[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14423-14424]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05389]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 5728-021]


Sandy Hollow Hydroelectric Company, Inc.; Notice of Application 
Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study 
Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a 
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: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 5728-021.
    c. Date filed: March 1, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Sandy Hollow Hydroelectric Company, Inc. (Sandy 
Hollow Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Sandy Hollow Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Indian River, in the Town of Philadelphia in 
Jefferson County, New York. The project does not occupy any federal 
land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Ms. Kelly Sackheim, 32151 Sandy Hollow Road, 
Philadelphia, NY 13673; (916) 877-5947; [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Chris Millard at (202) 502-8256, 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: April 30, 2021.
    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, 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. All filings must clearly identify the project name and 
docket number on the first page: Sandy Hollow Hydroelectric Project (P-
5728-021).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.

[[Page 14424]]

    n. Project Description: The existing Sandy Hollow Hydroelectric 
Project consists of (1) a 20-acre reservoir at a normal pool elevation 
of 419.1 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929; (2) a main 106-
foot-long concrete gravity dam with a maximum height of 25 feet that 
includes a 55-foot-long spillway, and three 3- to 4-foot-high concrete 
diversion spillway dams that are 21 feet, 46 feet and 64 feet long, 
respectively; (3) a 23-foot-long by 23-foot-wide brick and concrete 
powerhouse containing a 150-kilowatt (kW), a 265-kW, and a 400-kW 
turbine-generator unit; (4) two 12- to 15-foot-long, 6-foot-diameter 
steel penstocks, with one penstock that bifurcates before joining the 
two turbine units; (5) two trash racks; (6) a 400-foot-long tailrace 
channel; (7) a 480-volt, 300-foot-long transmission line connecting to 
a 480-volt to 23-kilovolt step-up transformer at a nearby substation; 
and (8) appurtenant facilities. The average annual generation was 933 
megawatt-hours between 2012 and 2017.
    The project is operated in a run-of-river mode and discharges a 
minimum flow of 35 cubic feet per second (cfs) or inflow to the 
reservoir, whichever is less, into the project's bypassed reach for the 
protection and enhancement of aquatic resources.
    As part of the license application, Sandy Hollow Hydro filed a 
settlement agreement entered into between itself, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, and the New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation. As part of the settlement agreement, Sandy Hollow Hydro 
proposes to: (1) Continue to operate the project in a run-of-river 
mode; (2) provide a year-round minimum flow in the bypassed reach of 35 
cfs, or inflow, whichever is less; (3) continue the existing stream 
flow and water level monitoring; (4) maintain the existing trash rack 
on turbine unit 3 with 1-inch clear spacing and, within 5 years of any 
license issued for the project, install trash racks with either 1-inch 
clear spacing or the equivalent (e.g., an overlay-type system) on 
turbine units 1 and 2; (5) within 3 years of the effective date of any 
license issued for the project, install and maintain a year-round 
downstream fish passage structure at one of the three diversion 
spillway dams; (6) maintain the existing portage trail; and (7) 
implement the Invasive Species Management Plan filed with the final 
license application.
    o. 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-
5728). 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).
    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 
to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will 
be made as appropriate.

Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)...  April 2021
Request Additional Information...........  April 2021
Issue Acceptance Letter..................  July 2021
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments....  August 2021
Request Additional Information (if         October 2021
 necessary).
Issue Scoping Document 2.................  November 2021
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental    November 2021
 Analysis.
 

    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: March 10, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-05389 Filed 3-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P