[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 41 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14825-14826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04179]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1855-050]


Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To 
Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and 
Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, 
and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions; Great River Hydro, LLC

    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.: 1855-050.
    c. Date Filed: May 1, 2017; material amendment filed December 7, 
2020.
    d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Bellows Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: The project is located on the Connecticut River in 
Windsor and Windham Counties, Vermont, and Sullivan and Cheshire 
Counties, New Hampshire.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great 
River Hydro, LLC, 40 Pleasant Street, Suite 202, Portsmouth, NH 03801; 
(603) 498-2851 or [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
fishway 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 
motions to intervene and protests, 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

[[Page 14826]]

paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be 
addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting 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, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first 
page of any filing should include docket number P-1855-050.
    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. Project Description: The Bellows Falls Project consists of: (1) 
a 643-foot-long, 30-foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) two 18-
foot-high, 115-foot-wide steel roller gates; (b) two 13-foot-high, 121-
foot-wide stanchion flashboards; and (c) a 13-foot-high, 100-foot-wide 
stanchion flashboard; (2) a 26-mile-long, 2,804-acre impoundment with a 
useable storage volume of 7,467 acre-feet between elevations 288.63 and 
291.63 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (3) a 
1,700-foot-long, 36- to 100-foot-wide, 29-foot-deep stone-lined power 
canal; (4) a 130.25-foot-wide concrete forebay that includes trashracks 
with 4-inch clear bar spacing; (5) a 186-foot-long, 106-foot-wide, 52-
foot-high steel frame, brick powerhouse containing three 13.6-megawatt 
(MW) vertical Francis turbine-generator units, for a total project 
capacity of 40.8 MW; (6) three approximately 20-foot-high, 31-foot-wide 
concrete draft tubes; (7) a 900-foot-long tailrace; (8) a 12-foot-wide, 
10-foot-high ice sluice; (9) three 80-foot-long, 6.6-kilovolt generator 
leads that connect the turbine-generator units to two step-up 
transformers; (10) a 920-foot-long, 8-foot-wide fishway; (11) a 
concrete fish barrier dam in the bypassed reach; and (12) appurtenant 
facilities.
    Great River Hydro operates the project in a peaking mode in 
coordination with its upstream Wilder Project No. 1892 and downstream 
Vernon Project No. 1904. Average annual generation is approximately 
239,070 MW-hours. Great River Hydro is proposing several protection, 
mitigation, and enhancement measures for aquatic, terrestrial, 
cultural, recreation resources, and threatened and endangered species, 
as well as changes to project operation that would reduce impoundment 
fluctuations and increase the stability of downstream flow releases 
relative to current project operation, including targeted water surface 
elevation levels and flow ramping rates. Great River Hydro also 
proposes to install a new turbine on the downstream side of the 
spillway that would generate power using the 300-cubic feet per second 
proposed minimum flow to the bypassed reach. The specific proposed 
changes are described in the amended application, the settlement 
agreement filed on August 4, 2022, and the revised relicensing proposal 
filed on June 8, 2023.
    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.
    n. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with 
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must: (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST,'' ``MOTION TO INTERVENE,'' ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' 
``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' or 
``PRELIMINARY FISHWAY 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. A copy of any protest or 
motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the 
applicant specified in the particular application. A copy of all other 
filings in reference to this application 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.
    o. 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.
    p. 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 motions to intervene,   April 2024.
 protests, comments, recommendations,
 preliminary terms and conditions, and
 preliminary fishway prescriptions.
Deadline for filing reply comments........  May 2024.
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    q. 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 22, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-04179 Filed 2-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P