[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 135 (Monday, July 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45410-45411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15081]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1922-052]


Ketchikan Public Utilities, Alaska; 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: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 1922-052.
    c. Date Filed: October 27, 2022.
    d. Applicant: Ketchikan Public Utilities (KPU).
    e. Name of Project: Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: On Beaver Falls Creek in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, 
Alaska. The project currently occupies 478.4 acres of United States 
lands administered by U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Jennifer Holstrom, Senior Project Engineer, 
Ketchikan Public Utilities, 1065 Fair Street, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901; 
(907) 228-4733; or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Kristen Sinclair at (202) 502-6587, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: August 10, 2023.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments 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 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: Beaver Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-
1922-052).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 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. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing Beaver Falls Project consists of two developments, 
Silvis and Beaver Falls. The Silvis development consists of: (1) a 60-
foot-high, 135-foot-long concrete-face, rock-filled Upper Silvis Lake 
dam; (2) an 800-foot-long excavated rock spillway channel leading from 
Upper Silvis Lake to Lower Silvis Lake; (3) a 300-acre reservoir (Upper 
Silvis Lake) with gross storage capacity of approximately 38,000 acre-
feet; (4) a 980-foot-long underground power tunnel connecting to a 342-
foot-long, 36-inch-diameter steel penstock that conveys water to the 
Silvis Powerhouse; (5) a 30-feet by 40-feet by 25-feet-high Silvis 
powerhouse containing a single Francis-type turbine with a rated 
capacity of 2.1 megawatts; (6) a 150-foot-long trapezoidal shaped 
channel tailrace discharging into Lower Silvis Lake; (7) a 2,900-foot-
long, 5-kilovolt submarine cable beneath Lower Silvis Lake; (8) a 
7,000-foot-long, 34.5- kilovolt aerial transmission line; and (9) 
appurtenant facilities.
    The Beaver Falls development consists of: (1) a 32-foot-high, 140-
foot-long concrete-face, rock-filled Lower Silvis dam; (2) a spillway 
with an ungated control weir and unlined rock discharge channel; (3) a 
67.5-acre

[[Page 45411]]

reservoir (Lower Silvis Lake) with gross storage capacity of 
approximately 8,052 acre-feet; (4) a 3-foot-high, 40-foot-long concrete 
diversion dam on Beaver Falls Creek; (5) a 3,800-foot-long underground 
power tunnel connecting to a 3,610-foot-long above ground steel 
penstock that conveys water from Lower Silvis Lake to the Beaver Falls 
powerhouse and supplies water to Units 3 and 4 in the powerhouse; (6) a 
225-foot-long adit that taps the 3,800-foot-long underground power 
tunnel and discharges water into Beaver Falls Creek approximately 500-
feet upstream of the Beaver Falls diversion dam; (7) a 4,170-foot-long 
above ground steel penstock that conveys water from the Beaver Falls 
Creek diversion dam to the Beaver Falls powerhouse and supplies Unit 1 
in the powerhouse; (8) a 30-feet by 147-feet by 25-feet-high Beaver 
Falls powerhouse containing three horizontal Pelton generating units 
with a total installed capacity of 5 MW (Units 1, 3 and 4; Unit 2 is 
decommissioned); (9) a Beaver Falls substation; and (10) appurtenant 
facilities. The project generates an annual average of 54,711,280 
megawatt-hours.
    KPU operates the project in peaking mode utilizing a combination of 
river inflow and storage in the reservoirs to meet the power demands of 
the City of Ketchikan (particularly in the summer). Upper Silvis Lake 
provides the primary storage for the project.
    KPU proposes to continue operating the project in peaking mode with 
no new developments or modifications to its existing facilities or 
operation.
    KPU also proposes to remove 77 acres of land from the Beaver Falls 
project boundary to more closely align with the footprint of its 
facilities and maintenance needs. KPU's proposed Beaver Falls project 
boundary would include 408.8 acres of land within Tongass National 
Forest, and approximately 14.2 acres of Federal lands subject to FPA 
Section 24, for a total of 423 acres.
    m. At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the 
Commission's Public Reference Room. Copies of the application can be 
viewed on the Commission's website at https://www.ferc.gov using the 
``eLibrary'' link. Enter the project's docket number excluding the last 
three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, contact FERC Online Support at [email protected].
    You may also register at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, please 
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected].
    n. The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports 
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission 
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners, 
environmental justice communities, Tribal members and others, access 
publicly available information and navigate Commission processes. For 
public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as 
interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is 
encouraged to contact OPP at (202) 502-6595 or [email protected].
    o. Scoping Process
    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
Commission staff intends to prepare either an environmental assessment 
(EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS) (collectively referred 
to as the ``NEPA document'') that describes and evaluates the probable 
effects, including an assessment of the site-specific and cumulative 
effects, if any, of the proposed action and alternatives. The 
Commission's scoping process will help determine the required level of 
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of 
whether the Commission issues an EA or an EIS. At this time, we do not 
anticipate holding an on-site scoping meeting. 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 July 11, 2023.
    Copies of the 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: July 11, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-15081 Filed 7-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P