[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 36 (Thursday, February 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11428-11429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03722]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 5867-054]


Alice Falls Hydro, LLC; 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 with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 5867-054.
    c. Date filed: September 29, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Alice Falls Hydro, LLC (Alice Falls Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Alice Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Ausable River 
in the Town of Chesterfield, Clinton and Essex counties, New York. 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: Jody Smet, Vice President, Regulatory 
Affairs, Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, LLC, 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, 
Suite 1100W, Bethesda, Maryland 20814; (804) 739-0654 or 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Chris Millard at (202) 502-8256, 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 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.asp. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at 
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.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]">FERCOnline[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: Alice Falls Hydroelectric Project P-
5867-054.
    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 
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 project consists of: (1) a stone masonry dam, 88 feet long 
and 63 feet high; (2) a 110-foot-long section of rock ledge adjacent to 
the dam with 2.5-foot-high pipe-supported flashboards; (3) a reservoir 
with a surface area of 4.8 acres at the normal water surface elevation 
of 350 feet; \1\ (4) a 110-foot-wide, 150-foot-long intake structure 
with a 41-foot-wide by 14-foot-high trash rack opening and fitted with 
a trash rack with 1-inch clear bar spacing; (5) a divided, 45-foot-
long, reinforced concrete penstock, where the Unit 1 penstock is 18 
feet wide by 12 feet high and the Unit 2 penstock is 10 feet wide by 12 
feet high; (6) a powerhouse, approximately 34 feet wide and 26 feet 
long, containing two turbine-generator units of 1.5 megawatts (Unit 1) 
and 0.6 megawatt (Unit 2); (7) a substation, 51 feet wide and 88 feet 
long; (8) a 745-foot-long, 5-kilovolt (kV) buried generator lead and a 
700-foot-long, 46-kV buried transmission line; and (9) appurtenant 
facilities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Elevation data are presented using the National Geodetic 
Vertical Datum of 1929.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Alice Falls Hydro currently operates the project in a run-of-river 
mode and releases a year-round minimum flow over the spillway of 25 
cubic feet per second (cfs) for the protection of aquatic resources and 
a 125-cfs minimum flow from May 20 to September 8 for the enhancement 
of aesthetic resources. A 20-cfs conveyance flow is released through 
the fish bypass facility from April 1 through November 30.
    Alice Falls Hydro proposes to continue to operate the project in a 
run-of-river mode and provide a year-round, continuous minimum flow of 
25 cfs; however, it would discontinue providing a 125-cfs aesthetic 
flow. Alice Falls Hydro would also shorten the duration of the 
operation of the fish bypass facility and temporarily increase 
conveyance flows, providing 42 cfs, or inflow, whichever is less, from 
April 15 through May 31 and 20 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, from 
June 1 through November 15.
    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. At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the 
Commission's Public Reference Room, due to the proclamation declaring a 
National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), 
issued by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC 
at [email protected]">FERCOnline[email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3676 or 
TTY, (202) 502-8659.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' or

[[Page 11429]]

``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. The 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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Milestone                           Target date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filing of Comments, Recommendations,   April 2023.
 Terms and Conditions, and Fishway
 Prescriptions.
Filing of Reply Comments.............  June 2023.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dated: February 16, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-03722 Filed 2-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P