[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 156 (Monday, August 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40030-40032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17305]


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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 Accepted for Filing, Soliciting 
Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, 
and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and 
Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: 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 Hydroelectric 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. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply 
comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary 
terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions 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-619-164.

[[Page 40031]]

    The Commission's Rules of Practice require all intervenors 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 
intervenor 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 has been accepted for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    l. 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 605 
acre-feet at the normal maximum water surface elevation of 
approximately 6,078 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. The 
powerhouse contains one turbine-generator with a maximum capacity of 20 
megawatts (MW). The powerhouse produces an average annual generation 
production of 47.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh). Grizzly Powerhouse discharges 
the project's water flow directly into the Grizzly Forebay.
    A 4.2-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 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, containing two turbine-generators 
with a total maximum capacity of 65 MW. The powerhouse produces an 
average annual generation of 223.6 GWh.
    There are no associated transmission lines at the Bucks Creek 
Powerhouse. 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, 1 mile upstream of Rock Creek Powerhouse, 
part of PG&E's Rock Creek-Cresta Hydroelectric Project (FERC Project 
No. 1962).
    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 website 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.
    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. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with 
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST'', ``MOTION TO INTERVENE'', ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' 
``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' or 
``PRELIMINARY FISHWAY PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (2) set forth in the heading the 
name of the applicant and the project number of the application to 
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone 
number of the person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise 
comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions must 
set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the 
requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the 
application directly from the applicant. A copy of any protest or

[[Page 40032]]

motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the 
applicant specified in the particular application. A copy of all other 
filings in reference to this application must be accompanied by proof 
of service on all persons listed in the service list prepared by the 
Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 
385.2010.
    o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following revised Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule may be made as appropriate.

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                Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of recommendations, preliminary    October 2018.
 terms and conditions, and preliminary
 fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft Environmental     April 2019.
 Statement (EIS).
Comments on draft EIS...................  June 2019.
Modified terms and conditions Commission  August 2019.
 issues final EIS.
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    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    q. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following 
the date of issuance of the notice of acceptance and ready for 
environmental analysis provided for in 5.22: (1) a copy of the water 
quality certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, 
including proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the 
request; or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification.

    Dated: August 6, 2018.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-17305 Filed 8-10-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P