[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16018-16019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7867]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment, Conduct 
Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

March 26, 2003.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2726-012.
    c. Date filed: July 29, 2002.
    d. Applicant: Idaho Power Company.
    e. Name of Project: Upper and Lower Malad Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Malad River in the Town of Hagerman, Gooding 
County, Idaho.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Lewis Wardle, Relicensing Project Manager, 
Idaho Power Company, 1221 West Idaho Street, Boise, ID 83707, (208) 
388-2964
    i. FERC Contact: John Blair, (202) 502-6092, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: June 7, 2003
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    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.
    Scoping comments may be filed electronically via the Internet in 
lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. 
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's 
Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) under the ``e-Filing'' link.
    k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. Description of the Project: the project consists of (1) an upper 
diversion dam consisting of a gated spillway section 100 feet long and 
a flume section 123 long; (2) a concrete flume 4,635 feet long between 
the upper diversion dam and the upper intake structure; (3) the upper 
concrete intake structure 80.5 feet long and approximately 21 feet 
wide; (4) a steel penstock 10 feet in diameter and approximately 238 
feet long connected to the upper powerhouse; (5) the upper reinforced 
concrete powerhouse containing one generating unit having an installed 
nameplate capacity of 8.27 megawatts; (6) a lower diversion dam 
consisting of a gated spillway section 163 feet long and a flume 
section 136 feet long; (7) a concrete flume 5,318 feet long between the 
lower diversion dam and the lower intake structure; (8) the lower 
concrete intake structure 85 feet long and approximately 23 feet wide; 
(9) a steel penstock 12 feet in diameter and approximately 301 feet 
long connected to the lower powerhouse; (10) the lower reinforced 
concrete powerhouse containing one generating unit having an installed 
capacity of 13.5 megawatts; and (11) other appurtenances.
    m. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the 
Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``FERRIS'' link. 
Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket 
number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected] or toll-free at 1-866-208-
3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. A copy is also available for 
inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.
    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

    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

[[Page 16019]]

should be analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of these meetings 
are as follows:

Public Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday, May 6, 2003.
    Time: 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
    Place: Hagerman Senior and Community Center.
    Address: 140 East Lake, Hagerman, Idaho.

Agency Scoping Meeting

    Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2003
    Time: 9:30 a.m.-noon
    Place: Idaho Power Company Headquarters Building
    Address: 1221 West Idaho, Bosie, Idaho
    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the 
scoping meeting or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``FERRIS'' link. Enter the docket number 
excluding the last three digits in the docket field to access the 
document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, 
(202) 502-8659. A copy is also available for inspection at the address 
in item ``h'' above.

Site Visit

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project site visit 
beginning at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2003. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at Idaho Power's Hagerman Maintenance Shop 
located just south of the Malad River Bridge, off Highway 30 north of 
Hagerman. All participants are responsible for their own transportation 
to the site. RSVP Lewis Wardle, Idaho Power Company, at (208) 388-2964, 
if you plan to attend the site visit.

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.

Procedures

    The meetings are recorded by a stenographer and 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 meeting and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the EA.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-7867 Filed 4-1-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P