[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