[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 159 (Monday, August 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50017-50018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17916]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3409-032]


Boyne USA, Inc.; 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 License.
    b. Project No.: P-3409-032.
    c. Date filed: January 31, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Boyne USA, Inc.
    e. Name of Project: Boyne River Hydroelectric Project (Boyne River 
Project).
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Boyne River in 
Boyne Valley Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Randall Sutton, Boyne Mountain Resort Area 
Manager, Boyne USA, Inc. P.O. Box 19 Boyne Falls, MI 49713; (231) 549-
6076; [email protected].

[[Page 50018]]

    i. FERC Contact: Patrick Ely at [email protected] or (202) 502-
8570.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: September 10, 2020.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. 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, you may submit a paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via 
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should include docket 
number P-3409-032.
    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 Boyne River Project consists of a 
reservoir with a gross storage capacity of 356 acre-feet and a surface 
area of 68 acres at a pool elevation of 636.8 feet National Geodetic 
Vertical Datum 1988. The project includes: (a) An existing 610-foot-
long by 30-foot-high (left) earth-fill dam embankment and a 180-foot-
long by 18-foot-high (right) earth-fill dam embankment; (b) a 132-foot-
long by 50 to 72-foot-wide by 12-foot-deep concrete lined headrace 
channel; (c) a 35-foot-long concrete fixed crest spillway that 
discharges to a transverse collection gallery, and a 77-foot-long by 5-
foot-diameter concrete discharge pipe that carries flow from the 
collection gallery to a stilling basin; (d) a 20-foot-long by 8.3-foot-
wide to 16-foot-wide by 4-foot-deep stilling basin; (e) 6-foot wide by 
7-foot 9-inches high sluice gate spillway; (f) a 72-foot-long by 5-
foot-diameter concrete pipe that carries the flow from the sluice gate 
spillway to the stilling basin; (g) a 74-foot-long steel penstock 
consisting of two 5-foot-diameter and one 7-foot-diameter sections; (h) 
a 75-foot-long by 18-inch-diameter steel pipes that make up the 
auxiliary spillway; (i) a 715-foot long by 100-foot-wide emergency 
overflow spillway area; and (j) a 24-foot-long by 24-foot-wide concrete 
powerhouse with a single 250-kilowatt propeller turbine. The project 
also consists of a 100-foot-long, 2400-volt underground transmission 
line connected to a pole-mounted transformer and a 2.34-mile-long, 7.2/
12.5-kilovolt overhead transmission line from the pole-mounted 
transformer to the Boyne Mountain Resort side of the Consumers Energy 
utility primary metering cabinet. The last 1,300 feet +/- at the Boyne 
Mountain Resort end is also buried. The project generates about 661 
megawatt-hours annually.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well 
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., scoping document) via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (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 (P-3409). At 
this time, the Commission has suspended access to the Commission's 
Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a National 
Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) issued by 
the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC at 
[email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3673 or (202) 
502-8659 (TTY).
    n. You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx 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.
    The Commission staff intends to prepare a single Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the 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 public or agency 
scoping meetings. Instead, we are soliciting your 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 
August 11, 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: August 11, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.

[FR Doc. 2020-17916 Filed 8-14-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P