[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 23, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59731-59732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16079]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 15366-000]


Town of Stowe Electric Department; Notice of Application Tendered 
for Filing with the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Exemption from Licensing.
    b. Project No.: 15366-000.
    c. Date Filed: July 2, 2024.
    d. Applicant: Town of Stowe Electric Department (Town of Stowe).
    e. Name of Project: Smith's Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
    f. Location: On the Little River in Lamoille County, Vermont.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 
1978, 16 U.S.C. 2705, 2708, amended by the Hydropower Regulatory 
Efficiency Act of 2013, Public Law 113-23, 127 Stat. 493 (2013).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Michael Lazorchak, Manager, Regulatory 
Affairs, Town of Stowe Electric Department, PO Box 190, Stowe, VT 
05672; telephone at (802) 253-7217; email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Joshua Dub, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes 
Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-8138; 
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: September 3, 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 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: Smith's 
Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-15366-000).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. Project Description: The proposed project would consist of: (1) 
an existing 194-foot-long, 18-foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) 
a south abutment; (b) an existing spillway that would be modified to 
include: (i) a 37-foot-long section with a new 2-foot-high concrete cap 
with a crest elevation of 635.8 feet North American Vertical Datum of 
1988 (NAVD 88); (ii) a 120-foot-long section with a new 2-foot-high 
concrete cap and a new 3-foot-high inflatable rubber crest gate with a 
maximum crest elevation of 635.8 feet NAVD 88; and (iii) a new section 
with a low-level outlet gate and a debris sluice gate equipped with a 
flushing pipe; (c) a non-overflow section that consists of an existing 
non-operational intake structure and abutments at an existing mill 
building; and (d) a new intake structure with a sluice gate equipped 
with a 22.4-foot-long trashrack with 1-inch clear bar spacing, that 
would replace an existing non-operational intake structure.
    The modified dam would create an impoundment with a surface area of 
1.75 acres at the spillway crest elevation of 635.8 feet NAVD 88. The 
existing spillway includes an approximately 20-foot-long, 1.7-foot-high 
breached section with a crest elevation of 634.1 feet NAVD 88. 
Therefore, the existing dam currently creates an impoundment with a 
surface area that is 0.7 acre smaller than the surface area of the 
proposed impoundment. The applicant states that the historical crest 
elevation of the dam is 635.8 feet NAVD 88, and that the proposed 
concrete cap and rubber crest gate would restore the dam and the 
impoundment to their historical elevation. The existing dam also 
includes a non-operational low-level outlet gate on the south side of 
the spillway that would be used during construction and then 
permanently plugged after construction is complete.
    From the impoundment, water would flow through the new intake 
structure into an approximately 110-foot-long concrete sluiceway that 
would consist of an existing 8-foot-wide section and a new 7-foot-wide 
section. The sluiceway would convey water to a new 150-kilowatt 
vertical Kaplan turbine-generator in a new approximately 22-foot-long, 
15-foot-wide wood and steel powerhouse. Water would be discharged from 
the turbine through a draft tube to a new 40-foot-long, 12-foot-wide 
tailrace, where it would return to the Little River. The project would 
create an approximately 150-foot-long bypassed reach of the Little 
River.
    Electricity generated at the project would be transmitted to the 
electric grid via a new underground 45-foot-long, 480-volt generator 
lead line.
    The Town of Stowe proposes to: (1) operate the project in a run-of-
river mode with an estimated annual energy production of approximately 
410 megawatt-hours; and (2) release a continuous minimum flow of 15 
cubic feet per second or inflow, whichever is less, over the rubber 
dam.
    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., exemption 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-
15366). 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.

[[Page 59732]]

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. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the 
Vermont State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), as required by 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the 
regulations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36 CFR 
800.4.
    r. 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 September 
2024
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments November 2024
Request Additional Information (if necessary) December 2024
Issue Acceptance Letter December 2024
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary) January 2025

    Dated: July 16, 2024.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-16079 Filed 7-22-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P