[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19589-19590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05728]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 8093-023]


Methuen Falls Hydroelectric Company; 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: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 8093-023.
    c. Date filed: February 28, 2024.\1\
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    \1\ On March 11, 2024, Methuen Hydro resubmitted the application 
to correctly identify and designate the single-line electrical 
diagram as critical energy and electric infrastructure information.
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    d. Applicant: Methuen Falls Hydroelectric Company (Methuen Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Methuen Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Spicket River in Essex County, Massachusetts.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Kevin Olson, Olson Electric Development 
Company, Inc., 30r Hampshire Street, Methuen, MA 01844; (978) 975-0400; 
email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Bill Connelly at (202) 502-8587, or 
[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: April 29, 2024.\2\
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    \2\ The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure provide 
that if a filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or 
other day when the Commission is closed for business, the filing 
deadline does not end until the close of business on the next 
business day. 18 CFR 385.2007(a)(2). Because the 60-day filing 
deadline falls on a Sunday (i.e., April 28, 2024), the filing 
deadline is extended until the close of business on Monday, April 
29, 2024.
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    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: 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

[[Page 19590]]

must be addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Acting 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: Methuen Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-7883-
020).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The existing Methuen Falls Hydroelectric Project consists of the 
following: (1) a 20-foot-high stone masonry dam with two hydraulic 
sluice gates and a stone masonry spillway topped with 3-foot-high 
wooden flashboards with a crest elevation of 104.4 feet National 
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) at the top of the 
flashboards; (2) an impoundment with a normal surface elevation of 
104.4 feet NGVD 29; (3) an intake structure equipped with a trashrack 
and a headgate; (4) an underground penstock (4) a powerhouse with two 
Vertical Francis turbine-generator units with an authorized installed 
capacity of 357 kilowatts; (5) a 20-foot-long, 2-foot-wide tailrace; 
(6) two generator leads; (7) a transformer; (8) a 3.74-kV, 250-foot-
long transmission line; and (9) appurtenant facilities.
    The project operates in a run-of-river mode with a minimum flow of 
3 cubic feet per second (cfs) to the bypassed reach. The project has an 
average annual generation of 1,000 megawatt-hours.
    Methuen Hydro is proposing to continue run-of-river operation, 
increase the minimum flow from 3 cfs to 16 cfs, and install upstream 
and downstream passage for American eels.
    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-8093). For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected] or call tollfree, (866) 
208-3676 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.
    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].
    p. 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).  April 2024.
Request Additional Information.........  April 2024.
Issue Acceptance Letter................  August 2024.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments..  August 2024.
Request Additional Information (if       September 2024.
 necessary).
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)  November 2024.
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental  November 2024.
 Analysis.
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    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: March 12, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-05728 Filed 3-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P