[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 22 (Thursday, February 4, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8193-8194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02329]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 10481-069]


Eagle Creek Hydro Power, LLC; Eagle Creek Water Resources, LLC; 
Eagle Creek Land Resources, 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.: 10481-069.
    c. Date Filed: March 31, 2020.
    d. Applicants: Eagle Creek Hydro Power, LLC, Eagle Creek Water 
Resources, LLC, and Eagle Creek Land Resources, LLC (collectively 
referred to as Eagle Creek).
    e. Name of Project: Mongaup Falls Hydroelectric Project (Mongaup 
Falls Project).
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Mongaup River 
and Black Brook in Sullivan County, New York. The project does not 
occupy federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Jody J. Smet, Vice President Regulatory 
Affairs, 116 N State Street, P.O. Box 167, Neshkoro, WI 54960; 
Telephone (804) 739-0654.
    i. FERC Contact: Nicholas Ettema, (312) 596-4447 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.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-10481-069.
    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 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

[[Page 8194]]

the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 85 
FR 43304). 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 Mongaup Falls 
Project. Commission staff intends to conduct its NEPA review in 
accordance with CEQ's new regulations.
    l. The Mongaup Falls Project includes the Mongaup Falls Development 
and the Black Brook Development. The Black Brook Development has been 
permanently out of service since 1984, when portions of the penstock, 
stoplogs, and flashboards were removed.
    The Mongaup Fall Development consists of: (1) A reservoir with a 
gross storage capacity of 1,782 acre-feet and a surface area of 133 
acres; (2) a 155-foot-long by 40-foot-high, ungated, concrete gravity 
spillway with 4-foot, 10-inch-high flashboards; (3) an 83-foot-long, by 
25-foot, 4-inch-high earth dam section with a concrete core wall along 
the right abutment; (4) a 125-foot-long, 127-foot-high concrete 
retaining wall along the left abutment; (5) a 250-foot-long by 4.5-
foot-high earthen closure dike; (6) an 11-foot-high, 22-foot-square 
intake and gatehouse; (7) a 14-foot-wide by 32-foot-high inclined 
trashracks with 1.7-inch bar clear spacing that covers the intake; (8) 
a 6,650-foot-long bypassed reach; (9) a 2,650-foot-long, 8-foot-
diameter wood-stave penstock; (10) a 26-foot-diameter, 106-foot-high 
steel surge tank; (11) a 9-foot-diameter steel manifold branching into 
four 5-foot-diameter steel penstocks; (12) a 90-foot-long by 25-foot, 
2-inch-wide by 33-foot-high reinforced concrete powerhouse containing 
four 1-megawatt vertical-axis turbines; and (13) a 100-foot-long, 2.3-
kilovolt underground transmission line. The project generates an 
average of 10,860 megawatt-hours annually. Eagle Creek proposes to 
continue to operate the project in a peaking mode.
    The Black Brook Development consists of a 70-foot-long dam with a 
34-foot-long concrete spillway section and 10-foot-long stoplog 
section. The stoplog section consists of a 2-foot-wide concrete pier 
that divides the 8-foot-long stoplog section from the spillway. The 
concrete spillway is approximately 10-foot-high from the base to the 
crest and is keyed into bedrock with a 3-foot by 3-foot keyway. Prior 
to removal of the penstock, pond control was accomplished with an 8-
foot-wide stoplog section and 34-foot-wide flashboard section, each 
erected to a height of 5 feet above the dam crest. The failure of the 
penstock in 1984, resulted in the removal of the 8-foot-wide, 5-foot-
high stoplog section on the right side of the dam and the 5-foot-high 
flashboards. Currently, the Black Brook Development is a run-of-river, 
uncontrolled spillway with a crest elevation of 943 feet National 
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29) and a dam/spillway toe 
elevation of approximately 930-933 feet NGVD29 (including the 3-foot by 
3-foot keyway). Eagle Creek proposes to decommission the Black Brook 
Development in place and remove it from the project boundary.
    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....  May 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 29, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-02329 Filed 2-3-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P