[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 17, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51022-51023]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20898]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[ Project No. P-13563-001]


Juneau Hydropower, Inc.; Notice of Scoping Meeting and Site Visit 
and Soliciting Scoping Comments for an Applicant Prepared Environmental 
Assessment Using the Alternative Licensing Process

    a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
    b. Project No.: 13563-001.
    c. Applicant: Juneau Hydropower, Inc.
    d. Name of Project: Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project.
    e. Location: On Sweetheart Lake, approximately 30 air miles 
southeast of the city of Juneau, Alaska. The project would occupy lands 
of the Tongass National Forest.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    g. Applicant Contact: Duff Mitchell, Business Manager, Juneau 
Hydropower, Inc., P.O. Box 22775, Juneau, AK 99802; 907-789-2775, e-
mail: [email protected].
    h. FERC Contact: Jennifer Harper, at (202) 502-6136.
    i. Deadline for filing scoping comments: October 7, 2011.
    All documents (original and seven copies) should be filed with: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) 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/docs-filing/ferconline.asp) under the 
``e-filing'' link. For a simpler method of submitting text only 
comments, click on ``Quick Comment.''
    j. The proposed project would consist of: (1) The existing Lower 
Sweetheart Lake, raised from a surface water elevation of 544 feet and 
a surface area

[[Page 51023]]

of 1,414 acres to a new surface water elevation of 629 feet and a new 
surface area of 1,635 acres; (2) a new, approximately 500-foot-long, 
90-foot-high concrete and rock-faced dam, constructed at the outlet of 
Lower Sweetheart Lake; (3) an intake on the dam connecting to a 12-
foot-diameter, 10,390-foot-long unlined tunnel; (4) a 9-foot-diameter, 
1,650-foot-long penstock installed within the lower potion of the 
tunnel, connecting to the powerhouse; (5) a powerhouse containing two 
new Francis generating units with a total installed capacity of 30 MW; 
(6) a new tailrace discharging flows to Sweetheart Creek; (7) a new 
approximately 0.6-mile long road from the powerhouse to the dock/
landing site; (8) a new dock/landing site for boat, seaplane, and/or 
helicopter access, located on the east shore of Gilbert Bay; (9) a new 
138-kilovolt transmission line that would be either 8.9 miles long with 
5.9 miles of overhead line and 3 miles of submerged line, or 8.4 miles 
long with 0.4 miles of overhead line and 8.0 miles of submerged line; 
and (10) appurtenant facilities.
    k. Scoping Process
    Juneau Hydropower, Inc. (Juneau Hydropower) is using the 
Commission's alternative licensing process (ALP). Under the ALP, Juneau 
Hydropower will prepare an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment 
(APEA) and license application for the Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric 
Project.
    Juneau Hydropower expects to file, with the Commission, the APEA 
and the license application for the Sweetheart Lake project by November 
30, 2012. Although Juneau Hydropower's intent is to prepare an APEA, 
there is the possibility that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
will be required. Nevertheless, this meeting will satisfy the scoping 
requirements, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, irrespective of whether an EA or EIS is issued by the 
Commission.
    The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the opportunity to 
participate in the upcoming scoping meetings identified below, and to 
solicit your scoping comments.

Scoping Meetings

    Juneau Hydropower and the Commission staff will hold two scoping 
meetings, one in the daytime and one in the evening, to help us 
identify the scope of issues to be addressed in the APEA.
    The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, 
while the evening scoping meeting is primarily for public input. All 
interested individuals, Native Alaskan tribes, organizations, and 
agencies are invited to attend one or both of the meetings, and to 
assist the staff in identifying the environmental issues that should be 
analyzed in the APEA. The times and locations of these meetings are as 
follows:

Daytime Meeting September 7, 2011, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. (Alaska Standard 
Time), Juneau Ranger District Conference Room, 8510 Mendenhall Loop 
Road, Juneau, AK 99801.

Evening Meeting

    September 7, 2011, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. (Alaska Standard Time), Juneau 
Centennial Hall, Hickel Room, 101 Egan Drive, Juneau, AK 99801.

Site Visit

    Juneau Hydropower, Commission staff, and state and federal resource 
agencies will participate in an aerial tour of the project site on 
Thursday, September 8, 2011. Anyone with questions about the aerial 
tour should contact Duff Mitchell, Juneau Hydropower, at (907) 789-
2775. Those individuals planning to participate in the aerial tour 
should notify Mr. Mitchell of their intent no later than September 1, 
2011.
    To help focus discussions, Scoping Document 1 (SD1) was mailed 
August 8, 2011, outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the 
APEA, to the parties on the mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will 
be available at the scoping meetings. SD1 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.
    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.
    Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document 2 (SD2) 
may be issued. SD2 will include a revised list of issues, based on the 
scoping sessions.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the APEA; 
(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 APEA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in the APEA; 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 will be recorded by a stenographer and will 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 meetings and to 
assist Juneau Hydropower in defining and clarifying the issues to be 
addressed in the APEA.

    Dated: August 10, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-20898 Filed 8-16-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P