[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 2, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17966-17967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6723]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12615-001]


Alaska Power & Telephone Company; Notice of Request to Use 
Alternative Procedures In Preparing a License Application

March 26, 2008.
    Take notice that the following request to use alternative 
procedures to prepare a license application has been filed with the 
Commission.
    a. Type of Application: Request to use alternative procedures to 
prepare an original license application.
    b. Project No.: 12615-001.
    c. Date filed: March 10, 2008.
    d. Applicant: Alaska Power & Telephone Company.
    e. Name of Project: Soule River Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Soule River, tributary to Portland Canal, 
approximately 9 miles south of the community of Hyder, Alaska. The 
project would occupy approximately 1,112 acres of federal lands within 
the Tongass National Forest, administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Glen Martin, Project Manager, Alaska Power & 
Telephone Company, 193 Otto Street, P.O. Box 3222, Port Townsend, 
Washington 98368, (360) 385-1733 X 122, [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Matt Cutlip, phone at (503) 552-2762; e-mail at 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for Comments: 30 days from the date of this notice.
    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.
    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. The project would consist of a 160-foot-high concrete-faced, 
rock-fill dam; an impoundment with a 950-acre surface area at a full 
pool elevation of 550 feet mean sea level; a 2.5-mile-long, 14-foot-
wide access road with a 100-foot-long bridge across the Soule River; 
marine access facilities along the Portland Canal at the mouth of the 
Soule River; an 18-foot-diameter 11,100-foot-long power tunnel; a 50-
foot by 120-foot powerhouse containing two Francis-type generating 
units, having a total installed capacity of 75,000 kilowatts; a 9.72-
mile-long, 138 kilovolt submarine cable that would interconnect in 
Stewart, British Columbia with British Columbia Transmission 
Corporation's existing electrical transmission system;\1\ and 
appurtenant facilities.
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    \1\ Only the portion of the transmission line that would be 
located in the United States is under the Commission's jurisdiction.
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    l. A copy of the request to use alternative procedures 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.
    m. Alaska Power & Telephone Company has demonstrated that it has 
made an effort to contact all federal and state resources agencies, 
non-governmental organizations (NGO), and others affected by the 
project. Alaska Power & Telephone Company has also demonstrated that a 
consensus exists that the use of alternative procedures is appropriate 
in this case. Alaska Power & Telephone Company has submitted a

[[Page 17967]]

communications protocol that is supported by the stakeholders.
    The purpose of this notice is to invite any additional comments on 
Alaska Power & Telephone Company's request to use the alternative 
procedures, pursuant to section 4.34(i) of the Commission's 
regulations. Additional notices seeking comments on the specific 
project proposal, interventions and protests, and recommended terms and 
conditions will be issued at a later date. Alaska Power & Telephone 
Company will complete and file a preliminary Environmental Assessment, 
in lieu of Exhibit E of the license application. This differs from the 
traditional process, in which an applicant consults with agencies, 
Indian tribes, NGOs, and other parties during preparation of the 
license application and before filing the application, but the 
Commission staff performs the environmental review after the 
application is filed. The alternative procedures are intended to 
simplify and expedite the licensing process by combining the pre-filing 
consultation and environmental review processes into a single process, 
to facilitate greater participation, and to improve communication and 
cooperation among the participants.
    Alaska Power & Telephone Company has met with federal and state 
resources agencies regarding the proposed Soule River Hydroelectric 
Project. Alaska Power & Telephone Company intends to file 6-month 
progress reports during the alternative procedures process that leads 
to the filing of a license application by June 30, 2009.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-6723 Filed 4-1-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P