[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25601-25602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11932]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Notice of Scoping Meeting and Soliciting Scoping Comments for an
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment Using the Alternative
Licensing Process
May 7, 2003.
a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
b. Project No.: 2545-075.
c. Applicant: Avista Corporation.
d. Name of Project: Spokane River Hydroelectric Project.
e. Location: On the Spokane River, in Spokane, Stevens, and Lincoln
Counties, Washington and Kootenai and Benewah Counties, Idaho. The
project occupies tribal lands of the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation.
The project does not occupy any federal lands.
f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
g. Applicant Contact: Bruce Howard, Spokane River License Manager,
Avista Corporation, 1411 E. Mission Street, P.O. Box 3727, MSC-1,
Spokane, Washington 99220, (509) 495-2941, or e-mail:
[email protected].
h. FERC Contact: Nan Allen at (202) 502-6128, or e-mail:
[email protected].
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: 60 days from the date of
this notice.
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.
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.
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. The project consists of five developments and appurtenant
facilities. The Post Falls development consists of the 48,000-acre
Coeur d'Alene Lake with a useable storage capacity of 223,100 acre-
feet; a 431-foot-long and 31-foot-high spillway dam across the north
channel, a 127-foot-long and 25-foot-high spillway dam across the south
channel, and a 215-foot-long and 64-foot-high dam across the middle
channel and forming the east wall of the powerhouse; six 56-foot-long
penstocks; and a powerhouse with an installed capacity of 15 megawatts
(MW).
The Upper Falls development consists of a 366-foot-long, 39-foot-
high dam at 1,871 feet elevation; an 800-acre-foot reservoir; a channel
leading to an intake structure; a 350-foot-long penstock, and a
powerhouse with an installed capacity of 10 MW.
The Monroe Street development consists of a 240-foot-long, 24-foot-
high dam with crest elevation of 1,806 feet; a 30-acre-foot reservoir;
a 435-foot-long penstock; and an underground powerhouse with an
installed capacity of 14.82 MW.
The Nine Mile development consists of a 464-foot-long, 58-foot-high
dam with a crest elevation of 1596.6 feet without flashboards and
1606.6 feet with flashboards; a reservoir with 4,600 acre-feet of
storage capacity; and a powerhouse with an installed capacity of 26 MW.
The Long Lake development consists of a 593-foot-long, 247-foot-
high dam; a 108,080-acre-foot reservoir with a normal pool elevation of
1,536 feet; four 216-foot-long penstocks, and a powerhouse with an
installed capacity of 71 MW.
l. Scoping Process: Avista Corporation (Avista) is using the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) alternative
licensing process (ALP). Under the ALP, Avista will prepare an
Applicant Prepared Environmental
[[Page 25602]]
Assessment (APEA) and license application for the Spokane River
Hydroelectric Project.
Avista expects to file with the Commission, the APEA and the
license application for the Spokane River Hydroelectric Project by July
31, 2005. Although Avista's intent is to prepare an EA, there is the
possibility that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be
required. Nevertheless, this meeting will satisfy the NEPA scoping
requirements, irrespective of whether an EA or EIS is issued by the
Commission.
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
Avista 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:
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Daytime meeting Evening meeting
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Tuesday, June 3, 2003, 2 p.m.............. Tuesday, June 3, 2003, 6:30
p.m.
Avista Corporation, 1411 E. Mission St., Avista Corporation, 1411 E.
Spokane, Washington. Mission St., Spokane,
Washington.
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To help focus discussions, Scoping Document 1 was mailed on about
May 6, 2003, outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the APEA to
the parties on the mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will be
available at the scoping meetings. SD1 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.
Register online at http://www.ferc.gov gov /esubscribenow.htm to be
notified via email of new filings and issuances related to this or
other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document 2 (SD2)
may be issued. SD2 will include a revised list of issues, based on the
scoping sessions.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, Avista 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 meetings and to
assist Avista in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed in
the APEA.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-11932 Filed 5-12-03; 8:45 am]
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