[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 69 (Thursday, April 10, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19903-19904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08041]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 13570-002]
Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and
Soliciting Scoping Comments: Warmsprings Irrigation District
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with Commission and is available for public inspection:
a. Type of Application: New Minor License.
b. Project No.: 13570-002.
c. Date filed: April 15, 2013.
d. Applicant: Warmsprings Irrigation District (WSID).
e. Name of Project: Warm Springs Dam Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The Warm Springs Dam Hydroelectric Project would be
located on the Malheur River in Malheur County, Oregon, near the Town
of Juntura. It would occupy 13.5 acres of federal land.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Randy Kinney, Warmsprings Irrigation
District, 334 Main Street North, Vale, OR 97918; (541) 473-3951.
i. FERC Contact: Ken Wilcox, [email protected], (202) 502-6835.
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: May 31, 2014.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at 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], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy to:
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include
docket number P-13570-002.
The Commission's 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.
k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
l. The Warm Springs Dam Hydroelectric Project would utilize the
existing Warm Springs Dam and reservoir and would consist of the
following new facilities: (1) A steel liner fitted into one of two
existing outlets in the right abutment of the dam; (2) a 150-foot-long,
8-foot-diameter steel penstock and increaser section conveying water
from the outlet works to a powerhouse located at the stilling basin
immediately downstream of the dam; (3) a 34-foot-wide by 36-foot-long
powerhouse containing one 2.7-megawatt (MW) Francis or Kaplan turbine;
(4) 2.2-mile-long, 25-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; and (5)
appurtenant facilities. The project would occupy 13.5 acres of federal
land.
m. 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.
n. 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 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:
Public Scoping Meeting
DATE: Wednesday, April 30, 2014
TIME: 7:00 p.m. (MDT)
PLACE: Juntura Elementary School
ADDRESS: 5855 6th Street, Juntura, Oregon
Agency Scoping Meeting
DATE: Thursday, May 1, 2014
TIME: 9:00 a.m. (PDT)
PLACE: Harney County Community Center
ADDRESS: 484 N. Broadway, Burns, Oregon
Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to
be addressed in the EA 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 m above).
Environmental Site Review
The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project Environmental
Site Review beginning at 2:00 p.m. (MDT) on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.
All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to
attend. All participants should meet near the bridge on Warm Springs
Road one-half mile south of Warm Springs Dam. Alternatively, attendees
may meet at the Oasis Cafe in Juntura (5838 Highway 20) at 1:15 p.m. to
follow staff to the site near the bridge. All participants are
responsible for their own transportation to the site. Anyone with
questions about the Environmental Site Review should contact Mr. Randy
Kinney of Warmsprings Irrigation District at (541) 473-3951. PLEASE
NOTE: Juntura and Warm Springs Dam are located within the Mountain Time
Zone; Burns is in the Pacific Time Zone.
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
[[Page 19904]]
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: April 2, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-08041 Filed 4-9-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P