[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12316-12317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-561]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Notice of Scoping Meetings and Soliciting Scoping Comments

March 9, 2004.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New major license.
    b. Project No.: 2114-116.
    c. Date Filed: October 29, 2003.
    d. Applicant: Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, 
Washington.
    e. Name of Project: Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Columbia River in portions of Grant, Yakima, 
Kittitas, Douglas, Benton, and Chelan Counties, Washington. The project 
occupies Federal lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department 
of the Army, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Ms. Laurel Heacock, Licensing Manager, Public 
Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, 30 C Street, SW., Ephrata, 
Washington 98823, telephone (509) 754-6622.
    i. FERC Contact: Charles Hall, telephone (202) 502-6853, e-mail 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for Filing Scoping Comments: May 3, 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 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.

[[Page 12317]]

    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 project includes two developments with a total authorized 
capacity of 1,755 megawatts (MW) as follows: (a) The Wanapum 
development consisting of a dam 186.5 feet high and 8,637 feet long 
with upstream fish passage facilities, a reservoir with an approximate 
surface area of 14,680 acres, a powerhouse with ten turbine-generator 
units with a total nameplate capacity of 900 MW, transmission lines, 
and appurtenant facilities; and (b) the Priest Rapids development 
consisting of a dam 179.5 feet high and 10,103 feet long with upstream 
fish passage facilities, a reservoir with an approximate surface area 
of 7,725 acres, a powerhouse with ten turbine-generator units with a 
total nameplate capacity of 855 MW, transmission lines, and appurtenant 
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 staff intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project in accordance with 
the National Environmental Policy Act. The EIS will consider both site-
specific and cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable 
alternatives to the proposed action.
    Scoping Meetings: The Commission staff will conduct a site visit, 
one agency scoping meeting and one public meeting. The agency scoping 
meeting will focus on resource agency, Indian tribes, and non-
governmental organization concerns, while the public scoping meeting is 
primarily for public input. All interested individuals, organizations, 
resource agencies, and Indian tribes are invited to attend one or all 
of the meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope of 
the environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EIS. The times 
and locations of these meetings are as follows:

Site Visit

    When: Tuesday, April 6, 2004, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    Where: Meet at Wanapum Dam at 9 a.m. near Beverly, Washington; RSVP 
to Applicant Contact (item h) by March 22.

Public Scoping Meeting

    When: Tuesday, April 6, 2004, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
    Where: Moses Lake Convention Center, 1475 Nelson Rd, NE., Moses 
Lake, WA.

Agency Scoping Meeting

    When: Wednesday, April 7, 2004, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
    Where: Moses Lake Convention Center, 1475 Nelson Rd, NE., Moses 
Lake, WA.
    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EIS were distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list. 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).
    Objectives: At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize 
the environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the 
EIS; (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 EIS, including viewpoints in opposition to, 
or in support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the 
resource issues to be addressed in the EIS; 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 EIS.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E4-561 Filed 3-15-04; 8:45 am]
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