[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4046-4047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00858]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2530-057]


Brookfield White Pine Hydro LLC; Notice of Application Accepted 
for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for 
Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, 
Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions

    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.: 2530-057.
    c. Date filed: November 20, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Brookfield White Pine Hydro LLC (White Pine Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Hiram Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Saco River in 
the towns of Hiram, Baldwin, Brownfield, and Denmark within Oxford and 
Cumberland Counties, Maine. The project does not affect federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)--825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Luke Anderson, Licensing Manager, Brookfield 
White Pine Hydro LLC, 150 Main Street, Lewiston, ME 04240; Telephone 
(207) 755-5600.
    i. FERC Contact: Dianne Rodman, (202) 502-6077 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply 
comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
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. 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,

[[Page 4047]]

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-2530-057.
    Intervenors--those on the Commission's service list for this 
proceeding--are reminded that if they file comments with the 
Commission, they must also serve a copy of their filing on each person 
whose name appears on the official service list. Note that the list is 
periodically updated. The official service list can be obtained on the 
Commission's website (https://www.ferc.gov)--click on Documents and 
Filing and click on eService--or call the Office of the Secretary, 
Dockets Branch at (202) 502-8715. In addition, if any party 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 the resource 
agency.
    k. This application has been accepted for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a final rule on 
July 15, 2020, revising the regulations under 40 CFR parts 1500--1518 
that federal agencies use to implement NEPA (see Update to the 
Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act, 85 FR 43,304). The Final Rule became 
effective on and applies to any NEPA process begun after September 14, 
2020. An agency may also apply the regulations to ongoing activities 
and environmental documents begun before September 14, 2020, which 
includes the proposed Hiram Project. Commission staff intends to 
conduct its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.
    l. The existing Hiram Project consists of a 255-acre, 7.5-mile-long 
impoundment at normal full pond elevation 349.0 feet; a 448-foot-long 
dam located at the top of Great Falls fitted with an inflatable dam 
across the spillway crest; an intake that is integral to the dam; a 
320-foot-long, 15.5-foot-diameter penstock that bifurcates to one 170-
foot-long by 10-foot-wide penstock (to Unit 1), and one 80-foot-long by 
15.5-foot-diameter penstock (to Unit 2); a powerhouse containing two 
turbine-generator units, Unit 1 rated at 2.4 megawatts (MW) and Unit 2 
at 8.1 MW, for a total installed capacity of 10.5 MW; and appurtenant 
facilities. The project's transmission facilities include: (1) 
Generator leads; (2) a substation located adjacent to, and north of, 
the powerhouse; and (3) a transmission circuit connecting the 
substation to a non-project switching station. The project generates an 
annual average of 45,142 megawatt-hours.
    White Pine Hydro proposes to continue to: Operate the project in a 
run-of-river mode from October 1 through November 15, with head pond 
drawdowns limited to 1 foot or less from the full pond elevation, or 
from the spillway crest when the inflatable dam is down. From November 
16 through September 30, White Pine Hydro proposes to continue to cycle 
daily operations whereby it would turn on and off its generating units 
when inflow is sufficient to meet load demands, resulting in drawdown 
of the head pond by up to 2 feet from the full pond elevation during 
normal project operation, or from the spillway crest when the 
inflatable dam is down. During this period, White Pine Hydro would 
continue to provide a minimum flow of 300 cubic feet per second (cfs), 
of inflow, whichever is less below the powerhouse.
    White Pine Hydro proposes to remove from the current project 
boundary 152 acres of land and 25 acres of water.
    m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's 
website at https://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, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    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.
    n. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
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 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title PROTEST, 
MOTION TO INTERVENE, COMMENTS, REPLY COMMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, 
PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS, or PRELIMINARY FISHWAY PRESCRIPTIONS; 
(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. All comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions or prescriptions must set forth their evidentiary basis and 
otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). 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. A copy of all other filings in reference to this 
application must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons 
listed in the service list prepared by the Commission in this 
proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    o. Procedural Schedule:
    The application will be processed according to the following 
schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as appropriate.

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              Milestone                           Target date
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Deadline for filing comments,          March 2021
 recommendations, preliminary terms
 and conditions, and preliminary
 fishway prescriptions.
Deadline for Filing Reply Comments...  April 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 this notice.
    q. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following 
the date of issuance of the notice of acceptance and ready for 
environmental analysis provided for in Sec.  5.22: (1) A copy of the 
water quality certification; (2) a copy of the request for 
certification, including proof of the date on which the certifying 
agency received the request; or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality 
certification. Please note that the certification request must be sent 
to the certifying authority and to the Commission concurrently.

    Dated: January 11, 2021.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-00858 Filed 1-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P