[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 52 (Friday, March 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13187-13188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1177]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


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

March 11, 2005.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with Commission and are available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New major license.
    b. Project No.: 11882-002.
    c. Date filed: May 27, 2004.
    d. Applicant: Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
    e. Name of Project: Hebgen Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Madison River, near the town of West 
Yellowstone, Gallatin County, Montana. The project is located in the 
Gallatin National Forest and is within close proximity to Yellowstone 
National Park.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Brent L. Smith, Northwest Power Services, 
Inc. PO Box 535, Rigby, Idaho 83442; telephone (208) 745-0834 or by e-
mail at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Kim A. Nguyen, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426; telephone 
(202) 502-6105 or by e-mail at [email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: May 13, 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 Hebgen Dam Hydroelectric Project will consist of a 
powerhouse with a single turbine generator unit of approximately 6.7 
megawatt capacity at the area downstream of the dam and immediately 
north of the present outlet discharge. The Applicant also proposes to 
install a new 9.4-mile, 25-kilovolt underground power transmission line 
to connect the powerhouse with the existing Fall River Rural Electric 
Cooperative's Hebgen substation located near Grayline, Montana. The 
Applicant proposes to utilize the existing Hebgen Dam, Hebgen Resevoir, 
outlet works, and spillway, currently owned and operated by 
Pennsylvania Power and Light Montana, LLC (PPL Montana) as a regulating 
reservoir under the Missouri-Madison Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 
2188.
    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 daytime scoping meeting and one evening 
meeting. The daytime scoping meeting

[[Page 13188]]

will focus on resource agency and non-governmental organization 
concerns, while the evening 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:

Daytime Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2005.
    Time: 10 a.m. (m.s.t.).
    Place: West Yellowstone Conference Center.
    Address: 315 Yellowstone Avenue, West Yellowstone, Montana.

Evening Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2005.
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Place: West Yellowstone Conference Center.
    Address: 315 Yellowstone Avenue, West Yellowstone, Montana.
    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA 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).

Site Visit

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project site visit 
beginning at 10 a.m. on April 13, 2005. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All participants 
should meet at the Hebgen Dam. All participants are responsible for 
their own transportation to the site. Anyone with questions about the 
site visit should contact Kim Nguyen of FERC at (202) 502-6105 or Brent 
Smith of Fall River at (208) 745-0834.

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.

Technical Conference

    At the technical conference, we will discuss how the proposed 
project would affect PPL Montana's Missouri-Madison Project (FERC No. 
2188). This technical conference will not be recorded by a court 
reporter, however, we will summarize the meeting in a filing of public 
record for the project.

Technical Conference

    Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2005.
    Time: 2 p.m.
    Place: West Yellowstone Conference Center.
    Address: 315 Yellowstone Avenue, West Yellowstone, Montana.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-1177 Filed 3-17-05; 8:45 am]
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