[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3669-3670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00922]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3452-017]


Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P.; Notice Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

    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.: 3452-017.
    c. Date Filed: June 28, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P.
    e. Name of Project: Oak Orchard Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The project is located adjacent to the New York State 
Canal Corporation's barge canal in the Village of Medina, Orleans 
County, New York. The project does not occupy federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r)
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Steven P. Murphy, Director, U.S. 
Licensing, Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P., 33 West 1st Street South, 
Fulton, NY 13069; (315) 598-6130; email_
[email protected]
    i. FERC Contact: Laurie Bauer at (202) 502-6519; or email at 
[email protected]
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: 30 days from the issuance 
date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments 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-3452-017.
    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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The Oak Orchard Project consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) A concrete gravity dam containing a spillway with a 
crest elevation of 507.6 feet mean sea level (msl) surmounted by 2-
foot-high flashboards and two 5-foot-high, 5-foot-wide flood gates; (2) 
a forebay with a surface area of 0.25 acre and a storage capacity of 3 
acre-feet at the normal pool elevation of 509.6 feet msl; (3) an intake 
structure with trashracks; (4) a 7-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long welded 
steel penstock from the intake to the turbine; (5) a 20-foot-long, 43-
foot-wide powerhouse containing a single turbine-generator unit with a 
rated capacity of 350 kilowatts; (6) a tailrace located on the left 
(west) bank of Oak Orchard Creek; (7) a 55-foot-long underground 
generation lead; (8) three single-phase 167-kilovolt-ampere pole-
mounted power transformers; (9) a 400-foot-long access road; and (10) 
appurtenant facilities.
    Erie operates the project off of flows provided to it from the 
barge canal. During the navigation season, the Canal Corporation 
provides approximately 225 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water. Under 
normal operating conditions, Erie uses approximately 200 cfs of the 
provided water for project operation and the remaining water 
(approximately 25 cfs) is discharged directly to Oak Orchard Creek. 
During the period from 2009 to 2016, the average annual generation was 
approximately 1,147 megawatt-hours.
    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.
    n. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via

[[Page 3670]]

email of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending 
projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
    o. Scoping Process
    The Commission intends to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) 
for the Oak Orchard Project in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed action.
    Commission staff does not propose to conduct any on-site scoping 
meetings at this time. Instead, we are soliciting comments, 
recommendations, and information, on the Scoping Document 1 (SD1) 
issued January 14, 2020.
    Copies of SD1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA 
were distributed to the parties on the Commission's mailing list. 
Copies of SD1 may be viewed on the web 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, call 1-866-208-3676 or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.

    Dated: January 14, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-00922 Filed 1-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P