[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83116-83117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26165]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3442-029]


City of Nashua, New Hampshire; Notice of Application Ready for 
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms 
and Conditions, and Prescriptions

    Take notice that the following license application has been filed 
with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New License.
    b. Project No.: P-3442-029.
    c. Date filed: July 30, 2021.
    d. Applicant: City of Nashua (Nashua).
    e. Name of Project: Mine Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Nashua River in 
Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. The project does not affect federal 
lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: James W. Donchess, Mayor, City of Nashua, 229 
Main Street, P.O. Box 2019, Nashua, NH 03060; (603) 589-3260; or email 
at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Khatoon Melick, (202) 502-8433, or email at 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions, and prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this 
notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this 
notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERC.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters, 
without prior registration, using the eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/Quick.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: Mine Falls 
Hydroelectric Project (P-3442-029).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice 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. This application has been accepted and is ready for 
environmental analysis at this time.
    l. The existing project consists of: (1) A 242-acre impoundment 
with a normal storage volume of 1,970 acre-feet and a normal headpond 
elevation of 158.76 feet (NAVD 88); (2) a rock filled concrete cap, 
variable in height dam with an approximately 132-foot-long spillway at 
a permanent crest elevation of 154.66 feet, and nominal 4.0-foot-high 
wooden flashboards maintaining a

[[Page 83117]]

normal headpond elevation of 158.76 feet; (3) a 22-foot-wide and 170-
foot-long reinforced concrete power canal located between the right 
bank of the Nashua River and the single flood sluice gate; (4) two 
12.5-foot-long wooden stoplog bays located immediately upstream of the 
intake to the right of the concrete capped spillway (viewed facing 
downstream) with a 10-foot-wide gate and a short spillway section above 
the gate; (5) a 40-foot-wide, 20-foot-high intake structure with steel 
trash rack with two square-to-round transition openings that feed the 
two penstocks that terminate at the two turbines; (6) two 64-foot-long, 
104-inch-diameter steel penstocks between the intake and turbine units; 
(7) a 44-foot-long, 44-foot-wide multi-level reinforced concrete 
powerhouse containing two 1,500 kilowatt turbine-generator units; (8) 
an approximately 22-foot-wide, 1,100-foot-long tailrace that is a 
channel cut into the Nashua River bedrock downstream of the powerhouse 
that returns water back into the Nashua River; (9) a 278-foot-long 
bypassed reach extending from the spillway crest and stoplog bays to 
the downstream of the powerhouse at the tailrace, bypassing 20 cubic 
feet per second (cfs) of water for environmental flows; (10) an 
upstream fish passage; (11) a 610-foot-long, 34.5-kilovolt underground 
transmission line connects the generator transformer to the 
interconnect point; and (12) appurtenant facilities. The estimated 
gross head of the project is 38 feet. The powerplant has a maximum 
nameplate capacity of 3 megawatts. The project generates an annual 
average of 12,563 megawatt-hours.
    Nashua proposes to continue to operate the project in a run-of-
river mode with no storage or flood control capacity. The project 
operates within a flow range of 180 cfs (150 cfs minimum hydraulic 
capacity to start a single turbine, plus 20 cfs minimum flow release at 
the dam into the bypassed reach and a 10 cfs flow routed through the 
Mill Pond gatehouse to the Mill Pond and canal) and 1,100 cfs (maximum 
hydraulic capacity of the plant--two turbines combined) or a river flow 
of 1,130 cfs. Any flow above the maximum hydraulic capacity of the 
turbines plus minimum flows and Mill Pond diversion is spilled over the 
dam spillway and through the overflow section of the flood sluice gate.
    m. A copy of the application can 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. For assistance, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    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.
    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].
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS'', ``REPLY COMMENTS'', ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' or ``PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (2) set forth in the heading the 
name of the applicant and the project number of the application to 
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone 
number of the person submitting the filing; and (4) otherwise comply 
with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions must 
set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the 
requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the 
application directly from the applicant. Each filing must be 
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service 
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 
18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    n. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date 
of issuance of this notice: (1) a copy of the water quality 
certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including 
proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; 
or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note 
that the certification request must comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b), 
including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted 
to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the 
certification request. Please also note that the certification request 
must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission 
concurrently.
    o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

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                  Milestone                           Target date
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Deadline for Filing Comments,                 January 2024.
 Recommendations, and Agency Terms and
 Conditions/Prescriptions.
Licensee's Reply to REA Comments............  March 2024.
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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 this notice.

    Dated: November 21, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-26165 Filed 11-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P