[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78351-78352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25180]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2535-129]


Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc.; 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: New License.
    b. Project No.: 2535-129.
    c. Date Filed: October 27, 2023.
    d. Submitted By: Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc.
    e. Name of Project: Stevens Creek Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: At the confluence of Stevens Creek and the Savannah 
River, in Edgefield and McCormick Counties, South Carolina, and 
Columbia County, Georgia. The project occupies approximately 104 acres 
of federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Amy Bresnahan, Dominion Energy South 
Carolina, Inc., 220 Operation Way, Mail Code A221, Cayce, SC 29033-
3712; (803) 217-9965; [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Jeanne Edwards at (202) 502-6181; or email at 
[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: December 8, 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 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: Stevens Creek Project 
(P-2535-129).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The Stevens Creek Project consists of these existing facilities: 
(1) a single dam with an integral powerhouse intake and lock consisting 
of (a) a 102.5-foot-long non-overflow section with a top elevation of 
198.54 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum 1929 (NGVD), (b) a 2,000-
foot-long overflow spillway with a top elevation of 183.5 feet NGVD, 
(c) a 1,000-foot-long, 5-foot-high flashboard section from the lock to 
the center of the spillway, (d) a 1,000 foot-long, 4-foot-high steel 
flashboard section from the center of the spillway to the South 
Carolina abutment, (e) an 85-foot-wide, 165.5-foot-long concrete 
gravity navigation lock, with a lock chamber that is 30-foot-wide, 150-
foot-long, and has a 29-foot-lift, located between the powerhouse and 
spillway section, (f) a 388-foot-long powerhouse intake, integral with 
the dam, protected by trashracks with 3.75-inch-clear bar spacing, and 
(g) a 97-foot-long non-overflow section; (2) a 388-foot-long, 52-foot-
wide, 57-foot-high three-story brick powerhouse, integral with the dam, 
containing eight vertical Francis generating units, each rated at 3,125 
horsepower, a total generating capacity of 17.28 megawatts, and total 
hydraulic capacity of 8,300 cubic feet per second; (3) a 2,400-acre 
reservoir with a storage capacity of 23,699-acre-feet at a full pond 
elevation of 187.5 feet NGVD; (4) generator leads from the powerhouse 
to a switchyard located approximately 100

[[Page 78352]]

feet from the powerhouse; and (5) ancillary equipment.
    The Stevens Creek Project operates as a re-regulating project, 
mitigating the downstream effects of the routinely wide-ranging 
discharges from the upstream U.S. Army Corps of Engineers J. Strom 
Thurmond hydroelectric project. The Stevens Creek reservoir normally 
fluctuates between an elevation of 183.0 feet NGVD and 187.5 feet NGVD, 
using available storage capacity to re-regulate flows released from 
Thurmond Dam.
    o. Copies of the application may be viewed on the Commission's 
website 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 (P-2535). For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected], or call (866) 208-3676 
(toll-free) or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
    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.
    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 and final amendments: the application will 
be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions 
to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)  January 2024.
Request Additional Information (if      January 2024.
 necessary).
Issue Acceptance Letter...............  May 2024.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments.  June 2024.
Request Additional Information (if      August 2024.
 necessary).
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if            August 2024.
 necessary).
Issue Notice of Ready for               September 2024.
 Environmental 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: November 8, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-25180 Filed 11-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P