[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 44 (Friday, March 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12162-12163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05251]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12635-002]


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

February 27, 2015.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Original Major License.
    b. Project No.: 12635-002.
    c. Date filed: February 13, 2015 .
    d. Applicant: Moriah Hydro Corporation.
    e. Name of Project: Mineville Energy Storage Project.
    f. Location: The project would be located in an abandoned 
subterranean mine complex \1\ in the town of Moriah, Essex County, New 
York. No federal lands are occupied by project works or located within 
the project boundary.
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    \1\ The existing mine complex is composed of the interconnected 
Old Bed, Bonanza open pit, and Harmony mines.
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    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: James A. Besha, P.E., President, Moriah Hydro 
Corporation, 5 Washington Square, Albany, NY 12205; or at (518) 456-
7712.
    i. FERC Contact: John Mudre, (202) 502-8902 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: April 14, 2015.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status 
using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 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-12635-002.
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The proposed project consists of: (1) An upper reservoir located 
within the upper portion of the mine between elevations 495 and 1,095 
feet above mean sea level (msl), with a surface area of 4 acres and a 
storage capacity of 2,448 acre-feet; (2) a lower reservoir in the lower 
portion of the mine between elevations -1,075 and -1,555 feet msl, with 
a surface area of 5.1 acres and a storage capacity of 2,448 acre-feet; 
(3) a 14-foot-diameter and 2,955-foot-long upper reservoir shaft 
connecting the upper reservoir to the high-pressure penstock located 
below the powerhouse chamber floor; (4) a 14-foot-diameter and 2,955-
foot-long lower reservoir shaft connecting the lower reservoir and the 
lower reservoir ventilation tunnel; (5) two 6-foot-diameter emergency 
evacuation shafts located between the powerhouse chamber and the 
electrical equipment chamber; (6) a 25-foot-diameter main shaft 
extending 2,955 feet from the surface down to the powerhouse chamber; 
(7) 15-foot-diameter high- and low-pressure steel penstocks embedded 
beneath the powerhouse chamber floor; (8) a 320-foot-long by 80-foot-
wide powerhouse chamber, containing 100 reversible pump-turbine units, 
each with a nameplate generating capacity of 2.4 megawatts; (9) a 274-
foot-long by 36-foot-wide underground electrical equipment chamber 
adjacent to the powerhouse chamber; (10) an inclined electrical tunnel 
connecting the electrical equipment chamber to a new 115-kilovolt (kV) 
substation constructed adjacent to an existing single circuit 115-kV 
transmission line located about one horizontal mile from the 
underground powerhouse chamber; and (11) appurtenant facilities. The 
project would operate as a closed-loop system to meet energy demands 
and grid control requirements. The project would

[[Page 12163]]

have an average annual generation of 421 gigawatt-hours (GWh). The 
average pumping power used by the project would be 554 GWh.
    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. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule will be made as appropriate.

Issue Notice of Acceptance or Deficiency April 2015
Request Additional Information April 2015
Issue Acceptance Letter July 2015
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments August 2015
Comments on Scoping Document 1 September 2015
Issue Scoping Document 2 October 2015
Issue notice of ready for environmental analysis October 2015
Commission issues EA, draft EA, or draft EIS April 2016
Comments on EA, draft EA, or draft EIS June 2016
Commission issues final EA or final EIS August 2016

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-05251 Filed 3-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P