[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 52 (Thursday, March 17, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15232-15233]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-05587]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2466-037]


Appalachian Power Company; Notice of Application Tendered for 
Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for 
Licensing and 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: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 2466-037.
    c. Date Filed: February 28, 2022.
    d. Applicant: Appalachian Power Company (Appalachian).
    e. Name of Project: Niagara Hydroelectric Project (Niagara 
Project).
    f. Location: The project is located on the Roanoke River, in 
Roanoke County, Virginia. The project occupies 0.9 acre of federal land 
managed by the National Park Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Jonathan Magalski, Environmental 
Supervisor,

[[Page 15233]]

Renewables, American Electric Power Service Corporation c/o Appalachian 
Power Company, 1 Riverside Plaza, Columbus, OH 43215; Phone at (614) 
716-2240 or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Laurie Bauer at (202) 502-6519, or 
[email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Niagara Project consists of: (1) A 52-foot-high, 462-foot-
long concrete dam, inclusive of the right non-overflow abutment (70 
feet long) and main spillway (392 feet long) with a crest elevation of 
885 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (2) a 62-
acre impoundment with a gross storage capacity of 425 acre-feet at the 
normal pool elevation of 884.4 feet NGVD 29; (3) an 11-foot-diameter, 
500-foot-long corrugated metal pipe penstock with associated entrance 
and discharge structures; (4) a 1,500-foot-long bypassed reach; (5) a 
92-foot-long, 58-foot-wide, 42-foot-high concrete powerhouse containing 
two generating units with a total authorized installed capacity of 2.4 
megawatts (MW); (6) a 103-foot-long auxiliary spillway with a crest 
elevation of 886 feet NGVD 29 located downstream of the upstream 
intake; (7) transmission facilities consisting of 50-foot-long, 2.4-
kilovolt (kV) generator leads and a 3-phase, 2.4/12-kV, 2,500-kilovolt 
ampere (kVA) step-up transformer; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
    The Niagara Project operates in a run-of-river (ROR) mode under all 
flow conditions, where inflow equals outflow, with an average annual 
generation of 8,557 megawatt-hours between 2018 and 2021. The project 
is operated to maintain the impoundment at or near elevation 884.4 feet 
NGVD 29, which is 0.6 foot below the crest of the main spillway. During 
extreme flow conditions, such as rapidly changing inflows, Appalachian 
operates the project with a minimum impoundment elevation of 883.4 feet 
NGVD 29. Appalachian releases a minimum flow of 50 cubic feet per 
second (cfs), or inflow to the impoundment, whichever is less, below 
the project. Appalachian provides a minimum flow of 8 cfs into the 
bypassed reach through the sluice gate or over the spillway.
    Appalachian proposes to continue operating the project in a ROR 
mode and to increase the existing minimum flow provided to the bypassed 
reach to 30 cfs. In addition to this measure, which is intended to 
protect water quality and aquatic resources in the bypassed reach, 
Appalachian proposes environmental measures for the protection and 
enhancement of terrestrial and recreation resources.
    l. 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 (P-2466). For assistance, contact FERC at 
[email protected], or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or (202) 
502-8659 (TTY).
    m. 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. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will 
be made as appropriate.

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                         Milestone                                               Target date
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Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary).....................  March 2022.
Request Additional Information (if necessary)..............  May 2022.
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for Environmental       January 2023.\1\
 Analysis.
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    o. 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.
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    \1\ The Roanoke Logperch Larval Drift Survey, a sub-study of the 
Fish Community Study, is scheduled to be completed in 2022. In the 
final license application, Appalachian states that the final study 
report will be filed in late 2022.

    Dated: March 10, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-05587 Filed 3-16-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P