[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 237 (Thursday, December 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76681-76682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31127]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14677-001]


Clark Canyon Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application Tendered for 
Filing With the Commission, Soliciting Additional Study Requests, 
Intent To Waive Parts of the Pre-Filing Three Stage Consultation 
Process, and Intent To Waive Scoping and Establish an Expedited 
Schedule for Processing

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Original License for a Major Water Power 
Project at an Existing Dam, 5 Megawatts or Less.
    b. Project No.: 14677-001.
    c. Date filed: November 23, 2015.
    d. Applicant: Clark Canyon Hydro, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Clark Canyon Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Project Description: The Clark Canyon Dam Hydroelectric Project 
would utilize the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Clark Canyon Dam and 
outlet works including an intake structure and concrete conduit in the 
reservoir. The project would also consist of the following new 
facilities: (1) A 360-foot-long, 8-foot-diameter steel penstock within 
the existing concrete conduit, ending in a trifurcation; (2) two 35-
foot-long, 8-foot-diameter penstocks extending from the trifurcation to 
the powerhouse, transitioning to 6-foot-diameter before entering the 
powerhouse; (3) a 10-foot-long, 8-foot-diameter steel penstock leaving 
the trifurcation and ending in a 7-foot-diameter cone valve and reducer 
to control discharge into the existing outlet stilling basin; (4) a 65-
foot-long, 46-foot-wide reinforced concrete powerhouse containing two 
vertical Francis-type turbine/generator units with a total capacity of 
4.7 megawatts; (5) two 25-foot-long steel draft tubes transitioning to 
concrete draft tube/tailrace section; (6) a 17-foot-long, 15-foot-
diameter tailrace channel connecting with the existing spillway 
stilling basin; (7) a 45-foot-long, 10-foot-wide aeration basin 
downstream of the powerhouse with three frames containing 330 
diffusers; (8) a 1,100-foot-long, 4.16-kilovolt (kV) buried 
transmission line from the powerhouse to a substation; (9) a substation 
containing step-up transformers and switchgear; (10) a 7.9-mile-long, 
69-kV transmission line extending from the project substation to the 
Peterson Flat substation (the point of interconnection); and (11) 
appurtenant facilities. The estimated annual generation of the Clark 
Canyon Dam Project would be 15.4 gigawatt-hours. All project facilities 
would be located on federal lands owned by the U.S. Bureau of 
Reclamation and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The applicant 
proposes to operate the project as run-of-release.
    g. Location: The project is located on Beaverhead River near the 
town of Dillon, Beaverhead County, Montana. The project would occupy 
62.1 acres of land owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and 0.2 
acres of land owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
    h. Filed Pursuant to: 18 CFR 4.61 of the Commission's regulations.
    i. Applicant Contact: John Gangemi, (406) 249-3972, email at 
[email protected].
    j. FERC Contact: Kelly Wolcott, (202) 502-6480, email at 
[email protected].
    k. 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 (P-14677). For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] or toll free 
at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY (202) 502-8659.
    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.
    l. Cooperating Agencies: We are asking Federal, state, and local 
agencies and Indian tribes with jurisdiction and/or special expertise 
with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the environmental document. Agencies who would like to 
request cooperating status should follow the instructions for filing 
comments described in item n 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).
    m. Deadline for filing additional study requests: Because the 
current proposal is substantially the same as the applicant's 
previously licensed but unconstructed project (P-12429), the 
applicant's close coordination with tribal, state, and federal agencies 
during the preparation of the application, and the lack of comments on 
the draft application, we are waiving the 60-day timeframe specified in 
18 CFR 4.32(b)(7) for filing additional study requests and requiring 
all additional study requests to be filed 30 days from the date the 
license application was filed.
    All documents may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu 
of paper. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the 
Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ferconline.asp) 
under the ``eFiling'' link. For a simpler method of submitting text 
only comments, click on ``Quick Comment.'' For assistance, please 
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected]; call toll-
free at (866) 208-3676; or, for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659. Although 
the Commission strongly encourages electronic filing, documents may 
also be paper-filed. To paper-file, mail an original and eight copies 
to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    n. The applicant requested that the Commission only solicit 
competing applications for 30 days, and not notices of intent to file 
competing applications. For the reasons noted in item m and to expedite 
the licensing process, we intend to solicit competing applications for 
30 days, but will allow notices of intent to be filed to ensure 
sufficient opportunity for competing applications to be filed.
    o. Preliminary procedural schedule: Commission staff has determined 
that the issues that need to be addressed in its environmental analysis 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) have been 
adequately identified in the previous licensing proceeding and during 
the applicant's public meeting and site visit, and no new issues are 
likely to be identified through additional scoping. Therefore, we 
intend to accept the consultation that has occurred on this project 
during the pre-filing period as satisfying our requirements for the 
standard 3-stage consultation process under 18 CFR 4.38 and for 
National Environmental Policy Act scoping and prepare a single 
environment assessment. To further expedite the licensing process, once 
we have found the application acceptable and ready for environmental 
analysis, we also intend to waive 4.34(b) of the Commission's 
regulations to require the filing of comments, terms and conditions or 
prescriptions within 30 days of the notice and the reply comments with 
45 days of the notice. The application will be processed according to 
the following preliminary

[[Page 76682]]

procedural schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as 
appropriate.

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              Milestone                           Target date
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Additional study requests and         December 23, 2015.
 comments on waivers due.
Issue notice of acceptance and ready  January 5, 2016.
 for environmental analysis.
Comments, recommendations, and terms  February 4, 2016.
 and conditions due.
Reply comments due..................  February 19, 2016.
Notice of the availability of the EA  May 1, 2016.
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    Dated: December 4, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-31127 Filed 12-9-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P