[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 219 (Monday, November 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70434-70435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29246]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 13011-003]


Shelbyville Hydro LLC; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing 
With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Major License.
    b. Project No.: 13011-003.
    c. Date filed: October 28, 2011.
    d. Applicant: Shelbyville Hydro LLC (Shelbyville Hydro), a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Symbiotics LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Lake Shelbyville Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Kaskaskia River, in Shelby County, Illinois at 
an existing dam owned and operated by the U.S. Corps of Engineers 
(Corps). The project would occupy 3.24 acres of federal lands managed 
by the Corps.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Brent L. Smith, Chief Operating Officer, 
Symbiotics LLC 371 Upper Terrace, Suite 2, Bend, OR 97702; Telephone 
(541) 330-8779.
    i. FERC Contact: Lesley Kordella, (202) 502-6406 or 
[email protected].
    j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies 
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to 
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the 
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such 
requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note 
the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation 
of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See, 94 FERC ] 
61,076 (2001).
    k. Pursuant to Section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes 
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to 
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the 
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person 
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of 
the request on the applicant.
    l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for 
cooperating agency status: December 27, 2011.
    All documents may be filed electronically via the Internet. See 18 
CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web 
site http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit 
brief comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, 
using the eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You must include your name and contact information at the 
end of your comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online 
Support at [email protected] or toll free at 1-(866) 208-3676, 
or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. Although the Commission strongly encourages 
electronic filing, documents may also be paper-filed. To paper-file, 
mail an original and seven copies to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426.
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The project would be located at an existing dam owned and 
operated by the Corps-St. Louis District. The existing Lake Shelbyville 
Dam was constructed in 1963 for the purposes of flood control, 
recreation development, water supply, navigation release, and fish and 
wildlife conservation. In August of 1970, the USACE closed the gates to 
start the initial filling of the lake. The West Okaw and Kaskaskia 
rivers were inundated 17 miles upstream of the dam.
    The Lake Shelbyville Dam is an earthen embankment with an elevation 
of 643 feet above mean sea level (MSL). The dam is 3,025 feet long and 
rises 108 feet above the river bed. The concrete spillway is located at 
593 feet MSL and is topped by three Tainter gates that are 
approximately 45 feet wide by 37 feet high. The two regulating outlet 
structures release water through the face of the spillway. The 
impoundment above the Lake Shelbyville Dam, referred to as Lake 
Shelbyville, varies according to flood control operations controlled by 
the Corps. Lake Shelbyville has a maximum storage capacity of 684,000 
acre-feet. Of the 684,000 acre-feet of storage, 474,000 acre-feet have 
been designated for flood control.
    The average depth of the reservoir is 16 feet and the maximum is 67 
feet.

[[Page 70435]]

    The proposed Lake Shelbyville Project would consist of: (1) A 
powerhouse located downstream on the western embankment of the 
spillway; (2) a penstock, which would be connected to the west outlet 
structure, and extend along the western bank to the powerhouse; (3) a 
trash rack with 4-inch spacing that would be integrated into the 
existing intake structure; (4) a new transformer pad located adjacent 
to the powerhouse; (5) a modified access road that would pass to the 
west of the powerhouse; (6) a parking lot on the west side of the 
powerhouse; (7) a 49-foot-long by 105-foot-wide tailrace; (8) 407 feet 
of 12.47-kilovolt (kV) buried transmission line to connect the project 
to the existing Shelby Electric Cooperative substation located 900 feet 
downstream of the dam; (9) three turbine-generator units for a combined 
installed capacity of 6.8 megawatts; and (10) appurtenant facilities. 
The projected annual energy generation would be 20.3 gigawatt hours.
    The project would operate in a run-of-release mode utilizing 
releases from Lake Shelbyville as they are dictated by the Corps, with 
no proposed change to the Corps' facility operation. Power generation 
would be seasonally variable as flow regimens and pool levels are set 
forth by the Corps. The project would generate power using flows 
between 130 cfs (cubic feet per second) to 1,500 cfs. When flows are 
below 130 cfs, all flows would be passed through the existing outlet 
structure and the project would then be offline. When flows are greater 
than 1,500 cfs, excess flow would be passed through the existing outlet 
structure.
    o. 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. 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 email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    p. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the 
Illinois State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), as required by 
Sec.  106, National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of 
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36, CFR, at 800.4.
    q. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule will be made as appropriate.

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Issue Notice of Acceptance or            December 2011.
 Deficiency Letter.
Request Additional Information.........  January 2012.
Issue Acceptance Letter................  March 2012.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for Comments..  April 2012.
Comments on Scoping Document 1.........  May 2012.
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)  June 2012.
Issue notice of ready for environmental  July 2012.
 analysis.
Commission issues a single EA..........  February 2013.
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    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.

    Dated: November 3, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-29246 Filed 11-10-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P