[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54313-54314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17158]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2444-042]


Northern States Power Corporation--Wisconsin; Notice of 
Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting 
Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for 
Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

    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.: 2444-042.
    c. Date Filed: July 21, 2023.
    d. Applicant: Northern States Power Corporation--Wisconsin.
    e. Name of Project: White River Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: On the White River in Ashland and Bayfield Counties, 
Wisconsin.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Matthew Miller, Northern States Power 
Company--Wisconsin, 1414 W. Hamilton Avenue, P.O. Box 8, Eau Claire, WI 
54702; Phone at (715) 737-1353, or email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Taconya D. Goar at (202) 502-8394, or 
[email protected].
    j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies 
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to 
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the 
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such 
requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note 
the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation 
of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See 94 FERC ] 
61,076 (2001).
    k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes 
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to 
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the 
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person 
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of 
the request on the applicant.
    l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for 
cooperating agency status: September 19, 2023.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. 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, 
MD 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and docket 
number on the first page: White River Hydroelectric Project (P-2444-
042).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. Project Description: The existing project consists of: (1) an 
earthen and concrete dam that includes: (a) a 400-foot-long, 37-foot-
high north earthen embankment; (b) a concrete section that includes: 
(i) a north abutment; (ii) a 20-foot-long, 36.5-foot-high intake 
structure equipped with a trashrack; (iii) a 35-foot-high gated 
spillway with two 25-foot-long bays that each contain a Tainter gate; 
and (iv) a south abutment; (c) a 300-foot-long, 37-foot-high south 
earthen embankment; (2) an impoundment with a surface area of 39.9 
acres at an elevation of 711.6 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 
1929 (NGVD 29); (3) a 7-foot-diameter, 1,345-foot-long concrete pipe 
that conveys flows from the intake structure to a 16-foot-diameter, 62-
foot-high steel surge tank; (4) two 30-foot-long steel penstocks; (5) a 
69-foot-long, 39-foot-wide concrete and brick masonry powerhouse that 
contains one 700-kilowatt (kW) horizontal Francis turbine-generator 
unit and one 500-kW horizontal Francis turbine-generator unit, for a 
total installed capacity of 1,200 kW; and (6) a 220-foot-long, 2.4-
kilovolt (kV) electric line that connects the generators to a 2.4/69-kV 
step-up transformer. The project creates an approximately 1,400-foot-
long bypassed reach of the White River. A 1-foot-diameter steel pipe 
conveys flow from the intake structure to the bypassed reach.
    Project recreation facilities include: (1) a boat access site and 
canoe portage take-out site at the north embankment of the dam; (2) an 
approximately 2,260 feet canoe portage trail; (3) a canoe put-in site 
approximately 90 feet downstream of the powerhouse; and (4) a tailrace 
fishing area.
    The current license requires the project to operate in a run-of-
river mode, such that outflow from the project approximates inflow to 
protect aquatic resources in the White River. The current license 
requires the impoundment to be maintained at an elevation between 710.4 
and 711.6 feet NGVD 29. The current license also requires a minimum 
bypassed reach flow of 16 cubic feet per second (cfs) or inflow to the 
impoundment, whichever is less, to protect aquatic resources. The 
minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse are 50 and 
350 cfs, respectively. The average annual generation of the project was 
4,927 megawatt-hours from 2017 through 2022.
    The applicant proposes the following changes to the project 
boundary: (1)

[[Page 54314]]

revise the project boundary around the impoundment to follow a contour 
elevation of 711.6 NGVD 29, which would result in a reduction in the 
total acreage of the project boundary upstream of the dam from 76.5 to 
41.2 acres; (2) revise the project boundary downstream of the dam to 
remove approximately 38.8 acres of land north of the access road to the 
powerhouse and non-project substation and approximately 12 acres of 
land northeast of the powerhouse; and (3) revise the project boundary 
downstream of the dam to include approximately 0.3 acre of land 
associated with a non-project substation, approximately 0.6 acre of 
land associated with an access road, approximately 1.3 acres of water 
downstream of the project, and approximately 0.3 acre east of the south 
earthen embankment.
    The applicant proposes to: (1) continue to operate the project in a 
run-of-river mode to protect aquatic resources; (2) continue to 
maintain the impoundment elevation between 710.4 and 711.6 feet NGVD 
29; (3) continue to release a minimum flow of 16 cfs or inflow, 
whichever is less, to the bypassed reach at all times; (4) develop an 
operation compliance monitoring plan; (5) consult with resource 
agencies and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa 
Indians prior to temporary modifications of project operation, 
including non-emergency impoundment drawdowns, and file a report with 
the Commission within 14 days after the planned deviation; (6) conduct 
shoreline erosion surveys every ten years; (7) develop an invasive 
species monitoring plan; (8) pass woody debris from the impoundment to 
the bypassed reach; (9) replace recreational signage; (10) maintain 
project recreation facilities; (11) implement the State of Wisconsin's 
broad incidental take permits/authorizations for Wisconsin cave bats 
and wood turtles; (12) avoid vegetation management and construction 
activities within 660 feet of bald eagle nests during the nesting 
season; and (13) develop a historic properties management plan.
    o. 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 docket number excluding the last three 
digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-2444). 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., license application) via the 
internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) using 
the ``eLibrary'' link. For assistance, contact FERC at 
[email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or (202) 
502-8659 (TTY).
    You may also register online 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, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    p. 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].
    q. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will 
be made as appropriate.

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Issue Deficiency Letter.................  August 2023.
Request Additional Information..........  August 2023.
Issue Scoping Document 1................  November 2023.
Request Additional Information (if        November 2023.
 necessary).
Issue Acceptance Letter.................  December 2023.
Issue Scoping Document 2................  January 2024.
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental   January 2024.
 Analysis.
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    r. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice 
of ready for environmental analysis.

    Dated: August 4, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-17158 Filed 8-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P