[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1049-1050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-64]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12690-003]


Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County, WA; Notice of 
Intent To File License Application, Filing of Draft Application, 
Request for Waivers of Integrated Licensing Process Regulations 
Necessary for Expedited Processing of a Hydrokinetic Pilot Project 
License Application, and Soliciting Comments

December 30, 2009.
    a. Type of Filing: Notice of Intent to File a License Application 
for an Original License for a Hydrokinetic Pilot Project.
    b. Project No.: 12690-003.
    c. Date Filed: December 28, 2009.
    d. Submitted By: Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County, 
Washington (Snohomish PUD)
    e. Name of Project: Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal Project.
    f. Location: On the east side of Admiralty Inlet in Puget Sound, 
Washington, about 1 kilometer west of Whidbey Island, entirely within 
Island County, Washington. The project would not occupy any Federal 
lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: 18 CFR 5.3 and 5.5 of the Commission's 
regulations.
    h. Applicant Contact: Steven J. Klein, Public Utility District of 
Snohomish County, Washington, P.O. Box 1107, 2320, California Street, 
Everett, WA 98206-1107; (425) 783-8473.
    i. FERC Contact: David Turner (202) 502-6091.
    j. Snohomish PUD has filed with the Commission: (1) A notice of 
intent (NOI) to file an application for an original license for a 
hydrokinetic pilot project and a draft license application with 
monitoring plans; (2) a request for waivers of the integrated licensing 
process regulations necessary for expedited processing of a 
hydrokinetic pilot project license application; and (3) a proposed 
process plan and schedule.
    k. With this notice, we are soliciting comments on the pre-filing 
materials listed in paragraph j above, including the draft license 
application and monitoring plans. All comments should be sent to the 
address above in paragraph h. In addition, all comments (original and 
eight copies) must be filed with the Commission at the following 
address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. All filings 
with the Commission must include on the first page, the project name 
(Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal Project) and number (P-12690-003), and 
bear the heading ``Comments on the proposed Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal 
Project.'' Any individual or entity interested in submitting comments 
on the pre-filing materials must do so by February 26, 2010.
    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.
    l. Snohomish PUD was designated as the non-federal representative 
for section 7 of the Endangered Species Act consultation and for 
section 106 consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act 
on November 7, 2008.
    m. This notice does not constitute the Commission's approval of 
Snohomish PUD's request to use the Pilot Project Licensing Procedures. 
Upon its review of the project's overall characteristics relative to 
the pilot project criteria, the draft license application contents, and 
any comments filed, the Commission will determine whether there is 
adequate information to conclude the pre-filing process.
    n. The proposed Admiralty Inlet Pilot Tidal Project would consist 
of (1) two 10-meter, 500-kilowatt (kW) Open-Centre Turbines supplied by 
OpenHydro Group Ltd., mounted on completely submerged gravity 
foundations; (2) two 250-meter service cables connected at a subsea 
junction box or spliced to a 0.5-kilometer subsea transmission cable, 
connecting to a cable termination vault about 50 meters from shore; (3) 
two 81-meter-long buried conduits containing the two DC transmission 
lines from the turbines and connecting to a power conditioning and 
control building; (4) a 140-meter-long buried cable from the control 
building to the grid; and (5) appurtenant facilities for operation and 
maintenance. The estimated annual generation of the project is 383,000 
kilowatt-hours.
    o. A copy of the draft license application and all pre-filing 
materials are available for review at the Commission in the Public 
Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov), using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number, 
excluding the

[[Page 1050]]

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.
    p. Pre-filing process schedule. The pre-filing process will be 
conducted pursuant to the following tentative schedule. Snohomish PUD 
plans to complete studies in 2010 to provide further support for the 
environmental analysis. Revisions to the schedule below may be made 
based on staff's review of the draft application and any comments 
received.

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              Milestone                             Date
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Comments on pre-filing materials due  February 26, 2010...............
Issuance of meeting notice (if        March 15, 2010..................
 needed).
Public meeting/technical conference   April 14, 2010..................
 (if needed).
Issuance of notice concluding pre-    March 28, 2010 (if no meeting is
 filing process and ILP waiver         needed). April 29, 2010 (if
 request determination.                meeting is needed).
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    q. Register online at http://ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm to be 
notified via e-mail of new filing and issuances related to this or 
other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-64 Filed 1-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P