[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70143-70144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24455]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 4451-024]


Green Mountain Power Corporation; City of Somersworth, New 
Hampshire; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting 
Motions To Intervene and Protests

    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.: 4451-024.
    c. Date filed: April 30, 2020.
    d. Applicants: Green Mountain Power, City of Somersworth, New 
Hampshire.
    e. Name of Project: Lower Great Falls Hydroelectric 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: Amanda Gill, (202) 502-6773 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests: 60 days 
from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
motions to intervene and protests 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, 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-4451-024.
    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 has been accepted for filing, but is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. Project Description: The existing Lower Great Falls Project 
consists of: (1) A 297-foot-long, 32-foot-high stone masonry and 
concrete dam that includes the following sections: (a) A 176-foot-long 
spillway section with a crest elevation of 102.37 feet National 
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD) and 4-foot-high flashboards at 
an elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD at the top of the flashboards; (b) a 
50-foot-long left abutment section; and (c) a 71-foot-long right 
abutment section; (2) an impoundment with a surface area of 32 acres 
and a storage capacity of 467 acre-feet at an elevation of 106.37 feet 
NGVD; (3) a 40.5-foot-wide, 20-foot-high intake structure with four 5-
foot-wide, 10.5-foot-high steel frame gates and a trashrack with 2-inch 
bar spacing; (4) two steel penstocks that include: (a) An 8.5-foot-
diameter, 120-foot-long left penstock that bifurcates into a 5.3-foot-
diameter, 85-foot-long section and a 7.6-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long 
section; and (b) an 8.5-foot-diameter, 140-foot-long right penstock 
that bifurcates into a 7-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section and a 7.6-
foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section; (5) a 46-foot-long, 30-foot-wide 
concrete and brick powerhouse with four Francis turbine-generator units 
with a total capacity of 1.28 megawatt; (6) a 55-foot-long, 30-foot-
wide tailrace; (7) a 260-foot-long underground transmission line that 
delivers power to a 4.16-kilovolt distribution line; and (8) 
appurtenant facilities. The project creates a 250-foot-long bypassed 
reach of the Salmon Falls River between the dam and the downstream end 
of the tailrace.
    The project operates as a run-of-river (ROR) facility with no 
storage or flood control capacity. The project impoundment is 
maintained at a flashboard crest elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD. The 
current license requires the project to maintain a continuous minimum 
flow of 6.05 cubic feet per second (cfs) or inflow, whichever is less, 
to the bypassed reach for the purpose of protecting and enhancing 
aquatic resources in the Salmon Falls River. The average annual 
generation production of the project was 3,916,825 kilowatt-hours from 
2005 through 2018.
    The applicant proposes to: (1) Continue operating the project in a 
ROR mode; (2) provide a minimum flow of 30 cfs or inflow, whichever is 
less, to the bypassed reach; (3) install an eel ramp for upstream eel 
passage at the project; (4) implement targeted nighttime turbine 
shutdowns to protect eels during downstream passage; and (5) install a 
downstream fish passage structure for eels and other resident fish 
species.
    m. A copy of the application is available for review via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page

[[Page 70144]]

(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-4451). 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 Online Support.
    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.
    n. Anyone may submit a protest or a motion to intervene in 
accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 
CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In determining the appropriate 
action to take, the Commission will consider all protests filed, but 
only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the 
Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any protests 
or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified 
deadline date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST'', or ``MOTION TO INTERVENE;'' (2) set forth in the heading 
the name of the applicant and the project number of the application to 
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone 
number of the person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise 
comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. 
Agencies may obtain copies of the application directly from the 
applicant. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served 
upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular 
application.
    o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--November 2020
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--January 2021
Issue Scoping Document 2--February 2021
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--February 2021
Commission issues Environmental Assessment--August 2021

    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: October 28, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-24455 Filed 11-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P