[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 175 (Wednesday, September 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53366-53367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-23032]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[P-620-000]


Notice of Scoping Meetings, Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

September 4, 2003.
    a. Type of Application: Subsequent License, Alternative Licensing 
Process.
    b. Project No.: 620.
    c. Applicant: NorQuest Seafoods, Inc. (NorQuest).
    d. Name of Project: Chignik Hydroelectric Project.
    e. Location: On Indian Creek, a tributary of Chignik Bay, in the 
Town of Chignik, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The project occupies 38.89 
acres of United States lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of 
Land Management.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)--825(r).
    g. Applicant Contact: Mr. Ron Soule, NorQuest Seafoods, Inc., 5245 
Shilshole Avenue, NW, Seattle, WA 98107-4833, Phone: (206) 281-7022; 
Mr. Daniel Hertrich, Polarconsult Alaska, Inc., 1503 W 33rd Avenue, 
310, Anchorage, AK 99503, Phone: (907) 258-2420.
    h. FERC Contact: John M. Mudre, (202) 502-8902,[email protected].
    i. Deadline for filing scoping comments: November 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 
intervenors 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 intervenor 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.
    j. The existing project consists of a 16.5-foot-high timber dam at 
the outlet of Upper Lake (a.k.a. Indian Lake), creating a reservoir of 
approximately 8 acres at the maximum reservoir elevation of 431 feet 
(local datum), a channel spillway, a 7,700-foot-long, 8-inch-diameter 
wood-stave and steel pipeline, a 60-kilowatt generating unit inside the 
applicant's fish cannery, the generator leads, and appurtenant 
facilities. No new facilities or changes in operation are proposed.
    k. Scoping Process: NorQuest is using the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission's (Commission) alternative licensing process (ALP). Under 
the ALP, NorQuest has prepared a draft Preliminary Draft Environmental 
Assessment (PDEA) and draft license application for the Chignik 
Project. These documents were filed with the Commission on August 4, 
2003, provided to interested parties, and posted on the Chignik 
Relicensing Web site on the Internet at http://www.polarconsult.net/Chignik/index.html.
    NorQuest expects to file the PDEA and the license application for 
the Chignik Hydroelectric Project with the Commission by October 6, 
2003. Commission staff will then conduct its environmental review of 
the proposed project in support of the Commission's decision in this 
proceeding, utilizing, in part, information contained in the PDEA. 
Although staff's intent is to prepare an Environmental Assessment, 
(EA), there is the possibility that an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) will be required. Nevertheless, these scoping meetings 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 and site visit identified 
below, and to solicit your scoping comments.
    l. Scoping Meetings: NorQuest and the Commission staff 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 staff's EA.
    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 EA. 
The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:

Evening Meeting

    Monday, October 6, 2003, 7 to 9 pm, NorQuest Seafoods Cannery, 
Chignik, Alaska.

Daytime Meeting

    Wednesday October 8, 2003, 1 to 4 pm, Polarconsult Alaska, Inc., 
1503 West 33rd Avenue, Suite 310, Anchorage, Alaska.
    To help focus discussions, interested parties should review the 
applicant's draft PDEA, which has been distributed to the parties on 
the mailing list. Copies of the draft PDEA also will be available at 
the scoping meetings. The draft PDEA is also 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 ``eLibrary'' 
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.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/
esubscribenow.htm to be notified via e-mail of new filings and 
issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues identified for analysis in the draft PDEA; (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 Commission staff's EA; (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 daytime meeting will be recorded by a stenographer and will 
become part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the 
project. Although there will be no stenographer at the evening meeting, 
comments at that meeting will be noted and incorporated into the 
record. Written comments will be accepted at both meetings and can

[[Page 53367]]

also be filed with the Secretary until November 7, 2003 (see ``j.'' 
above).
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and to 
assist Commission staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be 
addressed in the EA.
    m. Site Visit: NorQuest will conduct a walking tour of the project 
on Tuesday, October 7, 2003, beginning at 9 a.m. Participants should 
assemble at that time at NorQuest's cannery in Chignik. Participants 
should prepare for a walk of several miles and potentially inclement 
weather. Anyone having questions concerning the site visit should 
contact Dan Hertrich at the address or phone listed in ``g.'' above.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-23032 Filed 9-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P