administered by the 
U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. Secs. 791 (a)-
825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Ms. Rhonda Shiffman, Project Manager, Pacific 
Gas and Electric Company, P.O. Box 770000, Mail Code N11C, San 
Francisco, CA 94177, (415) 973-5852.
    i. FERC Contact: John Mudre, E-mail address [email protected], 
or telephone (202) 219-1208.
    j. Deadline Date: August 6, 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.
    Comments, protests and interventions 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 under the ``e-Filing'' 
link.
    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 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.
    k. Description: On March 31, 1998, Pacific Gas and Electric Company 
(PG&E) filed an application to amend its license for the Potter Valley 
Hydroelectric Project in order to increase minimum flow releases to the 
Eel River to benefit anadromous salmonids therein. Commission staff 
subsequently prepared an Environmental Impact Statement to analyze the 
impacts of the proposed alternative and five other alternatives. The 
EIS recommended a proposal proposed by PG&E and the Potter Valley 
Irrigation District (PVID; the PG&E/PVID proposal) as the preferred 
alternative. Pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, 
Commission staff entered into formal consultation with the National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on the effects of the proposed agency 
action on listed salmonids in the Eel and Russian rivers. The proposed 
modification of the PG&E/PVID proposal that is the subject of this 
notice was developed as a result of discussions among PG&E, NMFS, the 
California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service and others during the pendency of the formal consultation. The 
modifications to the proposal are intended to address concerns raised 
by the NMFS in their November 21, 2000, draft biological opinion.
    Our preliminary analysis suggests that the scope of environmental 
impacts associated with this modified proposal would be within the 
range of effects of the alternatives considered in our May 2000 FEIS, 
in particular, between the PG&E/PVID alternative and the DOI/NMFS 
alternative. Should further review of the modified proposal confirm 
that finding, Commission staff would conduct no further NEPA review, 
finish ESA formal consultation, and present the matter to the 
Commission for decision.
    To assist us in our review of the modified proposal, we are 
soliciting comments from resource agencies and other interested parties 
on the modified proposal. These comments will be considered in 
conjunction with our technical review of the modified proposal as we 
decide whether further NEPA analysis is warranted, and whether we 
should adopt the modified proposal as our proposed agency action.
    l. Locations 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, 
D.C. 20426, or by calling (202) 208-1371. The application may be viewed 
on http://rimsweb1.ferc.gov/rims (call (202)208-2222 for assistance). A 
copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address 
in item h above.

David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-17310 Filed 7-10-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P