[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 53 (Tuesday, March 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 10066]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05110]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 10102-000]
Springer Hydro No. 1; Notice of Existing Licensee's Failure To
File a Notice of Intent To File a Subsequent License Application, and
Soliciting Notices of Intent To File a License Application and Pre-
Application Documents
The current license for Springer Hydro No. 1 Project No. 10102 was
issued on June 29, 1990, for a term of 40 years, ending August 31,
2023.\1\ The 45-kilowatt project is located on McFadden and Morrison
Creeks in Chafee County, Colorado.
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\1\ See Franklin Springer, 51 FERC ] 61,375 (1990). The
effective date of the license was backdated to September 1, 1983,
the month when Springer Hydro began project operation.
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The project consists of: (1) A 14-foot-long, 44-inch-high concrete
diversion weir and a 4-foot by 8-foot intake filter at elevation 8,676
feet mean sea level on Morrison Creek; (2) an 866-foot-long, 10-inch-
diameter penstock; (3) the 15.4-acre-foot-capacity Waupaca reservoir
no. 2 on McFadden Creek formed by three earthen dams including (a) a
408-foot-long, 28-foot-high main dam, (b) a 90-foot-long, 10-foot-high
north saddle dam, and (c) a 148-foot-long, 18-foot high south saddle
dam with a 48-foot-wide gravel spillway and a 10-inch-diameter,
perforated pipe intake; (4) a 10-inch-diameter, 387-foot-long penstock
from the reservoir, joining the downstream end of the penstock in item
(2) above; (5) a 10-inch-diameter, 1,553-foot-long penstock; (6) a 20-
foot-long, 10-foot-wide, 8-foot-high powerhouse containing a 45-
kilowatt generating unit; (7) a 24-inch-diameter, 24-foot-long tailrace
pipe discharging into Morrison Creek; (8) a 450-foot-long, 7.2-kilovolt
transmission line connecting to a Sangre de Cristo Rural Electrical
Association distribution line.
At least five years before the expiration of a license for a minor
water power project in which sections 14 and 15 of the Federal Power
Act were waived, the Commission's regulations require the licensee to
file with the Commission a notice of intent (NOI) that contains an
unequivocal statement of the licensee's intention to file or not to
file an application for a subsequent license, details on the principal
project works and installed plant capacity, and other information.\2\
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\2\ 18 CFR 16.19(b) (2018) (citing 18 CFR 16.6(b) (2018)).
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If such a licensee does not inform the Commission that it intends
to file an application for, in this case, a subsequent license for the
project, the licensee may not file an application for a subsequent
license, either individually or in conjunction with an entity or
entities that are not currently licensees of the project.\3\
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\3\ 18 CFR 16.24(b) (2018).
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Because the existing license expires on August 31, 2023, the NOI
was due to be filed no later than the close of business on August 31,
2018. Watershed Ranch LLC, the existing licensee for the Springer Hydro
No. 1 Project, failed to file an NOI for the project by this date.\4\
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\4\ 18 CFR 16.23(b) (2018).
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Any party interested in filing a license application for the
Springer Hydro No. 1 Project must first file an NOI \5\ and a pre-
application document (PAD) \6\ pursuant to Part 5 of the Commission's
regulations. Although the integrated licensing process (ILP) is the
default pre-filing process, section 5.3(b) of the Commission's
regulations allows a potential license applicant to request to use
alternative licensing procedures when it files its NOI.\7\
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\5\ 18 CFR 5.5 (2018).
\6\ 18 CFR 5.6 (2018).
\7\ 18 CFR 5.3(b) (2018).
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This notice sets a deadline of 120 days from the date of this
notice for interested applicants, other than the existing licensee, to
file NOIs, PADs, and requests to use the traditional licensing process
or alternative procedures.
Applications for a subsequent license from potential applicants
must be filed with the Commission at least 24 months prior to the
expiration of the existing license.\8\ Because the existing license
expires on August 31, 2023, applications for license for this project
must be filed by August 31, 2021.\9\
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\8\ 18 CFR 16.20 (2018).
\9\ To the extent an interested applicant files an NOI and PAD
and elects or is required to use the Commission's ILP, a process
plan will be issued within 180 days of this notice, which
accelerates the steps of the ILP to allow for filing a subsequent
license application by the August 31, 2021 deadline.
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Questions concerning this notice should be directed to Khatoon
Melick at (202) 502-8433 or [email protected].
Dated: March 13, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-05110 Filed 3-18-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P