[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 25, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40850-40851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-14304]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12778-000]


Fall Creek Hydro, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings, Site Visit, 
and Soliciting Scoping Comments

July 17, 2007.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and are available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 12778-000.
    c. Date filed: February 16, 2007.
    d. Applicant: Fall Creek Hydro, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Fall Creek Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On Fall Creek, near the towns of Springfield and 
Eugene, Lane County, Oregon. The project is located in the Willamette 
National Forest.
    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., P.O. 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: September 17, 2007.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Room 1A, 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.
    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 Fall Creek Dam Hydroelectric Project will consist of a 
powerhouse with three turbine generator units of approximately 10 
megawatt capacity. Fall Creek Hydro proposes to: (1) Bifurcate the 
existing south rectangular conduits, about 50 feet upstream of the 
outlet, with a steel penstock; (2) construct a new valve house with 
hydraulically operated vertical gates; (3) trifurcate the steel 
penstock at the entrance to the powerhouse into three penstocks feeding 
the three turbines; (4) construct a new powerhouse located on the west 
bank of the existing stilling basin, immediately downstream of the toe 
of the dam; and (5) construct a 12.5-kilovolt single-circuit 
transmission line running from the powerhouse to the existing line at 
the base of the dam. Fall River Hydro will use the head from the Corps 
of Engineer's (Corps) Fall Creek Dam and will operate the project in 
coordination with the Corps' authority to operate the dam for flood 
control, irrigation, navigation, improved downstream water quality, and 
water-based recreation.
    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 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: Thursday, August 16, 2007.
Time: 9 a.m.
Place: Lane Community College--Center for Meeting and Learning.
Address: 4000 East 30th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon.

Evening Scoping Meeting

Date: Thursday, August 16, 2007.
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Lane Community College--Center for Meeting and Learning.
Address: 4000 East 30th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon.

    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 9 a.m. on August 17, 2007. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All participants 
planning to attend should call Kim Nguyen of FERC at (202) 502-6105 or 
Erik Steimle of Fall River Hydro at (503) 219-3750 no later than August 
9, 2007. We will be meeting at the base of Fall Creek Dam. All 
participants are responsible for their own transportation to the site.

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.

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    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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-14304 Filed 7-24-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P