[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 132 (Monday, July 12, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41799-41800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-1513]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project Nos. 2403, 2534, 2666, 2710, 2712, 2721, and 10981; and Docket 
No. DI97-10; Project No. 2312; Project No. 2600]


PPL Maine, LLC, PPL Great Works, LLC, Bangor Pacific Hydro 
Associates; Notice of Comprehensive Settlement Accord and Soliciting 
Comments

June 29, 2004.
    Take notice that the following Comprehensive Settlement Accord has 
been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Lower Penobscot River Basin comprehensive 
settlement accord with explanatory statement (comprehensive 
settlement).
    b. Project Nos.: 2403, 2534, 2666, 2710, 2712, 2721, 10981, 2312, 
and 2600.
    Docket No.: DI97-10.
    c. Date Filed: June 25, 2004.
    d. Applicant: PPL Maine, LLC (PPL Maine) and affiliated companies 
(PPL).
    e. Names of Projects: Veazie (P-2403), Milford (P-2534), Medway (P-
2666), Orono (P-2710), Stillwater (P-2712), Howland (P-2721), Basin 
Mills (P-10981), Great Works (P-2312), and West Enfield (P-2600).
    Location: The Veazie, Great Works, and West Enfield Projects are 
located on the Penobscot River in Penobscot County, Maine. The Milford 
Project is located on the Penobscot and Stillwater Rivers in Penobscot 
County, Maine. The Stillwater and Orono Projects are located on the 
Stillwater River in Penobscot County, Maine. The Medway Project is 
located on the West Branch Penobscot River in Penobscot County, Maine. 
The Howland Project is located on the Piscataquis River in Penobscot 
County, Maine. The Basin Mills Project would be located on the 
Penobscot River in Penobscot County, Maine.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Rule 602 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.602.
    g. Applicant Contact: John A. Whittaker, IV, Winston & Strawn, 1400 
L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005, (202) 371-5766, 
[email protected].
    h. FERC Contact: Ed Lee at (202) 502-6082 or [email protected].
    i. Deadline for Filing Comments: The deadline for filing comments 
on the Comprehensive Settlement, the Joint Request (see below), and the 
FWS Modified Prescriptions (see below) is 20 days from the date of this 
notice. The deadline for filing reply comments is 30 days from the date 
of this notice. 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 
will publicly notice for comment the five license amendment 
applications and the application for new license discussed below when 
those applications are accepted for Commission processing.
    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.
    Comments may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of 
paper. See 18 CFR 395.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions of the 
Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) under the ``e-filing'' 
link.
    j. Description of Filing: PPL filed the Comprehensive Settlement 
jointly with 12 stakeholders: The Penobscot Indian Nation (PIN), the 
United States Department of the Interior acting through its bureaus the 
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), 
and the National Park Service (collectively DOI), the Maine Agencies 
(the Maine State Planning Office, the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, 
the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Maine 
Department of Marine Resources), the Conservation Interests (American 
Rivers, Inc., the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Maine Audubon 
Society, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and Trout Unlimited), 
and the Penobscot River Restoration Trust (Trust) (collectively 
Parties). The Comprehensive Settlement is embodied in the Lower 
Penobscot River Multiparty Settlement Agreement dated June 2004 (the 
MPA) and in two additional agreements attached to the MPA: the Lower 
Penobscot River Option Agreement dated June 2004 (Option Agreement) and 
the Comprehensive Settlement Agreement Between the Penobscot Indian 
Nation, PPL Maine, LLC, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the 
Department of the Interior dated June 2004 (PIN Agreement).
    The Parties propose in the Comprehensive Settlement a phased 
approach to resolving all fish passage, energy generation, and tribal 
issues associated with PPL's Lower Penobscot River hydroelectric 
projects. Under the Comprehensive Settlement, PPL will grant the Trust 
a five-year option to acquire Veazie, Howland, and Great Works 
(Designated Projects), and thereafter decommission and remove Veazie 
and Great Works and decommission and either alter Howland by 
constructing a fish bypass system that would substantially or entirely 
maintain the existing dam structure and impoundment or remove the dam. 
If the option is exercised, PPL and the Trust would file applications 
to transfer the licenses for the Designated Projects to the Trust and 
the Trust would file applications to surrender the licenses and to 
obtain Commission authorization to decommission and remove/alter them. 
If the Commission approves those subsequent applications, the MPA 
provides an opportunity for certain energy enhancements to be pursued. 
To allow the option process to work, the Parties propose in a Joint 
Request submitted with the Comprehensive Settlement that the Commission 
suspend the relicensing proceedings for Howland and Great Works and 
extend certain requirements of the Milford and Veazie licenses until 
the option has been exercised, has expired, or has been terminated 
(Joint Request). As required by the MPA, PPL has separately filed 
separate applications to amend the licenses for Veazie, Milford, 
Stillwater, Medway, and West Enfield and an application for a new 40-
year license for Orono. These applications propose energy enhancements 
at West Enfield, Stillwater, and Medway (one-foot headpond increases) 
and at Orono (refurbishment at existing capacity). The Milford and West 
Enfield applications propose the addition of provisions to address 
impacts on the PIN Reservation and other interests. The Parties also 
propose that the fish passage provisions of the Veazie, Milford, 
Stillwater, and West Enfield licenses be modified (and the new Orono 
license contain provisions) as specified in an attachment to the MPA 
(Attachment A). To implement these modified fish passage provisions, 
PPL has included in four of the license amendment applications and in 
the new license application requests for incorporation of provisions 
consistent with Attachment A, and the FWS has separately submitted 
Preliminary Prescription

[[Page 41800]]

Modifications and Preliminary Prescriptions for Milford, Veazie, 
Stillwater, and Orono (FWS Modified Prescriptions). The FWS Modified 
Prescriptions contain fish passage provisions to be implemented 
initially and when the Designated Projects are acquired by the Trust.
    The Parties included the MPA, the Option Agreement, and the PIN 
Agreement with the Comprehensive Settlement filing for informational 
purposes only and are not requesting that the Commission approve any of 
these three agreements. Rather, they request that the Commission 
approve the applications/requests that they have submitted to implement 
the initial phase of the Comprehensive Settlement (Phase 1 Requests): 
The Joint Request, the license amendment applications for Veazie, 
Milford, Stillwater, Medway, and West Enfield, the application for new 
license for Orono, and the FWS Modified Prescriptions. The MPA provides 
that, if the Commission approves all of the Phase 1 Requests without 
material change, the requests for rehearing of the Commission's April 
20, 1998 orders in the Basin Mills, et al. proceedings and certain 
submittals made by DOI in the Milford relicensing proceeding will be 
withdrawn.
    k. Copies of the Comprehensive Settlement, the Joint Request, and 
the FWS Modified Prescriptions are 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 documents. 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.
    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.

Linda Mitry,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-1513 Filed 7-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P