[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 44 (Thursday, March 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12915-12916]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04518]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3777-011]


Town of Rollinsford, New Hampshire; Notice Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric license application 
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public 
inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 3777-011.
    c. Date filed: August 29, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Town of Rollinsford, New Hampshire (Town).
    e. Name of Project: Rollinsford Project.
    f. Location: On the Salmon Falls River in Strafford County, New 
Hampshire and York County, Maine. 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. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. John Greenan, Green Mountain Power 
Corporation, 1252 Post Road, Rutland, VT 05701; Phone at (802) 770-
2195, or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Bill Connelly, (202) 502-8587 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: March 30, 2020.
    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-3777-011.
    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. Project Description: The existing Rollinsford Project consists 
of: (1) A 317-foot-long, 19-foot-high concrete-masonry dam that 
includes, from east to west: (a) A 12-foot-long left abutment, (b) a 
247-foot-long overflow spillway section topped with 15-inch-high 
flashboards, (c) a 22-foot-long right abutment; and (d) a 36-foot-long 
gated section consisting of five, 5.5-foot-high by 5.5-foot-wide 
vertical lift gates that convey flow to the intake headworks; (2) a 70-
acre impoundment with a gross storage capacity of 456 acre-feet at a 
normal maximum elevation of 71.25 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum 
of 1929 (NGVD 29),\1\ including the spillway flashboards; (3) an 82-
foot-long, 52-foot-wide intake headworks facility that consists of: (a) 
A 22.8-foot-wide, 15.7-foot-high penstock intake protected by a 22.8-
foot-wide by 17.6-foot-high trash rack structure with 2.5-inch clear 
bar spacing, (b) an 8-foot-wide skimmer waste gate, and (c) a 4-foot-
wide by 4-foot-high inoperable sluice gate; (4) a 350-foot-long, 10-
square-foot concrete penstock that empties into a 250-foot-long, 9-foot 
diameter steel penstock that directs flow to a 30-foot-long, 40-foot-
wide reinforced concrete forebay that is integral with the powerhouse; 
(5) a 38-foot-long, 60-foot-wide concrete and brick masonry powerhouse 
containing two, vertical Francis turbine-generator units rated at 750 
kilowatts (kW) each for a total installed capacity of 1,500 kW; (6) a 
38-foot-long, 34-foot-wide tailrace channel at a normal tailwater 
surface elevation of 24 feet NGVD 29; (7) a 100-foot-long underground 
transmission line that extends from the powerhouse to a step-up 
transformer where voltage is increased from 4.16-kilovolt (kV) to 13.8 
kV; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
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    \1\ NGVD 29 is a national standard for measuring elevations 
above sea level.
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    The Town voluntarily operates the project in a run-of-river mode 
using an automatic pond level control system, such that outflow from 
the project approximates inflow. The project bypasses approximately 680 
feet of the Salmon Falls River. The existing license requires the 
licensee to release: (1) A continuous minimum flow of 10 cubic feet per 
second (cfs) or inflow, whichever is less, from the dam to the bypassed 
reach; and (2) a minimum flow of 115 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, 
through the powerhouse to the downstream reach. When inflow falls

[[Page 12916]]

below the minimum hydraulic capacity of the powerhouse (80 cfs), the 
minimum flow requirement for the downstream reach is met by releasing 
flows over the dam. The average annual generation was 5,837,900 
kilowatt-hours for the period of record from 2005 to 2018.
    The Town proposes to: (1) Continue to operate the project in a run-
of-river mode using an automatic pond level control system, and 
maintain the impoundment at the flashboard crest elevation of 71.25 
feet NGVD 29; (2) provide a minimum flow release of 35 cfs, or inflow, 
whichever is less into the bypassed reach; (3) conduct an eel ramp 
siting study and install and operate an upstream eel ramp; (4) install 
and operate a downstream fish passage facility for adult eels and 
resident and migratory fish species; (5) implement nighttime turbine 
shutdowns from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. during the months of September and 
October for 3 consecutive nights following rain accumulations of 0.5 
inch or more over a 24-hour period; (6) conduct a study to quantify 
movements of river herring and American shad migrating downstream from 
the project tailwater through the bypassed reach to the project dam; 
and (7) consult with the New Hampshire and Maine State Historic 
Preservation Officers before beginning any land-disturbing activities 
or alterations to determine the need to conduct surveys and implement 
avoidance or mitigation measures before undertaking the action.
    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 address 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 email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    o. Scoping Process
    Commission staff intends to prepare a single Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the Rollinsford 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.
    At this time, we do not anticipate holding on-site scoping 
meetings. Instead, we are soliciting comments and suggestions on the 
preliminary list of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EA, 
as described in Scoping Document 1 (SD1), issued February 28, 2020.
    Copies of the SD1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in 
the EA were distributed to the parties on the Commission's mailing list 
and the applicant's distribution 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: February 28, 2020..
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-04518 Filed 3-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P