[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 186 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60155-60156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21108]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1061-098]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Application Tendered 
for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests 
and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and 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: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 1061-098.
    c. Date Filed: August 24, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
    e. Name of Project: Phoenix Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the South Fork 
Stanislaus River and in the Tuolumne River Basin, in Tuolumne County, 
California. The project occupies 56.78 acres of federal land 
administered by the U.S. Forest Service and 2.14 acres administered by 
the Bureau of Land Management.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Jan Nimick, Vice President, Power Generation, 
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 245 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105, (415) 973-0629.
    i. FERC Contact: Jim Hastreiter, (503) 552-2760 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: October 23, 2020.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx 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-1061-098.
    m. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. Project Description: The Phoenix Project consists of: (1) A 535-
foot-long and 132-foot-high concrete arch dam on the South Fork 
Stanislaus River, (2) a 172.3 acre reservoir, (3) a 133.1-foot-long and 
20-foot-high concrete arch cushion dam, (4) a 15.38-mile-long Main 
Tuolumne Canal (MTC), (5) a Header Box (forebay), a 5,611-foot-long 
penstock, and a powerhouse with an impulse turbine rated at 1.6 
megawatts.
    PG&E operates the project for power generation and to meet Tuolumne 
Utility Districts (TUD) water supply needs. The water supply for TUD is 
delivered on a continuous basis to points along the MTC and downstream 
of the Phoenix Powerhouse. A 1983 Water Supply Agreement provides for 
TUD to receive water via the MTC during spill and non-spill conditions. 
During non-spill conditions, PG&E coordinates water deliveries with TUD 
to meet their demands and during spill conditions, PG&E operates the 
project to maximize generation, but is still obligated to provide water 
to TUD and to release the required minimum flows in the South Fork 
Stanislaus River.
    PG&E is proposing to modify the existing project boundary to 
encompass all facilities necessary for operation and maintenance of the 
project. PG&E proposes to include many roads and trails within the 
project boundary (FLA, Volume III, Section 1.2.1.1), and adjust the 
boundary around Lyons Reservoir, along the Main Tuolumne Canal and 
several of its spill channels, and along the penstock. With these 
proposed changes, the area of land within the project boundary will 
increase for Bureau of Land Management lands to 1.55 acres, National 
Forest Lands to 29.78 acres, and private lands to 101.16 acres, and 
decrease for PG&E lands to 216.01 acres.
    PG&E proposes to classify water years into five classifications 
based on unimpaired inflow into New Melones Reservoir: Critically Dry, 
Dry, Normal-Dry, Normal- Wet, and Wet Water Year (WY) types. The water 
years in the existing license are classified as either Dry or Normal.
    PG&E also proposes to modify minimum instream flow release 
requirements from Lyons Dam to the South Fork Stanislaus River by WY 
type as depicted in Table 3.2-18 in Volume III of the application, and 
to modify the ramping rate requirement below Lyons Dam (limiting the 
maximum rate of change in river flow not to exceed 50 percent of the 
existing flow per hour and provide an end of spill ramping rate) to 
provide for slower recession rates from spills in summer, while 
maintaining water supply for TUD.
    PG&E further proposes the following plans to protect and enhance 
environmental resources: (1) Spill Channel Erosion Evaluation and 
Mitigation Plan; (2) Streamflow and Reservoir Level Gaging Plan; (3) 
Vegetation and Integrated Pest Management Plan; (4) Wildlife Resources 
Plan; (5) Erosion Control Plan; (6) Hazardous Materials Management 
Plan; (7) Fire Prevention and Response Plan; (8) Project Roads and 
Trails Plan; (9) Recreation Plan; and (10) Historic Properties 
Management Plan.
    o. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents 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. 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, (866) 208-3676 or TYY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    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.
    p. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according

[[Page 60156]]

to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be 
made as appropriate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Milestone                           Target date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issue Deficiency Letter (if          November 2020.
 necessary).
Request Additional Information.....  November 2020.
Issue Acceptance Letter............  February 2021.
Issue Scoping document 1 for         March 2021.
 comments.
Request Additional Information (if   May 2021.
 necessary).
Issue Scoping Document 2...........  June 2021.
Issue Notice of Ready for            June 2021.
 Environmental Analysis.
Commission Issues Environmental      December 2021.
 Assessment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    q. 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: September 18, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-21108 Filed 9-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P