[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47871-47873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15702]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 10615-058]


Tower Kleber Limited Partnership; 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.: 10615-058.
    c. Date Filed: April 28, 2022.
    d. Applicant: Tower Kleber Limited Partnership (Tower Kleber).
    e. Name of Project: Tower and Kleber Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Black River in Cheboygan County, Michigan.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Nelson Turcotte, General Partner, Tower 
Kleber Limited Partnership, 764 Lexington Crescent, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 
7B8, Canada; Phone at (807) 633-3362, or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Arash Barsari at (202) 502-6207, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: August 18, 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

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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, MD 20852. All filings must clearly identify the 
project name and docket number on the first page: Tower and Kleber 
Hydroelectric Project (P-10615-058).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all 
interveners 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 intervener 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. Project Description: The Tower and Kleber Hydroelectric Project 
consists of two developments, the Tower Development and Kleber 
Development.
    The Tower Development consists of a 22.75-foot-high concrete 
gravity dam that includes a 110-foot-long spillway section with a crest 
elevation of 722.2 feet National Geodetic Vertical Dam of 1929 (NGVD 
29), and a 35.3-foot-long intake structure with four wooden sluice 
gates that are each equipped with a trashrack with 1.25-inch clear bar 
spacing. The Tower Development dam creates an impoundment that has a 
normal elevation of 722.1 feet NGVD 29. From the impoundment, water 
flows through the intake structure to two 280-kilowatt (kW) vertical 
Francis turbine-generator units located in an approximately 32.5-foot-
long, 35.3-foot-wide powerhouse. Water is discharged from the turbines 
to a tailrace. Electricity generated at the Tower Development 
powerhouse is transmitted to the electric grid via an 87-foot-long, 
2.4-kilovolt (kV) underground generator lead line, a 2.4/12.5-kV step-
up transformer, and a 12.5-kV underground transmission line.
    Project recreation facilities at the Tower Development include: (1) 
a boat access site and parking area approximately 1,300 feet upstream 
of the dam on the western shore of the impoundment; (2) a canoe take-
out site located west of the non-overflow concrete embankment section 
of the dam; (3) an approximately 270-foot-long canoe portage route; (4) 
a canoe put-in site immediately downstream of the dam; (5) a 
handicapped-accessible fishing site and parking area approximately 700 
feet upstream of the dam on the western shore of the impoundment; and 
(6) an approximately 370-foot-long tailrace access footpath from the 
parking area of the fishing site to the canoe portage route.
    The Kleber Development consists of an approximately 535-foot-long 
dam that includes a 12-foot-wide ogee spillway and two 11-foot-wide 
intake gates that are each equipped with a trashrack with 2.56-inch 
clear bar spacing. The Kleber Development dam creates an impoundment 
that has a normal elevation of 701.1 feet NGVD 29. From the 
impoundment, water flows through the intake gates to two 7-foot-
diameter penstocks that provide flow to two 600-kW vertical Kaplan 
turbine-generator units located in a 40-foot-long, 42-foot-wide 
powerhouse. Water is discharged from the turbines to a tailrace. 
Electricity generated at the Kleber Development powerhouse is 
transmitted to the electric grid via a 168-foot-long, 2.4-kV generator 
lead line and a 2.4/12.5-kV step-up transformer.
    Project recreation facilities at the Kleber Development include: 
(1) a boat access site and parking area approximately 4,000 feet 
upstream of the dam on the eastern shore of the impoundment; (2) a 
canoe take-out site at the western embankment of the dam; (3) an 
approximately 580-foot-long canoe portage trail; (4) a tailrace access 
site and parking area immediately downstream of the powerhouse at the 
northern shore of the Black River; and (5) a tailrace access and canoe 
put-in site at the southern shore of the Black River approximately 400 
feet downstream of the dam.
    The average annual energy production of the project from 2017 
through 2021 was 7,742 megawatt-hours.
    Tower Kleber is proposing to include the existing Black River 
Streamside Rearing Facility (Rearing Facility) as part of the project. 
Tower Kleber proposes to remove the following land parcels from the 
project boundary: (1) an approximately 8-acre area adjacent to the east 
and west shorelines of the Black River from approximately 700 feet 
upstream to 900 feet downstream of the Tower Development dam; (2) an 
approximately 10-acre area northeast of the east earthen embankment of 
the Kleber Development; and (3) an approximately 0.2-acre area south of 
the emergency spillway at the Kleber Development. Tower Kleber also 
proposes to: (1) continue to operate the project in a run-of-river 
mode; (2) continue to maintain an impoundment elevation of 722.1 NGVD 
29 for the Tower Development and 701.1 feet NGVD 29 for the Kleber 
Development, and limit impoundment fluctuations to no more than +/- 
0.25 foot; (3) continue to limit the winter drawdown in the 
impoundments to no more than 1 foot, from November 1 through March 31; 
(4) continue to maintain the Rearing Facility; (5) implement an 
operation compliance monitoring plan; (6) monitor invasive species and 
install signage for zebra mussels at the boat launch areas; (7) monitor 
dissolved oxygen, sediment, and mercury in the impoundments; and (8) 
continue to operate and maintain project recreation facilities.
    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 
(i.e., P-10615). For assistance, contact FERC at 
[email protected], or call toll free, (886) 208-3676 or TTY 
(202) 502-8659.
    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

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requirements, irrespective of whether the Commission issues an EA or an 
EIS.
    At this time, we do not anticipate holding public or agency 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 
July 19, 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 the SD1 
may be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' 
link (see item m above).

    Dated: July 19, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-15702 Filed 7-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P