[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10063-10064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02921]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2736-046]


Idaho Power Company; Notice of Application Ready for 
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms 
and Conditions, and Prescriptions

    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.: 2736-046.
    c. Date filed: February 14, 2023.
    d. Applicant: Idaho Power Company.
    e. Name of Project: American Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The American Falls project is located on the Snake 
River in Power County, Idaho, near the city of American Falls, about 25 
miles southwest of Pocatello. The project is located at the American 
Falls Dam, owned and operated by the United States Bureau of 
Reclamation. The project occupies 7.37 acres of United States land 
administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Power County, Idaho.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Andrea L. Courtney, Hydro Licensing Leader, 
Idaho Power Company, P.O. Box 70, 1221 W Idaho St., Boise, ID 83702; 
(208) 388-2655; or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Golbahar Mirhosseini 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/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 paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Deputy Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 
Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Debbie-
Anne A. Reese, Deputy 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: 
American Falls Project (P-2736-046).
    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 now ready for 
environmental analysis.
    l. The American Falls dam and spillway are owned and operated by 
the Bureau of Reclamation; these features are not project facilities or 
contained within the project boundary. The concrete gravity dam has a 
structural height of 103.5 feet and a crest length of 5,277 feet, width 
of 42.5 feet and elevation of 4,366.5 feet.\1\ The spillway has a crest 
elevation of 4,333 feet. Reclamation operates and manages the reservoir 
for irrigation delivery, power generation, flood control, fish and 
wildlife, and recreation benefits. The reservoir has a maximum storage 
capacity of 2,672,590 acre-feet and 1.7 million acre-feet of usable 
storage capacity. Its water surface elevation fluctuates between 
4,295.7 feet and 4,354.5 feet and reservoir's maximum surface area is 
58,000 acres.
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    \1\ All elevations are National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 
(NGVD 29).
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    Three 18-foot-diameter steel-lined penstocks begin at the dam 
intake and extend 300 feet downstream to the American Falls project's 
turbines. Reclamation's ownership and maintenance of the penstocks 
begins at the intake and extends downstream approximately 60 feet to 
the coupling pit. Idaho Power's ownership and maintenance of the 
penstocks begins at the coupling pit and extends downstream to the 
Project's turbines.
    From the coupling pit, each of the project's 18-foot-diameter 
penstocks extend approximately 240 feet downstream to each of the 
project's three 22.5-megawatt (MW) Kaplan turbine-generator units 
contained in a reinforced concrete powerhouse. The total installed 
project capacity is 67.5 MW.\2\ Water is discharged from the powerhouse 
directly to the Snake River.
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    \2\ See Order Amending License, Revising Project Description, 
Revising Annual Charges, and Approving Revised Exhibit M issued 
September 27, 2002. Idaho Power Company, 180 FERC ] 62,170 (2022). 
Following turbine maintenance that commenced in October 2022 and 
will extend through 2025, each of the turbines will have a rated 
hydraulic capacity of 4,705 cfs at 88 feet net head.
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    Electricity generated at the powerhouse is transmitted to the 
electric grid via a switchyard upstream of the powerhouse containing a 
13.8/138-kilovolt (kV) step-up transformer. From there power is 
transmitted over a 2,300-foot-long, 138-kV overhead transmission line 
to the American Falls Switchyard. The American Falls project generates 
an average of 395,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually.

[[Page 10064]]

    Project recreation facilities include: Trenner Memorial Park, 
American Falls Park, an improved fishing and access area, and the 
Oregon Trail Boat Ramp (Power County Boat Ramp).
    The American Falls project operates in a run-of-release mode, which 
means it only uses flows released to the project by Reclamation. More 
specifically, power generation is seasonally dictated as reservoir 
levels and irrigation flow deliveries are set by Reclamation.
    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.
    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.
    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].
    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 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,               April 2024.
 Recommendations, and Agency Terms and
 Conditions/Prescriptions.
Licensee's Reply to REA Comments..........  May 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: February 7, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-02921 Filed 2-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P