[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41306-41307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14803]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2420-059]


PacifiCorp; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting 
Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, 
and Soliciting Comments, 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.: 2420-059.
    c. Date filed: March 28, 2022.
    d. Applicant: PacifiCorp (the licensee).
    e. Name of Project: Cutler Hydroelectric Project (Cutler Project).
    f. Location: The Cutler Project is located on the Bear River in Box 
Elder and Cache Counties, Utah. The project does not occupy any federal 
land or tribal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Eve Davies, Cutler Relicensing Project 
Manager, PacifiCorp, 1407 West North Temple, Suite 210, Salt Lake City, 
UT 84116; (801) 220-2245 [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Khatoon Melick at (202) 502-8433 or email at 
[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 
motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary 
terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions using the 
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 
request. 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-2420-059.
    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 
April 20, 2022, revising the regulations under 40 CFR parts 1502, 1507, 
and 1508 that federal agencies use to implement the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (see National Environmental Policy Act 
Implementing Regulations Revisions, 87 FR 23,453-70). The final rule 
became effective on May 20, 2022. Commission staff intends to conduct 
its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.
    l. The Cutler Project consists of: (1) a 126-foot-high, 545-foot-
long concrete gravity arch dam with an approximately 30-foot-long 
gated-overflow spillway with crest elevation at 4,394.5 feet above mean 
sea level (msl); (2) a 2,476-acre reservoir with a gross storage volume 
of 8,563 acre-feet and a normal maximum operating elevation of 4,407.5 
feet msl; (3) a 1,157-foot-long, 18-foot-diameter steel flowline; (4) 
an 81-foot-high, 45-foot-diameter Johnson Differential surge tank; (5) 
two 118-foot-long, 14-foot-diameter steel penstocks that bifurcate from 
the surge tank into the powerhouse; (6) a 74-foot by 130-foot brick 
powerhouse; (7) two 15,000-kilowatt generators with a total installed 
capacity of 30 megawatts; (8) two 300-foot-long, 7.2- and 6.9-kilovolt 
transmission lines that extend from the powerhouse's bus bar to step-up 
transformers located in the Cutler substation; and (9) appurtenant 
facilities. The estimated normal gross head of the project is 127.5 
feet. The estimate average annual generation of the project from 1991 
to 2020 is 75,052 megawatt-hours.
    The Cutler Project is the furthest downstream of the five 
PacifiCorp hydroelectric developments on the Bear River system. The 
Bear River system is collectively operated by PacifiCorp and is a 
coordinated operation of storage reservoirs, diversion dams, canals, 
and hydroelectric plants located within a 3,500-square-mile area of the 
lower Bear River Basin in Idaho and Utah. Water is diverted from the 
Bear River into Bear Lake, which is a natural lake via the Rainbow 
Canal. Outside of the irrigation season, Bear Lake flood control 
releases, along with winter and spring Bear River drainage natural 
water flows, create the base for generation at the Cutler Project. In 
southern Cache Valley, there are local drainage basins that also 
contribute significant inflows to the project. From mid-June to mid-
October, nearly all the natural flow from the Bear River is diverted 
for irrigation. Supplemental flow comes from water stored in Bear Lake. 
Given that during the irrigation season most of the inflow into the 
project is sent to the irrigation canals and the reservoir must 
maintain certain elevations, generation at the powerhouse is virtually 
nonexistent from approximately mid-May to the end of September, unless 
water is available in higher flow years.
    PacifiCorp proposes to continue to operate the project in a run-of-
river mode and maintain the current upper operating limit elevation on 
the reservoir, with a modest expansion to the tolerance. PacifiCorp 
also proposes to expand the range of the lower operating limit outside 
the irrigation season, both to increase operational flexibility. 
Increasing the operating range is to support variable (e.g., wind and 
solar) energy generation needs and would not increase the volume of 
water available for energy generation.
    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 at 
[email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3676 or TTY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    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

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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.
    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.
    o. The 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 note that the certification request must 
be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission concurrently.
    p. 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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Deadline for Filing Protest, Motion to   September 2022.
 Intervene, Comments, Recommendations,
 Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and
 Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions.
Deadline for Filing Reply Comments.....  October 2022.
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    q. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

    Dated: July 6, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-14803 Filed 7-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P