[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 48 (Thursday, March 11, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11616-11617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-511]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit, and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

March 4, 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.: 2107-016.
    c. Date Filed: December 16, 2003.
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
    e. Name of Project: Poe Project.
    f. Location: On the North Fork Feather River in Butte County, near 
Pulga, California. The project includes 144 acres of lands of the 
Plumas National Forest.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Tom Jereb, Project Manager, Hydro 
Generation Department, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, P.O. Box 
770000 (N11C), San Francisco, CA 94177, (415) 973-9320.
    i. FERC Contact: John Mudre, (202) 502-8902 or [email protected].
    j. Deadline for Filing Scoping Comments: May 3, 2004.

[[Page 11617]]

    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 
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.
    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.
    k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The Poe Project consists of: (1) The 400-foot-long, 60-foot-tall 
Poe Diversion Dam, including four 50-foot-wide by 41-foot-high radial 
flood gates, a 20-foot-wide by 7-foot-high small radial gate, and a 
small skimmer gate that is no longer used; (2) the 53-acre Poe 
Reservoir; (3) a concrete intake structure located on the shore of Poe 
Reservoir; (4) a pressure tunnel about 19 feet in diameter with a total 
length of about 33,000 feet; (5) a differential surge chamber located 
near the downstream end of the tunnel; (6) a steel underground penstock 
about 1,000 feet in length and about 14 feet in diameter; (7) a 
reinforced concrete powerhouse, 175-feet-long by 114-feet-wide, with 
two vertical-shaft Francis-type turbines rated at 76,000 horsepower 
connected to vertical-shaft synchronous generators rated at 79,350 kVA 
with a total installed capacity of 143 MW and an average annual 
generation of 584 gigawatt hours; (8) the 370-foot-long, 61-foot-tall, 
concrete gravity Big Bend Dam; (9) the 42-acre Poe Afterbay Reservoir; 
and (10) related facilities.
    m. 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 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. 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/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via e-mail of new filings and 
issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support.
    n. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) on the project in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act. The EA will consider both site-
specific and cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable 
alternatives to the proposed action.
    Scoping Meetings: FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping 
meeting and one public meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus 
on resource agency and non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, 
while the public 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 scope of the environmental issues that should be 
analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of these meetings are as 
follows:

Public Scoping Meeting

Date: Wednesday March 31, 2004.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: U.S. Forest Service District Office.
Address: 875 Mitchell Avenue, Oroville, CA.

Agency Scoping Meeting

Date: Thursday April 1, 2004.
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: U.S. Forest Service District Office.
Address: 875 Mitchell Avenue, Oroville, CA.

    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA are being distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list under separate cover. Copies of the SD1 will 
be available at the scoping meeting or may be viewed on the Web at 
http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item m above).

Site Visit

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project site visit 
beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 31, 2004. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at the parking area at the Poe Dam on Route 
70, approximately 25 miles northeast of Oroville. All participants are 
responsible for their own transportation to the site. Please note that, 
at present, the county road to the powerhouse is closed due to a slide, 
and access is possible only down a steep four-wheel-drive trail. 
Improvements may be made prior to the site visit. Also note that access 
to the Big Bend dam requires a 45 minute hike of moderate-to-strenuous 
exertion. Anyone with questions about the site visit or powerhouse 
access should contact Mr. Tom Jereb of PG&E at 415-973-9320.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (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 EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (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 meetings are recorded by a stenographer and 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 meeting and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the EA.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-511 Filed 3-10-04; 8:45 am]
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