[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 246 (Thursday, December 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 93910-93911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30851]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 619-164]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company and City of Santa Clara, 
California; 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 Major License
    b. Project No.: 619-164
    c. Date Filed: December 12, 2016
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and City of 
Santa Clara, California
    e. Name of Project: Bucks Creek Hydropower Project
    f. Location: The Bucks Creek Project is located on Bucks, Grizzly, 
and Milk Ranch Creeks in Plumas County, California. Portions of the 
project are located within the Plumas National Forest.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r)
    h. Applicant Contact: Alan Soneda, PG&E, Mail Code N13C, P. 0. Box 
770000, San Francisco, California 94177-0001; (415) 973-4054
    i. FERC Contact: Alan Mitchnick at (202) 502-6074 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Project Description:

Bucks Lake Dam and Reservoir (Bucks Creek Development)

    The Bucks Lake dam consists of a rock-fill with concrete face dam. 
It has a structural height of 123 feet and a length of 1,320 feet. 
Bucks Creek dam impounds Bucks Lake, which extends 5 miles from the 
dam. Total storage in the 1,827-acre reservoir is approximately 105,605 
acre-feet at the normal maximum water surface elevation of 
approximately 5,157 feet. From Bucks Lake, the project's water flow is 
released immediately downstream into Lower Bucks Lake.

Three Lakes Dam and Reservoir, and Milk Ranch Conduit (Bucks Creek 
Development)

    The Three Lakes dam consists of a rock-fill dam with a structural 
height of 30 feet and a length of 584 feet. Three Lakes dam impounds 
the flow of Milk Ranch Creek, forming Upper Lake, Middle Lake, and 
Lower Lake, collectively known as Three Lakes reservoir. These water 
bodies are hydraulically linked and are approximately 0.75 mile from 
the dam. Total storage in the 40-acre reservoir is approximately 513 
acre-feet at the normal maximum water surface elevation of 
approximately 6,074 feet.
    Milk Ranch conduit conveys the project's water flow from Three 
Lakes reservoir and feeder diversions to Lower Bucks Lake. The maximum 
capacity of the approximately 8-mile-long conduit is about 70 cubic 
foot per second (cfs). It collects additional flow from several 
diversions located on unnamed tributaries.

Lower Bucks Lake Dam and Reservoir (Bucks Creek Development)

    The Lower Bucks Lake dam consists of a concrete arch dam with a 
structural height of 99 feet and a length of 500 feet. Lower Bucks 
Creek dam impounds Lower Bucks Lake, which extends approximately 1.1 
miles from the dam. Total storage in the 136-acre reservoir is 
approximately 5,843 acre-feet at the normal maximum water surface 
elevation of approximately 5,022 feet. Water is conveyed from Lower 
Bucks Lake to the Grizzly powerhouse by the Grizzly powerhouse tunnel.

Grizzly Powerhouse Tunnel (Grizzly Development)

    The 12,320-foot-long Grizzly powerhouse tunnel (including a 4,900-
foot-long buried penstock) conveys the water flow from Lower Bucks Lake 
to Grizzly powerhouse. The maximum flow capacity is 400 cfs.

Grizzly Powerhouse (Grizzly Development)

    The Grizzly powerhouse is a 65-foot-long by 55-foot-wide, steel 
frame and concrete building constructed from reinforced concrete, with 
a maximum capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) and an average annual 
generation production of 48.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Grizzly powerhouse 
discharges the project's water flow directly into the Grizzly forebay.
    A 3.2-mile-long, 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line transmits 
power from Grizzly powerhouse to PG&E's 115-kV Caribou-Sycamore 
transmission line, part of the interconnected system.

Grizzly Forebay Dam and Reservoir (Bucks Creek Development)

    The Grizzly forebay dam consists of a concrete arch dam with a 
structural height of 98 feet and a length of 520 feet. Grizzly forebay 
dam impounds the

[[Page 93911]]

Grizzly forebay, forming the Grizzly forebay reservoir that extends 
approximately 0.8 mile. Total storage in the 38-acre reservoir is 
approximately 1,112 acre-feet at the normal maximum water surface 
elevation of approximately 4,316 feet.

Grizzly Forebay Tunnel (Bucks Creek Development)

    From Grizzly forebay, the project's water flow is conveyed through 
the horseshoe-shaped Grizzly forebay tunnel. The tunnel is 9,575-foot-
long with two 4,786-foot-long penstocks leading to Bucks Creek 
powerhouse. The maximum flow capacity is 400 cfs.

Bucks Creek Powerhouse (Bucks Creek Development)

    The project's water flow is conveyed through the Grizzly forebay 
tunnel to Bucks Creek powerhouse. The Bucks Creek powerhouse is a 47-
foot-long by 132-foot-wide, steel frame and concrete building 
constructed from reinforced concrete. The powerhouse has a total 
maximum capacity of 65 MW with an average annual generation of 234.8 
GWh. The powerhouse connects directly to the non-project switchyard 
adjacent to the powerhouse part of the interconnected transmission 
system.
    Bucks Creek powerhouse discharges the project's water flow in the 
North Fork Feather River, one mile upstream of Rock Creek powerhouse, 
part of PG&E's Rock Creek-Cresta Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project 
No. 1962).
    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, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). 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 for     February 2017.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary       April 2017.
 terms and conditions, and fishway
 prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft Environmental        October 2017.
 Impact Statement (EIS).
Comments on Draft EIS......................  December 2017.
Modified Terms and Conditions..............  February 2018.
Commission Issues Final EIS................  May 2018.
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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: December 16, 2016.
 Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-30851 Filed 12-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P