[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 93 (Monday, May 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26716-26718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10329]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2955-011]


City of Watervliet, New York; Notice of Application Ready for 
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms 
and Conditions, and Prescriptions

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed

[[Page 26717]]

with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: P-2955-011.
    c. Date Filed: February 28, 2020.
    d. Applicant: City of Watervliet, New York.
    e. Name of Project: Normanskill Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The project is located on the Normans Kill in 
Guilderland, Albany 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: Michele E. Stottler, Gomez and Sullivan 
Engineers, DPC, 399 Albany Shaker Road, Suite 203, Loudonville, NY 
12211; (518) 407-0050; [email protected] or Joseph 
LaCivita, General Manager, The City of Watervliet, 2 Fifteenth Street, 
Watervliet, NY 12189; (518) 270-3800; [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Woohee Choi at (202) 502-6336; or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions, and 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 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
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, 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-
2955-011.
    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 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 Normanskill Hydroelectric Project. Commission 
staff intends to conduct its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new 
regulations.
    l. The Normanskill Project consists of: (1) A 380-foot-long 
reinforced concrete Ambursen-type dam with a 306-foot-long overflow 
section having a crest elevation of 259 feet National Geodetic Vertical 
Datum of 1929 (NGVD29) surmounted by 3-foot-high flashboards; (2) a 
380-acre reservoir with a gross volume of 3,600 acre-feet at the normal 
maximum pool elevation of 262 feet NGVD29; (3) an intake structure and 
sluiceway; (4) a 700-foot-long, 6-foot-diameter, concrete-encased 
steel, buried penstock; (5) a reinforced concrete underground 
powerhouse containing a single 1,250-kilowatt tube-type generating 
unit; (6) a 600-foot-long, 2.4-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; (7) a 
2.4/13.2-kV transformer bank; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    The Normanskill Project is operated in a run-of-river mode with an 
average annual generation of 2,863 megawatt-hours between 2010 and 
2019.
    m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's 
website at 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. For assistance, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' or ``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 submitting the filing; 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. Each filing must be 
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service 
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 
18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    You may also 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. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following 
the date of issuance of this notice: (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 comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b), 
including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted 
to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the 
certification request. Please also note that the certification request 
must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission 
concurrently.
    o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Deadline for Filing Comments,           July 2021.
 Recommendations, and Agency Terms and
 Conditions/Prescriptions.
Deadline for Filing Reply Comments....  August 2021.
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[[Page 26718]]

    Dated: May 11, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-10329 Filed 5-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P