[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 97 (Friday, May 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29630-29631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-12068]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 13843-001]


Qualified Hydro 24, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meetings and 
Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

    a. Type of Filing: Notice of Intent to file license application and 
pre-application document.
    b. Project No.: 13843-001.
    c. Date filed: January 3, 2012.
    d. Applicant: Qualified Hydro 24, LLC.

[[Page 29631]]

    e. Name of Project: Cle Elum Project.
    f. Location: On the Cle Elum River, in Kittitas County, Washington. 
A portion of the project occupies United States lands administered by 
U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: 18 CFR 5.5 and 5.6 of the Commission's 
regulations.
    h. Potential Applicant Contact: Ramya Swaminathan, Qualified Hydro 
24, LLC, 239 Causeway Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02114; (978) 283-
2822.
    i. FERC Contact: Jim Hastreiter at (503) 552-2760; or email at 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing information, study requests, and scoping 
comments: July 13, 2012.
    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.
    k. The proposed project would use the existing dam, intake 
structure, discharge conduit, and outlet conduit to generate power by 
using flow releases from Reclamation's existing Cle Elum Dam. The 
proposed project would consist of following new structures: (1) A 25-
foot-long, steel lined bifurcation; (2) a steel 100-foot-long, 12-foot-
diameter penstock; (3) a steel 50-foot-diameter, 140-foot-tall surge 
tank; (4) a 50- by 80-foot concrete powerhouse with associated control 
equipment; (5) two vertical Francis turbines and two 3.7 MW generators; 
(6) a 70- by 160-foot-long concrete tailrace; a 35- by 40-foot 
substation; a 1,000-foot-long, 12.5 kilovolt transmission line; a 1000-
foot-long access road; and appurtenant facilities.
    l. A copy of the NOI and PAD 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.
m. Scoping Process
    The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental assessment (EA) 
on the project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and cumulative 
environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
action.

Scoping Meetings

    FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public 
meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and 
non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public scoping 
meeting is primarily for public input. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend one or both of the 
meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope of the 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and 
locations of these meetings are as follows:

Agency Scoping Meeting

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Place: Suncadia Lodge
Address: 3600 Suncadia Trail, Cle Elum, Washington 98922

Public Scoping Meeting

Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m..
Place: Suncadia Lodge
Address: 3600 Suncadia Trail, Cle Elum, Washington 98922

    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EIS were distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the 
scoping meeting or may be viewed on the Web at http://www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item l above).

Environmental Site Review

    The Applicant, Bureau of Reclamation, and FERC staff will conduct a 
project Environmental Site Review beginning at 9:00 a.m. on June 13, 
2012. All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are 
invited to attend. All participants should meet at the Cle Elum dam. 
All participants are responsible for their own transportation to the 
site. Anyone with questions about the Environmental Site Review should 
contact Mr. Alan Topalian of Qualified Hydro 24, LLC at 978-283-2822, 
ext. 122.

Objectives

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

    Dated: May 14, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-12068 Filed 5-17-12; 8:45 am]
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