[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 168 (Thursday, August 31, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60196-60197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18871]



[[Page 60196]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15055-001]


Northern States Power Company; Notice of Application Tendered for 
Filing With the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for 
Licensing and 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: Original Major License.
    b. Project No.: 15055-001.
    c. Date Filed: August 18, 2023.
    d. Applicant: Northern States Power Company, a Wisconsin 
Corporation (NSP).
    e. Name of Project: Gile Flowage Storage Reservoir Project 
(project).
    f. Location: On the West Fork of the Montreal River in Iron County, 
Wisconsin approximately 3 miles southwest of the towns of Hurley, 
Wisconsin and Ironwood, Michigan.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Matthew Miller, Hydro License Compliance 
Consultant, Xcel Energy, 1414 West Hamilton Avenue, P.O. Box 8, Eau 
Claire, Wisconsin 54702-0008; telephone at (715) 737-1353, or email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Nicholas Ettema, telephone at (312) 596-4447, or 
email at [email protected].
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. Project Description: The project includes the following existing 
facilities: (1) a 902.6-foot-long, 32.5-foot-high dam that includes: 
(a) a 300-foot-long west earthen embankment with a crest elevation of 
1495.0 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (b) a 
27.6-foot-long concrete section that includes a 6-foot-wide, 6-foot-
high sluice gate with a trashrack with 2.625-inch clear bar spacing, 
and a 16-foot-wide, 12-foot-high Tainter gate; and (c) a 575-foot-long 
east earthen embankment with a crest elevation of 1495.0 feet NGVD 29; 
(2) an impoundment with a surface area of 3,454 acres at an elevation 
of 1,490 feet NGVD 29 and usable storage capacity of 32,713 acre-feet 
between surface elevations of 1,475 feet and 1,490 feet NGVD 29; (3) a 
35-foot-long concrete conduit downstream of the sluice gate; (4) an 
approximately 60-foot-long concrete apron downstream of the dam; (5) a 
27.5-foot-wide, 11.8-foot-long brick gatehouse integral to the concrete 
section of the dam; and (6) appurtenant facilities. The project does 
not contain any generating facilities.
    The project includes the following existing recreation facilities: 
(1) a canoe take-out site on the shoreline of the impoundment, at the 
east earthen embankment; (2) an approximately 100-foot-long canoe 
portage route; and (3) a canoe put-in site located on the east shore of 
the West Fork of the Montreal River, immediately downstream of the 
project dam.
    An August 19, 2020 order, issued in FERC Docket No. UL20-1-000, 
found that the project is required to be licensed because it is part of 
a complete unit of development that includes the Saxon Falls 
Hydroelectric Project No. 2610 (Saxon Project) and the Superior Falls 
Hydroelectric Project No. 2587 (Superior Project).\1\ NSP currently 
operates the project to augment flow in the West Fork of the Montreal 
River during the summer and winter low-flow periods for hydroelectric 
generation at the downstream Saxon and Superior Projects. NSP maintains 
the impoundment levels between 1,475 feet and 1,490 feet NGVD 29. To 
protect aquatic resources, NSP releases a continuous minimum flow of 10 
cubic feet per second or inflow, whichever is less, downstream of the 
project dam. NSP provides the minimum flow through the sluice gate.
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    \1\ See Northern States Power Company--Wisconsin, 172 FERC ] 
62,093 (2020).
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    To augment flows available for generation at the Saxon Falls 
Project and Superior Falls Project, NSP typically begins drawing down 
the impoundment in the summer and winter, respectively around May 1 and 
December 1. The project has a maximum drawdown of 15 feet, but the 
average summer and winter drawdowns are typically 5.2 feet and 6.8 
feet, respectively. The impoundment remains at the lower level until 
seasonal inflow refills the impoundment in the fall and spring. To 
protect aquatic and recreation resources, under normal project 
operation, NSP limits the rate of the impoundment drawdowns to 0.2 feet 
per day.
    NSP is not proposing any new facilities or operational changes that 
would alter the current project operation. The proposed project 
boundary encompasses approximately 3,457.5 acres, including: (1) the 
impoundment; (2) 2.1 acres of land associated with the project 
facilities listed above; (3) 0.2 acre of water associated with the West 
Fork of the Montreal River immediately downstream of the project dam; 
(4) 0.3 acre of land north of the west earthen embankment; and (5) 0.9 
acre of land north of the east earthen embankment.
    l. 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. Enter the docket number excluding the last 
three digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-
15055). For assistance, contact FERC at [email protected], 
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). At this time, the 
Commission has suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference 
Room.
    m. 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.
    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. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will 
be made as appropriate.

[[Page 60197]]



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                  Milestone                           Target date
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Issue Deficiency Letter.....................  September 2023.
Request Additional Information (if            September 2023.
 necessary).
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for      March 2024.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms  May 2024.
 and conditions, and preliminary fishway
 prescriptions.
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    p. 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 25, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-18871 Filed 8-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P