[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83546-83547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28244]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1904-078]


Great River Hydro, LLC; Notice Establishing Procedural Schedule 
for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

    Take notice that the following amended hydroelectric application 
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public 
inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 1904-078.
    c. Date Material Amendments Filed: December 7, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Vernon Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Connecticut 
River in Windham County, Vermont, and Cheshire County, New Hampshire. 
There are no federal lands within the project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great 
River Hydro, LLC, 40 Pleasant Street, Suite 202, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 
(603) 498-2851 or [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131 or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. Great River Hydro filed an application for a new license for the 
Vernon Hydroelectric Project No. 1904 on May 1, 2017. In the license 
application, Great River Hydro stated that it could not develop a 
complete licensing proposal for the project since many of the required 
environmental studies were not complete as of May 1, 2017. Great River 
Hydro indicated that it would amend the license application after 
completing additional field work, consultation, and analyses on the 
required studies. Great River Hydro filed material amendments to the 
final license application on December 7, 2020.
    l. Project Description: The existing Vernon Project consists of: 
(1) A 956-foot-long, 58-foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) 356-
foot-long section integral to the powerhouse; and (b) a 600-foot-long 
overflow spillway section that includes: (i) A 9-foot-high, 6-foot-wide 
downstream fishway sluice; (ii) a 13-foot-high, 13-foot-wide trash/ice 
sluice; (iii) two 20-foot-high, 50-foot-wide tainter gates; (iv) four 
10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide tainter gates; (v) two 10-foot-high, 50-
foot-wide hydraulic panel bays; (vi) two 10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide 
stanchion bays; (vii) a 10-foot-high, 42.5-foot-wide stanchion bay; and 
(viii) eight 7-foot-high, 9-foot-wide hydraulic flood gates; (2) a 26-
mile-long, 2,550-acre impoundment with a useable storage volume of 
18,300 acre-feet between elevations 212.13 and 220.13 feet National 
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (3) eight approximately 30-
foot-high trashracks with 1.75-inch clear bar spacing and two 
approximately 30-foot-high trashracks with 3.625-inch clear bar 
spacing; (4) a 356-foot-long, 55-foot-wide, 45-foot-high reinforced 
concrete, steel, and brick powerhouse containing four 2-megawatt (MW) 
vertical Francis turbine-generator units, four 4-MW vertical Kaplan 
turbine-generator units, and two 4.2-MW vertical Francis turbine-
generator units, for a total project capacity of 32.4 MW; (5) ten 
concrete draft tubes ranging from 16 to 27 feet in diameter; (6) a 500-
foot-long, 13.8-kilovolt underground generator lead that connects the 
turbine-generator units to two step-up transformers; (7) a 984-foot-
long, 15-foot-wide upstream fishway; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    Great River Hydro operates the project in coordination with its 
upstream Wilder Project No. 1892 and Bellows Falls Project No. 1855 and 
in a peaking mode. Average annual generation is approximately 158,028 
MW-hours. Great River Hydro is proposing changes to project operation 
that would reduce impoundment fluctuations and increase the stability 
of downstream flow releases relative to current project operation, 
including targeted water surface elevation levels and flow ramping 
rates. Great River Hydro proposes several protection, mitigation, and 
enhancement measures for aquatic, terrestrial, cultural, and recreation 
resources, and threatened and endangered species. The specific proposed 
changes are described in the amended application.
    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., license application) 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-
1904). 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 
(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. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 
schedule may be made as appropriate.

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                  Milestone                           Target date
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Commission issues letter identifying           January 2021.
 application deficiencies and requesting
 additional information.
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for       May 2021.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms   July 2021.
 and conditions, and fishway prescriptions.

[[Page 83547]]

 
Reply Comments due...........................  August 2021.
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    p. 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: December 16, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-28244 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P