[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38891-38892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10041]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 175-032]


Pacific Gas and Electric 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: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 175-032.
    c. Date Filed: April 18, 2024.
    d. Applicant: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
    e. Name of Project: Balch Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the North Fork Kings River in Fresno County, 
California. The project occupies 506.28 acres of Federal land managed 
by the U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Dave Gabbard, Vice President, Power 
Generation, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, 300 Lakeside Drive, 
Oakland, California 94612; telephone at (620) 207-9705; email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Benjamin Mann, Project Coordinator, West Branch, 
Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8127; 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: June 17, 2024.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. 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

[[Page 38892]]

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, 
MD 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and docket 
number on the first page: Balch Hydroelectric Project (P-175-032).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. Project Description: The Balch Hydroelectric Project (project) 
consists of the following facilities: (1) a 135-foot-high, 396-foot-
long diversion dam with a crest elevation of 4,098 feet that includes a 
364-foot-long spillway and is located on the North Fork Kings River 9.9 
miles upstream of the confluence with Kings River; (2) the 35-acre 
Black Rock Reservoir with a usable storage capacity of 1,260 acre-feet 
at a normal water surface elevation of 4,097 feet; (3) an 11-foot-high, 
concrete tunnel intake; (4) a water conveyance system consisting of: 
(a) a 19,336-foot-long tunnel with a maximum hydraulic capacity of 760 
cubic feet per second (cfs) that includes the 308-foot-long Black Rock 
Adit, the 350-foot-long Weir Creek Adit, an unlined surge chamber, and 
two sluice channels; (5) a 4,905.6-foot-long penstock leading to the 
Balch No. 1 Powerhouse and a 4,933.3-foot-long penstock leading to the 
Balch No. 2 Powerhouse; (6) the 65.5-foot-long, 80.5-foot-wide Balch 
No. 1 Powerhouse housing one turbine-generator unit with an authorized 
installed capacity of 31.02 megawatts (MW) and a maximum hydraulic 
capacity of 213 cfs; (7) the 149-foot-long, 84-foot-wide Balch No. 2 
Powerhouse housing two turbine-generator units with a total authorized 
installed capacity of 105 MW and a maximum hydraulic capacity of 315 
cfs; (8) a 165-foot-high, 238-foot-long afterbay dam with a crest 
elevation of 1,704 feet that includes a 238-foot-long spillway; (9) a 
7-acre afterbay with a usable storage capacity of 135 acre-feet; (10) 
project roads and trails; (11) recreation facilities; (12) a 22-mile-
long, 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting the project with 
the grid at Piedra Junction; (13) the 76-acre Balch Camp, which is the 
project operating headquarters and includes personnel housing; (14) a 
6.2-mile-line, 12-kV distribution line connecting Balch Camp with the 
project's diversion dam; and (15) appurtenant facilities.
    The Balch Project is located downstream of PG&E's Haas-Kings River 
Hydroelectric Project No. 1988 and Helms Pumped Storage Project No. 
2735, which use the same reservoirs (Courtright Lake and Lake Wilshon) 
for operation. The project is operated as a peaking facility to 
generate power that is released from upstream storage to meet power 
demand and for irrigation purposes. Project operation is coordinated 
with Project No. 1988, whose releases from Lake Wilshon largely control 
inflow to Black Rock Reservoir; however, spill fluctuations at the 
project are possible at times when inflow exceeds powerhouse capacity 
and during powerhouse outages.
    The current license requires PG&E to maintain the following 
continuous minimum flows in the North Kings River: (1) during normal 
water years: (a) from June 1 through November 31, 5 cfs from Black Rock 
Reservoir, 15 cfs from Balch Afterbay, and 30 cfs of total river flow; 
and (b) from December 1 through May 31, 2.5 cfs from Black Rock 
Reservoir, 10 cfs from Balch Afterbay, and 30 cfs of total river flow; 
(2) during dry water years, as defined by the California Department of 
Water Resources, year-round flows of 2.5 cfs from Black Rock Reservoir, 
10 cfs from Balch Afterbay, and 20 cfs of total river flow.
    PG&E proposes to continue operating the project in a manner that is 
consistent with current operation, with the exception of the following 
new proposed measures: (1) minimum flows and water year types, (2) a 
recreation plan, (3) a biological resources management plan, (4) a 
historic properties management plan, (5) low-level operations, (6) 
flood period operations, (7) a hazardous substance plan, (8) a gaging 
plan, (9) visual resources management, (10) a fire management and 
response plan, and (11) a transportation system management plan.
    o. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well 
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) via 
the internet through the Commission's Home Page (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-175). 
For assistance, contact FERC at [email protected], (866) 208-
3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
    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.
    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: The application will be processed according 
to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will 
be made as appropriate.

Issue Deficiency Letter and Request Additional Information--June 2024
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--August 2024
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--September 2024
Issue Acceptance Letter--November 2024
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)--November 2024
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--November 2024

    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: May 2, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-10041 Filed 5-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P