[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 202 (Thursday, October 20, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63766-63767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22769]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 6115-016]


Pyrites Hydro, 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.: 6115-016.
    c. Date filed: August 31, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Pyrites Hydro, LLC (Pyrites Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Pyrites Hydroelectric Project (Pyrites Project 
or project).
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Grass River 
near the Town of Canton, St. Lawrence 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: Mr. Kevin M. Webb, Hydro Licensing Manager, 
Pyrites Hydro, LLC, 670 N Commercial Street, Suite 204, Manchester, NH 
03101, (978) 935-6039; [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Chris Millard at (202) 502-8256; or email at 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: November 12, 2022.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. 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, please send a paper copy via 
U.S. Postal Service 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: 
Pyrites Hydroelectric Project (P-6115-016).
    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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The project consists of: (1) a 170-foot-long and 12-foot-high 
concrete Ambursen overflow spillway dam with 1.5-foot-high flashboards, 
a 115-foot-long concrete auxiliary spillway, and a 208-foot-long non-
overflow intake dam, which includes a 50-foot-wide intake structure; 
(2) a 6-foot-diameter, 700-foot-long steel penstock running from the 
intake structure to an upper powerhouse and a 10-foot-diameter, 2,160-
foot-long penstock running from the intake structure to a lower 
powerhouse; (3) a 21-foot by 31-foot upper powerhouse located 700 feet 
downstream of the intake structure containing one 1.2-megawatt (MW) 
turbine/generator unit operating under a rated head of 76 feet and a 
50-foot by 53-foot lower powerhouse located 1,200 feet downstream of 
the upper powerhouse tailrace containing two 3.5-MW turbine/generator 
units operating under a rated head of 111 feet; (4) a 405-foot-long, 
20-foot-wide tailrace; (5) a 50-foot by 97-foot, 115/4.16/2.3-kilovolt 
(kV) switchyard and substation for use by both powerhouses; (6) a 470-
foot-long 2.3-kV transmission line connecting the upper powerhouse to 
the switchyard; (7) a 1,150-foot-long 4.16-kV transmission line 
connecting the lower powerhouse to the switchyard; and (8) appurtenant 
facilities.
    The project is operated in a run-of-river mode, whereby outflow 
from the project approximates inflow. The lower powerhouse is operated 
in an automatic control mode using water level transducers to maintain 
normal impoundment elevation at the flashboard crest (i.e., 484.8 
feet).\1\ The

[[Page 63767]]

upper powerhouse is manually operated and serves as a backup to the 
lower powerhouse when inflows exceed the hydraulic capacity of the 
lower powerhouse (i.e., 860 cubic feet per second [cfs]).\2\ The 
minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the project are 232 cfs and 
1,090 cfs, respectively.
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    \1\ Elevation data are presented using the National Geodetic 
Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29).
    \2\ Pyrites Hydro estimates that the upper powerhouse operates 
about 16% of the time on an annual basis.
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    A continuous minimum flow of 45 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, 
is passed into the bypassed reach. The minimum flow comprises 30 cfs at 
the spillway and 15 cfs of leakage flow from the upper powerhouse. 
Project operation ceases when inflow falls below the project's minimum 
hydraulic capacity and all flow is passed via a minimum flow weir \3\ 
and/or over the project spillway. From 2010 to 2020, the project 
generated an average of 27,865 megawatt-hours annually.
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    \3\ The 8-foot-wide by 1.5-foot-deep minimum flow weir is 
located at the north end of the spillway dam.
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    m. 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., scoping document) 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-
6115). 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 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. 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 National Environmental 
Policy Act (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 the preliminary list of issues and 
alternatives to be addressed in the NEPA document, as described in 
scoping document 1 (SD1), issued October 13, 2022.
    Copies of SD1 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 SD1 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: October 13, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-22769 Filed 10-19-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P