[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 143 (Thursday, July 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41069-41070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-14408]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12429-001]


Clark Canyon Hydro, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site 
Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

July 18, 2007.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Major License.
    b. Project No.: 12429-001.
    c. Date Filed: August 1, 2006.
    d. Applicant: Clark Canyon Hydro, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Clark Canyon Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Beaverhead River, 18 air miles southwest of the 
Town of Dillon, Beaverhead County, Montana. The project would occupy 
3.5 acres of federal land administered by the Bureau of Reclamation.
    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, ID 83442, (208) 745-0834 or Dr. Vincent 
Lamarra, Ecosystems Research Institute, Inc., 975 South State Highway, 
Logan, UT 84321.
    i. FERC Contact: Dianne Rodman, (202) 502-6077, 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: September 20, 2007.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., 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 proposed project would utilize the existing Bureau of 
Reclamation's Clark Canyon dam, and would consist of the following new 
facilities: (1) A steel liner in the existing 9-foot-diameter concrete 
outlet conduit; (2) a new outlet gate structure; (3) a 9-foot-diameter 
steel penstock bifurcating into an 8-foot diameter and a 6-foot 
diameter steel penstock directing flow to the turbine units about 70 
feet from the bifurcation; (4) a powerhouse containing two generating 
units with a combined capacity of 4.75 megawatts; (5) a 300-foot-long 
access road; (6) a switchyard; (7) a 0.3-mile-long, 24.9-kilovolt 
overhead transmission line connecting the project to the local 
utility's existing transmission system at a proposed substation; and 
(8) appurtenant facilities. The average annual generation is estimated 
to be 16.5 gigawatt hours.
    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 at (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 agency scoping meeting and one public 
meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and 
non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public 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:

[[Page 41070]]

Agency Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2007.
    Time: 2 p.m.
    Place: National Guard Armory,
    Address: 1070 Highway 41 North, Dillon, MT 59725.

Public Scoping Meeting

    Date: Tuesday, August 21, 2007.
    Time: 7 p.m.
    Place: National Guard Armory,
    Address: 1070 Highway 41 North, Dillon, MT 59725.
    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 p.m. on August 21, 2007. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All participants are 
responsible for their own transportation to the site. All participants 
should meet at the public fishing access area immediately below Clark 
Canyon dam. To reach the access area from Dillon, Montana, (1) proceed 
south on I-15 approximately 22 miles to the exit marked ``Clark Canyon 
Dam and Recreation Area;'' (2) proceed about 0.75 mile across the crest 
of the dam and take the first right turn about 0.25 mile past the dam 
to the Beaverhead River Fishing Access; and (3) continue to the public 
fishing access area immediately below the dam. Upon arrival, all 
participants must be prepared to present proper identification (e.g., 
current driver's license or alternate source with picture 
identification). All participants are subject to government 
identification investigations and, upon completion, may receive a 
temporary identification badge for the duration of the visit. Anyone 
with questions about the site visit should contact Mr. Matt Cutlip of 
the Commission at 503-552-2762.

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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-14408 Filed 7-25-07; 8:45 am]
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