[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 150 (Friday, August 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45387-45388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-4200]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2170-029-AK]


Chugach Electric Association; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site 
Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

July 28, 2005.
    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: 2170-029.
    c. Date filed: April 22, 2005.
    d. Applicant: Chugach Electric Association.
    e. Name of Project: Cooper Lake Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On Cooper Lake, approximately 4.8 river miles from the 
mouth of Cooper Creek in south central Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, 
55 air miles south of Anchorage.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Burke Wick, Chugach Electric Association, 
5601 Minnesota Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99519. (907) 762-4779.
    i. FERC Contact: David Turner (202) 502-6091 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: October 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 project consists of: (1) The Cooper Lake Dam, a 52-
foot-high earth-and-rockfilled structure; (2) the 2,910-acre, 5-mile-
long Cooper Lake Reservoir; (3) two vertical-shaft Francis turbines 
with a total capacity of 19.38 megawatts; (4) an intake structure 
located on Cooper Lake; (5) a tunnel and penstock extending 10,686 feet 
east from the intake to the powerhouse; (6) a 6.3-mile-long, 69-kV 
transmission line from the powerhouse to Quartz Creek Substation; and 
90.4-mile-long, 115-kV transmission line from the Quartz Creek 
Substation to Anchorage.
    m. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission

[[Page 45388]]

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 P-2170, 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 two scoping meetings and one site visit. 
All Interested agencies, Indian tribes, NGOs, and individuals are 
invited to attend one or both of the Scoping meetings and to assist the 
staff in identifying the scope of environmental issues to be analyzed 
in an Environmental Assessment. Those who plan to attend the Site Visit 
must notify Chugach Electric of their planned attendance.

Cooper Landing Scoping Meeting

    Date and Time: Tuesday, September 6, 2005, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (AKT).
    Location: Cooper Landing Community Club, 18511 Bean Creek Road, 
Cooper Landing, Alaska 99575. (907) 595-1712.
    The Community Club is located approximately 2 hours south of 
Anchorage off the Sterling Highway at milepost 47.7 (Cooper Landing). 
Turn north on Bean Creek Road.

Site Visit of Project

    Date and Time: Wednesday, September 7, 2005, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 
(AKT).
    Location: Cooper Lake Power House, Cooper Landing, Alaska.
    RSVP: By August 22, 2005, Ms. May Clark, Relicensing Secretary, 
Chugach Electric, 907-762-4547 or [email protected].
    The Power House is located approximately 2 hours south of Anchorage 
off the Sterling Highway at milepost 48.0 (Cooper Landing). After 
crossing over the Kenai River Bridge, turn south (left) on Snug Harbor 
Road and travel eleven miles to the Power House.

Anchorage Scoping Meeting

    Date and Time: Thursday, September 8, 2005, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (AKT).
    Location: Hawthorn Suites, 1110 West 8th Ave, Anchorage, Alaska. 
907-222-5005.
    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).

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.

Linda Mitry,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-4200 Filed 8-4-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P