[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49473-49474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20972]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. DI02-3-002]


AquaEnergy Group Ltd.; Notice of Combined Initial Information 
Meeting and Scoping Meeting, Site Visit, and Solicitation of Scoping 
Comments

August 8, 2003.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) regulations 
allow applicants to prepare their own Environmental Assessment (EA) for 
hydropower projects and file it with the Commission along with their 
license application as part of an alternative licensing procedure 
(ALP).\1\ On July 22, 2003, the Commission noticed the request of 
AquaEnergy Group Ltd. (AquaEnergy) to use the ALP and set a deadline 
for comments of August 21, 2003. AquaEnergy wishes to hold combined 
Initial Information/Scoping Meetings on August 26 and 27, 2003. Because 
the Commission will need ample time to fully consider comments received 
from interested stakeholders on AquaEnergy's request to use the ALP, 
the Commission may not have decided on AquaEnergy's request to use the 
ALP prior to the combined meetings. However, the ALP allows greater 
flexibility than the traditional licensing process, and the Commission 
believes that it is in the public interest to solicit scoping comments 
in this notice. The Commission has not pre-judged AquaEnergy's request 
to use the ALP.
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    \1\ 81 FERC ] 61,103 (1997).
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Public Meeting and Site Visit

    AquaEnergy distributed a combined Initial Information Package 
(IIP)/Scoping Document 1 (SD1) for the Makah Bay Offshore Wave Energy 
Pilot Project on August 5, 2003, to the mailing list for this 
proceeding. AquaEnergy will hold combined Initial Information/Scoping 
Meetings on Tuesday, August 26 and Wednesday, August 27, 2003. The 
purposes of the meetings are to review the information presented in the 
IIP/SD1 and to initiate the identification of areas of interest that 
should be addressed in the licensing and any related Applicant-Prepared 
Environmental Assessment (APEA) processes. The meetings will be held as 
follows:

Agency Meeting

    When: Tuesday, August 26, 2003, 5 p.m.-6 p.m.
    Where: Makah Tribal Offices, Neah Bay, Washington.

Public Meeting

    When: Tuesday, August 26, 2003, 7 p.m.--9 p.m.
    Where: Makah Tribal Community Center, Neah Bay, Washington.

Public Meeting

    When: Wednesday, August 27, 2003, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
    Where: Clallam County Public Utility District, 2431 Highway 101 
East, Port Angeles, Washington.
    AquaEnergy will also conduct a site visit to the project on 
Tuesday, August 26, 2003. Those wishing to attend the site visit should 
meet at Makah Tribal Council Offices in Neah Bay, Washington. Please 
RSVP Mary Jane Parks, AquaEnergy, at (626) 253-1981, if you plan to 
attend the site visit.
    The deadline for filing comments is September 26, 2003. All 
documents (an 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

[[Page 49474]]

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 that document on that resource agency.
    Based on feedback received on the IIP/SD1 and the project site 
visit, AquaEnergy will prepare a Scoping Document 2 (SD2). SD2 will 
include a revised list of issues based on the meeting and written 
comments. AquaEnergy expects to issue SD2 on October 27, 2003.
    All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited 
and encouraged to attend the meetings and site visit and to assist in 
the identification of environmental issues that should be included in 
SD2.
    We are asking federal, state, local, and tribal agencies with 
jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental 
issues to cooperate with us in the preparation of the Commission's EA. 
Agencies who would like to request cooperating agency status should 
file such a request (original and eight copies) with the Secretary at 
the aforementioned address. Please put the docket number, DI-02-3-002, 
on the first page of your filing.
    For further information regarding the informational and scoping 
meeting and project site visit or to be added to the mailing list for 
the project, please contact Ms. Mary Jane Parks of AquaEnergy or 
Nicholas Jayjack of the Commission's staff at (202) 502-6073.
    A copy of the IIP/SD1 is available for review at the Commission in 
the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site 
http://www.ferc.gov using the ``FERRIS'' link. Enter the docket number 
(DI02-3) 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.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.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.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-20972 Filed 8-15-03; 8:45 am]
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