[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 225 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70340-70342]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-27566]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2242-078]


Eugene Water and Electric Board; Notice of Settlement Agreement 
and Soliciting Comments, Application Ready for Environmental Analysis 
and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and 
Prescriptions, and Revised Schedule for Environmental Assessment

November 14, 2008.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed

[[Page 70341]]

with the Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New Major License and Settlement Agreement.
    b. Project No.: 2242-078.
    c. Date Filed: The license application was filed on November 24, 
2006. The settlement agreement was filed on October 23, 2008.
    d. Applicant: Eugene Water and Electric Board.
    e. Name of Project: Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the McKenzie River in Lane and Linn Counties, near 
McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. The project occupies approximately 560 acres 
of the Willamette National Forest.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: The license application was filed pursuant to 
Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r). The settlement agreement 
was filed pursuant to Rule 602 of the Commission's Rules of Practice 
and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.602.
    h. Applicant Contact: Randy L. Berggren, General Manager, Eugene 
Water and Electric Board, 500 East 4th Avenue, P.O. Box 10148, Eugene, 
OR 97440, (541) 484-2411.
    i. FERC Contact: Bob Easton, (202) 502-6045 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadlines for Filing Comments: Comments on the settlement 
agreement are due 20 days from the issuance date of this notice, with 
reply comments due 30 days from the issuance date of this notice. 
Comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions are 
due 60 days from the issuance date of this notice, with reply comments 
due 105 days from the issuance 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.
    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.
    Comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
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 has been accepted for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    l. The Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project consists of two 
developments, the Carmen development and the Trail Bridge development. 
The Carmen development includes: (1) A 25-foot-high, 2,100-foot-long, 
and 10-foot-wide earthen Carmen diversion dam with a concrete weir 
spillway, (2) a 11,380-foot-long by 9.5-foot-diameter concrete Carmen 
diversion tunnel located on the right abutment of the spillway, (3) a 
235-foot-high, 1,100-foot-long, and 15-foot-wide earthen Smith 
diversion dam with a gated Ogee spillway, (4) a 7,275-foot-long by 
13.5-foot-diameter concrete-lined Smith power tunnel, (5) a 1,160-foot-
long by 13-foot-diameter steel underground Carmen penstock, (6) a 86-
foot-long by 79-foot-wide Carmen powerhouse, (7) two Francis turbines 
each with a generating capacity of 52.25 megawatts (MW) for a total 
capacity of 104.50 MW, (8) a 19-mile, 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission 
line that connects the Carmen powerhouse to the Bonneville Power 
Administration's Cougar-Eugene transmission line; and (9) appurtenant 
facilities.
    The Trail Bridge development includes: (1) A 100-foot-high, 700-
foot-long, and 24-foot-wide earthen Trail Bridge dam section with a 
gated Ogee spillway, (2) a 1,000-foot-long and 20-foot-wide emergency 
spillway section, (3) a 300-foot-long by 12-foot-diameter concrete 
penstock at the intake that narrows to a diameter of 7 feet, (4) a 66-
foot-long by 61-foot-wide Trail Bridge powerhouse, (5) one Kaplan 
turbine with a generating capacity of 9.975 MW; (6) a one-mile, 11.5-kV 
distribution line that connects the Trail Bridge powerhouse to the 
Carmen powerhouse; and (7) appurtenant facilities.
    m. EWEB filed the Relicensing Settlement Agreement on behalf of 
itself and the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Oregon 
Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Fish and 
Wildlife, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Confederated Tribes 
of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, Confederated Tribes of Siletz 
Indians of Oregon, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation 
of Oregon, American Whitewater, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Oregon 
Hunters Association, Oregon Wild, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, 
McKenzie Flyfishers, and Trout Unlimited. The purpose of the agreement 
is to balance the interests of all the parties and to provide a balance 
between the resources affected by the project and project operations. 
The agreement is also designed to satisfy the interests of state and 
federal agencies with statutory authority, trust responsibility, and 
obligations associated with resources that may be affected by the 
project. The agreement includes environmental protection, mitigation, 
and enhancement measures through a series of proposed license articles 
and exhibits to the agreement, as well as other provisions related to 
items such as the duration of the new license, coordination and 
decision making, commitments of governmental parties under related 
statutory authorities, dispute resolution and agreement termination, 
and other general provisions. EWEB requests on behalf of all the 
parties that the proposed license articles be incorporated into the new 
license by the Commission without material modification.
    n. A copy of the application and the settlement agreement 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.
    o. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following 
the date of issuance of this notice: (1) A copy of the water quality 
certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including 
proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; 
or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification.
    p. Procedural schedule: At this time we anticipate preparing one 
environmental assessment (EA). Recipients will have 30 days to provide 
the Commission with any written comments on the EA. A revised EA may be 
prepared based on the comments received. The application will be 
processed according to the following schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule will be made as appropriate.

[[Page 70342]]



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Comments, terms and conditions due........  January 2009
Reply comments due........................  March 2009
Notice of the Availability of the EA......  May 2009
End of public comment period on EA........  June 2009
Final decision on license.................  February 2010
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Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-27566 Filed 11-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P