[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6856-6857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02503]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2790-074]


Boott Hydropower, LLC; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments

    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.: 2790-074.
    c. Date Filed: April 30, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Boott Hydropower, LLC (Boott).
    e. Name of Project: Lowell Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: On the Merrimack River, in Middlesex County, 
Massachusetts and Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. The project does 
not occupy federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Kevin Webb, Licensing Manager, Boott 
Hydropower, LLC, 670 N Commercial Street, Suite 204, Manchester, NH 
03101; Telephone (978) 935-6039; or email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Amy Chang at (202) 502-8250, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: March 3, 2022.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments 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. All filings must clearly identify the project name and 
docket number on the first page: Lowell Hydroelectric Project (P-2790-
074).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 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. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing project consists of: (1) The 1,093-foot-long, 15-
foot-high Pawtucket Dam; (2) a 720-acre impoundment with a normal 
maximum water surface elevation of 92.2 feet National Geodetic Vertical 
Datum of 1929 (NGVD); (3) the 5.5-mile-long Northern and Pawtucket 
Canal System that includes several small dams and gatehouses; (4) 
generating facilities, including: (a) One powerhouse facility located 
on the mainstem of the Merrimack River (E.L. Field Powerhouse), with a 
total authorized installed capacity of 15.012 MW and a 440-foot-long 
tailrace to the Merrimack River; and (b) four power stations located 
along the canal system (Hamilton Power Station, Assets Power Station, 
Bridge Street Power Station, and John Street Power Station), with a 
total combined authorized capacity of 5.152 MW; (5) an approximately 2-
mile-long, 13.8-kilovolt submarine transmission line that connects the 
project generating facilities to the regional electric grid; (6) 
upstream and downstream fish passage facilities; (7) a visitor center; 
and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    The project bypasses approximately two miles of the Merrimack 
River, including a 0.7-mile-long bypassed reach from the Pawtucket Dam 
to the E.L. Field Powerhouse tailrace and an approximately 1.3-mile-
long bypassed reach from the E.L. Field Powerhouse tailrace to the 
confluence of the Merrimack and Concord Rivers.
    The current license requires Boott to release an instantaneous 
minimum flow of 1,990 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, downstream of 
the project. Boott provides the minimum flow through spillage over the 
Pawtucket Dam, discharge from the project turbines, and the fish 
passage facilities.
    In the relicense application, Boott proposes to decommission the 
four power stations located along the Lowell downtown canal system 
(Hamilton Power Station, Assets Power Station, Bridge Street Power 
Station, and John Street Power Station). In addition, Boott proposes to 
remove the canal system from the project boundary, except for a 2,200-
foot-long section of the Northern Canal; and a 1,600-foot-long portion 
of the Pawtucket Canal.
    Boott proposes to continue to operate the project in run-of-river 
mode using an automatic pond level control system. Boott proposes to 
provide a minimum flow of 500 cfs to the bypassed reach via the 
Pawtucket Dam fish ladder during the fish passage season (typically May 
1-July 15), and 100 cfs outside of the fish passage season. Boott also 
proposes to replace the existing fish lift at the E.L. Field Powerhouse 
with a fish ladder to pass migratory fish from the E.L. Field 
Powerhouse tailrace to the bypassed reach, which would provide fish 
with access to the existing fish ladder in the bypassed reach that is 
used to pass fish over the Pawtucket Dam. Boott proposes to continue to 
operate the gates at the Guard Lock and Gates facility to provide flows 
to the Lowell downtown canal system. Boott proposes to continue to 
maintain canal structures and facilities, canal water levels, and flows 
in line with current agreements with NPS and other stakeholders. 
Finally, Boot proposes to develop several plans, including a fishway 
operation and management plan, a gaging plan, a recreation access and 
facilities management plan, a historic properties management plan, and 
a decommissioning plan for each of the four downtown power stations.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents 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. For assistance, contact 
FERC at [email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or 
TYY, (202) 502-8659.
    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

[[Page 6857]]

other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
    o. Scoping Process.
    Commission staff will prepare either an environmental assessment 
(EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that describes and 
evaluates the probable effects, if any, of the licensee's proposed 
action and alternatives. The EA or EIS will consider environmental 
impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action. The 
Commission's scoping process will help determine the required level of 
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of 
whether the Commission prepares an EA or an EIS. At this time, we do 
not anticipate holding on-site scoping meetings. Instead, we are 
soliciting written comments and suggestions on our updated list of 
issues and alternatives to be addressed in the NEPA document, as 
described in scoping document 3 (SD3), issued February 1, 2022.
    Copies of the SD3 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in 
the NEPA document were distributed to the parties on the Commission's 
mailing list and the applicant's distribution list. Copies of SD3 may 
be viewed on the web 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, call 1-866-
208-3676 or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.

    Dated: February 1, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-02503 Filed 2-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P