[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 10 (Thursday, January 15, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2349-2350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-71]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[ Project No. 1893-042]


Public Service Company of New Hampshire; Notice of Application 
Tendered for Filing With the Commission, Soliciting Additional Study 
Requests, and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a 
Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

January 7, 2004.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric license application 
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public 
inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New major license.
    b. Project No.: P-1893-042.
    c. Date Filed: December 30, 2003.
    d. Applicant: Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH).
    e. Name of Project: Merrimack River Project.
    f. Location: On the Merrimack River, in Merrimack and Hillsborough 
counties, New Hampshire. The project does not occupy Federal lands of 
the United States.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: James J. Kearns, 780 North Commercial Street, 
P.O. Box 330, Manchester, NH, (603) 634-2936.
    i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, [email protected] (202) 
502-6131.
    j. Cooperating Agencies: We are asking Federal, State, and local 
agencies and Indian tribes with jurisdiction and/or special expertise 
with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the environmental document. Agencies who would like to 
request cooperating status should follow the instructions for filing 
comments described in item l below.
    k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian tribe, or person believes 
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to 
form a factual basis for complete analysis of the application on its 
merit, the resource agency, Indian tribe, or person must file a request 
for a study with the Commission not later than 60 days after the 
application filing and serve a copy of the request on the applicant.
    l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for 
cooperating agency status: February 27, 2004.
    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 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.
    Additional study requests may be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages 
electronic filing. 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.
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. Project Description: The project consists of the following three 
developments:
    The Amoskeag Development consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) A 29-foot-high, 710-foot-long concrete gravity dam 
comprised of: (i) a low crest section with 5-foot-high flashboards; and 
(ii) a high crest section with 3-foot-high flashboards; (2) a 7-mile-
long, 478-acre reservoir; (3) a powerhouse, integral with the dam, 
containing three generating units with a total installed capacity of 
16,000 kW; (4) a 415-foot-long, 34.5-kV double circuit transmission 
line; and (5) other appurtenances.
    The Hooksett Development consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) A dam comprised of: (i) a 340-foot-long stone masonry 
section with 2-foot-high flashboards connected to; (ii) a 250-foot-long 
concrete section with 2-foot-high flashboards; (2) a 15-foot by 20-foot 
Taintor gate; (3) a 5.5-mile-long, 405-acre reservoir; (4) a powerhouse 
containing a single generating unit with an installed capacity of 1,600 
kW; and (5) other appurtenances.
    The Garvins Falls Development consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) An 18-foot-high, 550-foot-long concrete and granite 
gravity dam comprised of: (i) a low crest section with 3-foot-high 
flashboards; and (ii) a high crest section with 1.2-foot-high 
flashboards; (2) an 8-mile-long reservoir; (3) a 500-foot-long water 
canal with a 10-foot-wide waste gate; (4) two powerhouses, each 
containing two generating units for a total installed capacity of 
12,300 kW; (5) a 340-foot-long, 34.5-kV transmission line; and (6) 
other appurtenances.

[[Page 2350]]

    o. A copy of the application is on file with the Commission and is 
available for public inspection in the Public Reference Room. This 
filing may also be viewed on the Web at http://www.ferc.gov using the 
``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last threee 
digits in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll free at (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.
    p. 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. To view upcoming FERC events, go to http://www.ferc.gov 
and click on ``View Entire Calendar''.
    q. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the New 
Hampshire State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), as required by 
106, National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of the 
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36 CFR 800.4.
    r. Procedural Schedule and Final Amendments: The application will 
be processed according to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. 
Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate. The Commission 
staff proposes to issue one environmental assessment rather than issue 
a draft and final EA. Comments, terms and conditions, recommendations, 
prescriptions, and reply comments, if any, will be addressed in an EA 
issued in the summer of 2005.

Issue Acceptance or Deficiency Letter--April 2004
Issue Scoping Document--July 2004
Notice that application is ready for environmental analysis--January 
2005
Notice of the availability of the EA--June 2005
Ready for Commission decision on the application--December 2005

    Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice 
of ready for environmental analysis.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E4-71 Filed 01-14-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P