[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12274-12275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4775]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2467-020]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Application Tendered 
for Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for 
Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New License.
    b. Project No.: 2467-020.
    c. Date Filed: February 8, 2012.
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
    e. Name of Project: Merced Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Merced River on 
the border of Merced and Mariposa counties, California, immediately 
downstream of the Merced River Hydroelectric Project (No. 2179), 
operated by the Merced Irrigation District (MID). The project would 
occupy 1.62 acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land 
Management.

[[Page 12275]]

    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Power 
Generation, P.O. Box 770000, MC N11C, San Francisco, CA 94177-0001; 
Telephone (415) 973-7000.
    i. FERC Contact: Matt Buhyoff, (202) 502-6824 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Project Description:
    The existing Merced Falls Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 
concrete gravity dam with a structural height of 34 feet, and a crest 
length of 575 feet; (2) three radial gates, each 20 feet in length and 
13.5 feet high; (3) a 1-mile-long project impoundment with 
approximately 900 acre-feet of storage capacity, a useable storage 
capacity of approximately 579 acre-feet, a total surface area of 
approximately 65 acres, and a normal impoundment elevation of 344 feet 
above mean sea level; (4) powerhouse facilities consisting of a steel 
building housing a 3.4-megawatt (MW) turbine/generator unit and a 
vertical Kaplan-type four-blade turbine; (5) a 1,000-foot-long earthen 
levee with a crest width of 8 feet; (6) an adjacent intake structure 
with a debris rack; and (7) a non-operable fish ladder.
    The Merced Falls Project is operated in a run-of-river mode 
dependent on water outflow from MID's upstream Merced River Project 
(FERC No. 2179). Inflow to the project passes through the impoundment, 
which is kept at a constant water elevation and then either through the 
powerhouse or the dam's radial gates. Flows of up to approximately 
1,750 cubic feet per second (cfs) are diverted through the powerhouse, 
and then discharged to the Merced River via the tailrace. When water 
inflows exceed 2,200 cfs, the project spills water through the radial 
gates. During flood events with flows greater than 12,250 cfs, the 
needle beams can be dropped, allowing the 575-foot-long concrete 
section of the dam to act as a spillway.
    The project has a dependable capacity of 1.7 MW and an annual 
average generation of approximately 13.5 gigawatt-hours. PG&E is not 
proposing any new or upgraded facilities or structural changes to the 
project. PG&E proposes to modify the project boundary by removing 
approximately 4.8 acres of licensee-owned lands, which PG&E indicates 
are not needed for project purposes.
    l. Locations of the Application: 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 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.
    m. 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.
    n. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule may be made as appropriate:

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              Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready  November 2013.
 for Environmental Analysis (when
 FERC approved studies are complete).
Filing of recommendations,            January 2014.
 preliminary terms and conditions,
 and fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EA or EIS...  July 2014.
Comments on Draft EA or EIS.........  August 2014.
Modified Terms and Conditions.......  November 2014.
Commission Issues Final EA or EIS...  February 2015.
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    o. 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: February 22, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-4775 Filed 2-28-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P