[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43122-43123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17900]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3063-021]


Blackstone Hydro Associates; Notice of Application Tendered for 
Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and 
Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a 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: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 3063-021.
    c. Date filed: July 31, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Blackstone Hydro Associates (BHA).
    e. Name of Project: Central Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Blackstone River, in the City of Central Falls, 
Providence County, Rhode Island. No federal lands are occupied by the 
project works or located within the project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791a-825r.
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Robert Leahy, 130 Prospect Street, 
Cambridge, MA 02139; Phone at (617) 491-2320, or email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Patrick Crile, (202) 502-8042 or 
[email protected].
    j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies 
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to 
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the 
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such 
requests described in item l 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).
    k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes 
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to 
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the 
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person 
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of 
the request on the applicant.
    l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for 
cooperating agency status: September 29, 2019.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status 
using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 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-3063-021.
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The existing Central Falls Project consists of: (1) A 190-foot-
long, 24-foot-high, curved granite-masonry dam (Valley Falls Dam); (2) 
an approximately 64.5-acre impoundment with a normal maximum elevation 
of 49.5 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 1929); (3) 
a granite block and wood-framed gatehouse that is integral with the 
dam's right abutment and contains ten 9-foot-wide, 6-foot-tall gates in 
five gate openings; (4) a 290-foot-long, granite block-lined headrace; 
(5) an intake structure with two 8-foot-high hydraulic gates and 24-
foot-wide, 11.5-foot-high, inclined trashracks having 3-inch clear bar 
spacing; (6) two 30-foot-long, 7-foot-diameter penstocks; (7) an 
approximately 53-foot-long, 32-foot-wide concrete powerhouse containing 
two Allis-Chalmers tube turbines with a total installed capacity of 700 
kilowatts (kW); (6) an approximately 1,200-foot-long, 36-foot-wide 
tailrace; (7) two 4.16 kilovolt (kV) generator leads; (8) a 150-foot-
long, 4.16 kV transmission line; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    BHA operates the project as a run-of-river facility, such that 
outflow from the project approximates inflow. The project bypasses 
approximately 1,500 feet of the Blackstone River. A 108-cubic feet per 
second (cfs) minimum flow is released over the dam into the bypassed 
reach. BHA discharges a continuous minimum flow of 238 cfs, or inflow, 
whichever is less, as measured at the confluence of the tailrace and 
the river channel. The average annual generation of the project is 
approximately 1,230 megawatt-hours (MWh).
    BHA proposes to: (1) Continue operating the project in a run-of-
river mode; (2) retrofit the two existing turbines to increase the 
turbine operating ranges; (3) install a new bypassed flow pipe from the 
headrace to the toe of the dam to provide a minimum flow of 210 cfs to 
the bypassed reach; (4) install three new 38-

[[Page 43123]]

kW Kaplan turbine-generator units in the proposed bypassed flow pipe; 
(5) install a new trashrack with 1-inch clear bar spacing in the 
headrace to prevent fish impingement and entrainment; (6) install a new 
downstream fish passage facility in the headrace, immediately upstream 
of the new trashrack; (7) maintain a 13-cfs aesthetic flow over the 
Valley Falls Dam; (8) provide a flow of up to 3 cfs to an adjacent 
canal; (9) install an eel passage facility at the project dam; and (10) 
install 20 long-eared bat boxes and implement a Northern Long Eared Bat 
Management and Protection Plan. BHA estimates the project enhancements 
will result in an average annual generation of approximately 3,200 MWh.
    o. 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.
    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.
    p. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will 
be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions 
to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)--September 2019
Request Additional Information--September 2019
Issue Acceptance Letter--December 2019
Issue Scoping Document 1 for Comments--January 2020
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--February 2020
Issue Scoping Document 2--March 2020
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--March 2020
Issue Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment--October 2020

    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: August 14, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-17900 Filed 8-19-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P