[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58658-58660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20318]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Project No: P-803-087


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Application Tendered 
for Filing with the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for 
Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

 October 9, 2007.
    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.: P-803-087.
    c. Date Filed: October 2, 2007.
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
    e. Name of Project: DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on Butte Creek and the 
West Branch Feather River in Butte County, California. The project 
affects 145.7 acres of federal lands administered by the Lassen 
National Forest, 2.1 acres of federal lands administered by the Plumas 
National Forest, and 11.6 acres of federal lands administered by the 
U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Randal S. Livingston, Vice President-Power 
Generation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, P.O. Box 770000, Mail 
Code: N11E, San Francisco, CA 94177; Telephone (415) 973-7000.
    i. FERC Contact: Aaron Liberty, (202) 502-6862 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. Project Description: The existing DeSabla-Centerville 
Hydroelectric Project is composed of three developments, including 
Toadtown, DeSabla, and Centerville, and has a combined installed 
capacity of 26,400 kilowatts (kW).
    The Toadtown development, which diverts water from the West Branch 
Feather River, consists of the following constructed facilities: (1) 
Round Valley Reservoir, a 98 acre reservoir with a gross storage 
capacity of 1,700 acre-feet; (2) Round Valley dam, an earthfill dam, 
29-feet high and 810-feet long; (3) a 40-foot wide overflow spillway; 
(4) a 15-inch outlet pipe at the base of Round Valley dam, and manual 
low level outlet valve; (5) Philbrook Reservoir, a 173 acre reservoir 
with a gross storage capacity of 4,985 acre-feet; (6) Philbrook main 
dam (located on Philbrook Creek), a compacted earthfill dam, 87-feet 
high and 850-feet long; (7) Philbrook auxiliary dam (170 feet to the 
right of the main dam), a compacted earthfill dam, 24-feet high and 
470-feet long; (8) a 29.7-foot wide spillway with 5 flashboard bays; 
(9) a 10.75-foot long and 14.75-foot wide spillway with a single, 
manual radial gate; (10) a 33-inch diameter, 460-foot long outlet 
conduit from Philbrook Reservoir; (11) a 17-foot high, 8-feet diameter 
submerged vertical concrete intake, controlled by a 30-inch diameter 
manual needle valve; (12) Hendricks Head Dam, a concrete gravity

[[Page 58659]]

dam, 15-feet high with an overflow spillway section 98-feet wide; (13) 
a 8.66-mile long Hendricks Canal, composed mostly of earthen ditch with 
several flume and tunnel sections, with a capacity of 125 cfs; (14) 
feeder diversions from 4 creeks into Hendricks/Toadtown canal; (15) a 
40-inch diameter, 1,556-foot long steel penstock; (16) Toadtown 
Powerhouse, a 28 by 44 foot reinforced concrete building, with one 
turbine-generator unit and a normal operating capacity of 1.5 MW; (17) 
a 1500-foot long 12 kv tapline connecting Toadtown Powerhouse to a 
distribution system; and (18) appurtenant facilities.
    The DeSabla development, which diverts water from upper Butte Creek 
and uses the outflow of the Toadtown development, consists of the 
following constructed facilities: (1) The 2.4-mile long Toadtown Canal, 
an earthen canal with a capacity of 125 cfs; (2) Butte Creek Diversion 
Dam, a 50-foot high, 100-foot long, concrete arch dam with an overflow 
spillway; (3) a 11.4-mile long Butte Canal, composed of earthen berm 
sections, gunited sections, tunnel sections, a siphon, and flume 
sections, with a capacity of 91 cfs; (4) a 0.7-mile long canal that 
combines Butte Canal with Toadtown Canal, with a capacity of 191 cfs; 
(5) feeder diversions from 4 creeks that flow into Butte Canal (1 not 
in use); (6) DeSabla Dam, a 50-foot high, 100-foot wide earthen 
embankment with a spillway canal; (7) DeSabla Forebay, a 15 acre 
reservoir with a gross storage capacity of 163 acre-feet (originally 
188 acre-feet); (8) a 66-inch diameter, reduced to 42-inch diameter, 
1.3-mile long steel penstock; and (9) DeSabla Powerhouse, a 26.5 by 41 
foot reinforced concrete building, with one turbine generator unit and 
a normal operating capacity of 18.5 MW; (10) a 0.25-mile long 
transmission tapline connecting DeSabla Powerhouse to the 60kV Oro Fino 
Tap Line; and (11) appurtenant facilities.
    The Centerville development, which diverts the flow of Butte Creek 
downstream of the DeSabla development, consists of the following 
constructed facilities: (1) The Upper Centerville Canal, that 
originates at DeSabla Powerhouse and ends at Helltown Ravine (currently 
carries a few cfs for local water uses and has not been used for power 
generation for many years); (2) Lower Centerville Diversion Dam, a 12-
foot high, 72.5 foot-wide concrete arch dam with an overflow spillway; 
(3) an 8-mile long Lower Centerville Canal, composed of earthen canal 
and several flume sections, with a capacity of 183 cfs; (4) feeder 
diversions from 3 creeks that flow into Lower Centerville Canal (all 3 
no longer in use); (5) one 30-inch diameter and one 42-inch diameter, 
reduced to 36-inch diameter, 2,559-foot long steel penstocks; (6) 
Centerville Forebay, a 27 by 37 foot concrete header box with a 
spillway channel; (7) Centerville Powerhouse, a 32 by 109 foot 
reinforced concrete building, with two turbine-generator units and a 
total normal operating capacity of 6.4 MW; and (8) appurtenant 
facilities.
    PG&E operates the project primarily as a run-of-river system and 
operates on a continuous basis, using the water supply available after 
satisfaction of the minimum instream flow requirements. During the 
winter and spring, base flows in the West Branch of the Feather River 
and Butte Creek typically provide adequate flow for full operation of 
the Project powerhouses. During the summer months, the available base 
flow water is augmented by water releases from Round Valley and 
Philbrook reservoirs. During the fall months, Project powerhouses are 
operated at reduced capacities due to low stream flows.
    Water releases from Round Valley reservoir flow down the West 
Branch Feather River, and water releases from Philbrook reservoir pass 
down natural channels of Philbrook Creek and the West Branch Feather 
River about 8 miles to Hendricks Head dam. Then water is conveyed in 
the Hendricks canal, through Toadtown Powerhouse, then into the 
Toadtown canal. From this point, the water is conveyed in the Butte 
Creek canal to DeSabla Forebay then discharged into Butte Creek. Water 
flow is then diverted into the Lower Centerville canal to the 
Centerville header box, through the Centerville Powerhouse, and finally 
discharged to Butte Creek.
    PG&E proposes to continue operating the Project with no change to 
Project generation facilities or features other than adoption of 
resource management measures and the deletion of five feeder 
diversions.
    l. Locations of the Application: 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.
    m. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm 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. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule 
may be made as appropriate.

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              Milestone                           Target date
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Tendering Notice.....................  October 9, 2007.
Remaining Study Results Due..........  February 15, 2008.
Notice of Acceptance / Notice of       March 17, 2008.
 Ready for Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations,             May 16, 2008.
 preliminary terms and conditions,
 and fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EA...........  November 12, 2008.
Comments on Draft EA.................  December 12, 2008.
Modified terms and conditions........  February 10, 2009.
Commission issues Final EA...........  May 11, 2009.
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[[Page 58660]]

    o. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice 
of ready for environmental analysis.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-20318 Filed 10-15-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P