[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7474-7475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-278]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2698-033]


Duke Power; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the 
Commission, Soliciting Additional Study Requests, and Establishing 
Procedures for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final 
Amendments

February 9, 2004.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2698-033.
    c. Date Filed: January 26, 2004.
    d. Applicant: Duke Power (Nantahala Area).
    e. Name of Project: East Fork Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the East Fork of the Tuckasegee River, in Jackson 
County, North Carolina. There are 23.15 acres of United States Forest 
Service land (Nantahala National Forest) within the boundary of the 
project.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: John C. Wishon, Nantahala Area Relicensing 
Project Manager, Duke Power, 301 NP&L Loop, Franklin, NC 28734, (828) 
369-4604, energy.com">jcwishon@duke-energy.com.
    i. FERC Contact: Carolyn Holsopple at (202) 502-6407, or 
carolyn.holsopple@ ferc.gov.
    j. Cooperating Agencies: 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 
environmental document. Agencies who would like to request cooperating 
status

[[Page 7475]]

should follow the instructions for filing comments described in item l 
below.
    k. Pursuant to Sec. 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 an adequate factual basis for a 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 from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of 
the request on the applicant.
    l. Deadline for Filing Additional Study Requests and Requests for 
Cooperating Agency Status: 60 days from the filing date shown in 
paragraph (c), or March 26, 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 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.
    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. After logging into the e-Filing system, select ``Comment 
on Filing'' from the Filing Type Selection screen and continue with the 
filing process.''
    m. Status: This application is not ready for environmental analysis 
at this time.
    n. Description of Project: The existing East Fork Project operates 
in a peaking mode and is comprised of three developments: Cedar Cliff, 
Bear Creek and Tennessee Creek. The Cedar Cliff development consists of 
the following features: (1) A 590-foot-long, 173-foot-tall earth core 
and rockfill dam (Cedar Cliff Dam); (2) a service spillway excavated in 
rock at the right abutment; (3) a 221-foot-long emergency spillway 
located at the left abutment; (4) a 121-acre reservoir, with a normal 
reservoir elevation of 2,330 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum and 
a storage capacity of 6,200-acre-feet; (5) a concrete powerhouse 
containing one generating unit having an installed capacity of 6.1 
megawatts (MW); and (6) appurtenant facilities.
    The Bear Creek development consists of the following features: (1) 
A 760-foot-long, 215-foot-tall earth core and rockfill dam (Bear Creek 
Dam); (2) a spillway on the right abutment; (3) a 473-acre reservoir, 
with a normal reservoir elevation of 2,560 feet National Geodetic 
Vertical Datum and a storage capacity of 34,650-acre-feet; (4) a 
concrete powerhouse containing one generating unit having an installed 
capacity of 8.2 MW; and (5) appurtenant facilities.
    The Tennessee development consists of the following features: (1) a 
385-foot-long, 140-foot-tall earth core and rockfill dam (Tanasee Creek 
Dam) with a 225-foot-long, 15-foot-tall earth and rockfill saddle dam 
located 600 feet south of the Tanasee Creek Dam left abutment; (2) a 
spillway located in a channel excavated in the right abutment; (3) a 
810-foot-long, 175-foot-tall earth core and rockfill dam (Wolf Creek 
Dam); (4) a spillway located in a channel excavated in the right 
abutment; (5) a 40-acre reservoir (Tanasee Creek Lake), with a normal 
reservoir elevation of 3,080 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum and 
a storage capacity of 1,340-acre-feet; (6) a 176-acre reservoir (Wolf 
Creek Lake), with a normal reservoir elevation of 3,080 feet National 
Geodetic Vertical Datum and a storage capacity of 10,040-acre-feet; (7) 
a concrete powerhouse containing one generating unit having an 
installed capacity of 8.75 MW.
    o. A copy of the application 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 ``eLibrary'' 
link. Enter the docket number, excluding the last three digits in the 
docket number field (P-2698), to access the document. For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support at ferc.gov">FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or toll-free 
at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. A copy is also available 
for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.
    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.
    p. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the NORTH 
CAROLINA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER (SHPO), as required by 
Sec. 106, National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of 
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36 CFR 800.4.
    q. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will 
be processed according to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. 
Revisions to the schedule will be made if the Commission determines it 
necessary to do so:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Action                           Tentative date
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Issue Deficiency Letter...............  March 2004.
Issue Acceptance letter...............  June 2004.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments.  July 2004.
Request Additional Information........  September 2004.
Notice of application is ready for      October 2004.
 environmental analysis.
Notice of the availability of the       April 2005.
 final EA.
Ready for Commission's decision on the  July 2005.
 application.
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    Unless substantial comments are received in response to the EA, 
staff intends to prepare a single EA in this case. If substantial 
comments are received in response to the EA, a final EA will be 
prepared with the following modifications to the schedule.
    Notice of the availability of the final EA: July 2005.
    Ready for Commission's decision on the application: September 2005.
    Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-278 Filed 2-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P