[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:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
              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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