[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58149-58150]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15736]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 9650-036]


Factory Falls, Inc.; 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.: 9650-036.
    c. Date filed: June 28, 2024.
    d. Applicant: Factory Falls, Inc. (Factory Falls).
    e. Name of Project: Gilman Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Black River, Windsor County, Vermont.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: William Handly, Factory Falls, Inc., 286 
South Street, Springfield, Vermont 05156; Phone at (802) 885-5360 or 
email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Erin Kimsey at (202) 502-8621, 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: August 27, 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 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.

[[Page 58150]]

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: Gilman 
Dam Hydroelectric Project (P-9650-036).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The existing Gilman Dam Project consists of the following: (1) a 
190-foot-long, 7-foot-high concrete gravity dam (Gilman Dam) that 
includes a spillway with a crest elevation of 421 feet mean sea level 
(msl); (2) an impoundment with a surface area of 1.0 acre at an 
elevation of 421 feet msl; (3) an intake structure equipped with a 
headgate and trashrack with 1.5-inch clear bar spacing; (4) a 175-foot-
long, 6-foot-diameter penstock; (5) a 40-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, brick 
and concrete powerhouse with a Vertical Francis turbine-generator unit 
with an authorized installed capacity of 125 kilowatts; (6) a 50-foot-
long tailrace; (7) a 0.6 kilovolt (kV) generator lead; (8) a 0.6/4.16 
kV step-up transformer; (9) a 4.16 kV transmission line; (10) a 
downstream fish passage facility for Atlantic Salmon; and (11) 
appurtenant facilities.
    The current license requires Factory Falls to operate the project 
in instantaneous run-of-river mode, so that flow in the Black River, as 
measured immediately downstream from the project tailrace, approximates 
the instantaneous sum of the inflow to the project impoundment. The 
current license also requires Factory Falls to release a minimum flow 
of 9 cubic feet per second (cfs) over the spillway or through the fish 
passage facility during passage season, and 40 cfs in an uncontrolled 
bypass channel on the west side of the dam, and to operate the 
downstream fish passage from April 1 through June 15. The project has 
an average annual generation of 550 megawatt-hours.
    Factory Falls propose to continue operating the project in a run-
of-river mode. Factory Falls also propose to increase the minimum flow 
over the spillway from 9 cfs to 10 cfs by maintaining the impoundment 1 
inch above the spillway crest.
    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-9650). 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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Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary).  August 2024.
Request Additional Information.........  August 2024.
Issue Acceptance Letter................  January 2025.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments..  January 2025.
Request Additional Information (if       March 2025.
 necessary).
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)  March 2025.
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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: July 11, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-15736 Filed 7-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P