[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16001-16002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05289]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 4639-033]


Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application 
Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 4639-033.
    c. Date filed: September 29, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro, LLC (Ampersand).
    e. Name of Project: Christine Falls Hydroelectric Project 
(Christine Falls Project or project).
    f. Location: On the Sacandaga River near the Village of Speculator, 
Hamilton 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. Sayad Moudachirou, Licensing Manager, 
Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro LLC, 717 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A, 
Boston, MA 02111, Phone: 617-933-7206, Email: 
[email protected]; and Mr. Jason Huang, Asset Manager, 
Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro LLC, 717 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A, 
Boston, MA 02111, Phone: 773-919-0923, Email: 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Andy Bernick at (202) 502-8660, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests: 60 days 
from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
motions to intervene and protests using the Commission's eFiling system 
at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 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: Christine Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-4639-033).
    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 but is not ready for 
environmental analysis.
    l. The Christine Falls Project consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) a 15-foot-high, 152.6-foot-long concrete gravity dam 
(includes both abutments), with 3-foot-high wooden flashboards 
installed along the crest of the 135-foot-long spillway; (2) a 
reservoir with a surface area of 1.1 acres and a storage capacity of 4-
acre feet at a normal water surface elevation of 1,699.7 feet National 
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29); (3) an intake structure; (4) 
a 613-foot-long steel penstock with a diameter of 6 feet that 
bifurcates into 3-foot-diameter, 45-foot-long and 4-foot-diameter, 32-
foot-long penstocks; (5) a brick and concrete powerhouse containing two 
turbine-generator units (i.e., one 275-kilowatt (kW) unit and one 575-
kW unit) with a total capacity of 850 kW; (7) a tailrace with a depth 
of 21 feet; (8) a 610-foot-long bypassed reach; (9) a 185-foot-long 
underground transmission line connecting the generating units to a 
1,000-kilovolt-ampere step-up transformer; (10) a 9,315-foot-long, 
4.16/13.2-kilovolt underground transmission line from the transformer 
to a point of interconnection; and (11) appurtenant facilities.
    The Christine Falls Project is operated in a run-of-river mode, 
with a minimum flow of 25 cubic feet per second (cfs) into the bypassed 
reach during the months of March, April, and May, and a minimum flow of 
10 cfs during the remainder of the year. The project has an average 
annual generation of 2,478 megawatt-hours.
    Ampersand proposes to operate the project in a strict run-of-river 
mode with an impoundment level fluctuation limit of 3 inches from the 
dam crest or flashboards when in place. As described

[[Page 16002]]

in its October 11, 2022, settlement agreement with the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation, American Whitewater, and the New York State Council of 
Trout Unlimited, Ampersand proposes the following changes to project 
operation and facilities: (1) providing two seasonal minimum flow 
regimes over the spillway and through the bypass gate: (a) a 15 cubic 
feet per second (cfs) minimum flow or inflow, whichever is less, from 
June 1 to October 31, and (b) a 35 cfs minimum flow or inflow, 
whichever is less, from November 1 to May 31; (2) installing trash 
racks with 1-inch clear spacing or the equivalent (e.g., an overlay-
type system) whereby approach velocities are less than or equal to 2 
feet per second, as measured 1 foot in front of the trash racks; and 
(3) installing and maintaining a year-round downstream fish passage 
structure. Ampersand also proposes to remove the existing 9,315-foot-
long transmission line from the project, stating that the line also 
provides power to the project from the grid and thus should not be 
considered a primary transmission line.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested individuals an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (www.ferc.gov) using the 
``eLibrary'' link. At this time, the Commission has suspended access to 
the Commission's Public Access 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] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3676 or TTY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    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. Anyone may submit a protest or a motion to intervene in 
accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 
CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In determining the appropriate 
action to take, the Commission will consider all protests filed, but 
only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the 
Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any protests 
or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified 
deadline date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST'' or ``MOTION TO INTERVENE;'' (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. 
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.
    o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

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Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments.....  March 2023.
Scoping Document 1 comments due...........  April 2023.
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)...  May 2023.
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental     May 2023.
 Analysis.
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    Dated: March 9, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-05289 Filed 3-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P