[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 215 (Monday, November 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64752-64753]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-3067]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[P-2692-032]


Duke Power; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Assessmentand Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visits and Soliciting 
Scoping Comments

October 29, 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.: 2692-032.
    c. Date filed: February 20, 2004.
    d. Applicant: Duke Power.
    e. Name of Project: Nantahala Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Nantahala River and its tributaries, in Macon 
and Clay Counties, North Carolina. There are 41 acres of United States 
Forest Service managed land (Nantahala National Forest) within the 
Nantahala Project boundary.
    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, (202) 502-6407 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 10, 2005.
    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 
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.
    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 existing Nantahala Project operates in a peaking mode and 
consists of the following features: (1) A 1,042-foot-long, 250-foot-
high earth and rockfill dam; (2) a spillway for the dam located at the 
east abutment; (3) a 1,605-acre reservoir, with a normal reservoir 
elevation of 3,012.2 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum and a 
storage capacity of 38,336 acre-feet; (4) a reinforced concrete 
powerhouse containing one generating unit having an installed capacity 
of 42 megawatts (MW); (5) two stream diversions (Dicks Creek and 
Whiteoak Creek) that provide additional flow into the project; and (6) 
appurtenant facilities.
    m. Copies of the application are available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be

[[Page 64753]]

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, 1-202-502-8659. Copies are 
also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h 
above.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/esuscribenow.htm to be notified via e-mail of new filings and issuances 
related to these or other pending projects. For assistance, contact 
FERC Online Support.
    n. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare a single, 
combined Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed project and the 
Franklin Hydroelectric Project (P-2692-032) and Mission Hydroelectric 
Project (P-2692-032), both filed in July 2003 and scoped in February 
2004, 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.
    Site Visit: Duke Power and the Commission staff will conduct a 
project site visit on December 7, 2004. We will meet at the Nantahala 
Power Plant. Site visitors will be responsible for their own 
transportation. Anyone with questions regarding the site visit should 
contact Mr. John C. Wishon of Duke Power at (828) 369-4604. The time 
and location of this site visit is as follows:

Nantahala Site Visit

    Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2004.
    Time: 9 a.m.-12 p.m. (e.s.t.)
    Place: Nantahala Power Plant.
    Address: 27656 Wayah Road; Topton, NC 28781.
    Scoping Meetings: Commission staff will conduct two public scoping 
meetings in the project area to solicit comments and viewpoints the 
public may wish to offer concerning project effects associated with the 
Nantahala Project. An afternoon meeting will focus on resource agency 
concerns, and an evening meeting will focus on input from the public. 
All interested individuals, organizations, Indian tribes, 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:

Nantahala Agency Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday December 7, 2004.
    Time: 2 p.m.-4 p.m. (e.s.t.)
    Place: Southwestern Community College (Old Almond School).
    Address: 60 Almond School Road; Bryson City, NC 28713.

Nantahala Public Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday December 7, 2004.
    Time: 6 p.m.-9 p.m. (e.s.t.).
    Place: Southwestern Community College (Old Almond School).
    Address: 60 Almond School Road; Bryson City, NC 28713.
    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. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the 
scoping meetings or may be viewed on the Web at http://www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item (m) above). These meetings are 
posted on the Commission's calendar located on the Internet at http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related 
information.
    Objectives: At the scoping meetings, staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2) 
solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially empirical data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements from experts and participants 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 do 
not require a detailed analysis.
    Procedures: The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and 
become part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the 
project.
    Individuals, organizations, agencies, and Indian tribes with 
environmental expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the 
meetings and to assist Commission staff in defining and clarifying the 
issues to be addressed in the EA.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-3067 Filed 11-5-04; 8:45 am]
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