[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 33 (Thursday, February 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9966-9968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02836]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 15000-003]
Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and
Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and
Prescriptions; Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P.
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.: 15000-003.
c. Date Filed: June 30, 2022.
d. Applicant: Erie Boulevard Hydropower, L.P. (Erie).
e. Name of Project: Franklin Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
f. Location: On the Saranac River in Essex and Franklin Counties,
New York..
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Steven Murphy, Director, U.S. Licensing, Erie
Boulevard Hydropower, L.P., 33 West 1st Street South, Fulton, New York
13069; telephone at (315) 598-6130; 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. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and
conditions, and 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
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. 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, 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, 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: Franklin Falls Hydroelectric Project (P-15000-003).
The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 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
[[Page 9967]]
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 for filing and is now ready
for environmental analysis.
l. Project Description: The project includes a concrete dam that
consists of: (1) a 148-foot-long spillway with 2-foot-high flashboards
that have a crest elevation of 1,464.88 feet National Geodetic Vertical
Dam of 1929 (NGVD 29); (2) a 12-foot-long section with an 8-foot-long
sluice gate; (3) a 28-foot-long intake structure with a gatehouse, two
6-foot-long slide gates, and trashracks with 2-inch clear bar spacing.
The dam creates an impoundment with a surface area of 479 acres at an
elevation of 1,464.88 feet NGVD 29.
From the impoundment, water flows through the intake structure to a
300-foot-long penstock, surge tank, and two 38-foot-long penstocks that
convey water to a powerhouse that contains 920-kilowatt (kW) and 1,200-
kW horizontal Francis turbine-generators, for a total installed
capacity of 2,120-kW. Water is discharged from the powerhouse to a 100-
foot-long tailrace.
Electricity generated at the powerhouse is transmitted to the
regional electric grid via two 85-foot-long, 2.3-kilovolt (kV)
generator lead lines, a 2.3/46-kV step-up transformer located in a
switchyard, and a 155-foot-long, 46-kV transmission line. There are no
project recreation facilities.
The minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse are
30 and 460 cubic feet per second (cfs), respectively. The average
annual energy production of the project from 2016 through 2020 was
10,349 megawatt-hours.
The current license requires Erie to: (1) limit impoundment
drawdowns to 2 feet below the crest of the flashboards, and 1 foot
below the crest of the spillway when flashboards are not in place; (2)
install the flashboards annually by the first week of June, unless flow
conditions warrant otherwise; (3) release a minimum bypassed reach flow
of 125 cfs or inflow to the impoundment, whichever is less, from March
31 through May 31 each year; (4) release a minimum flow of 245 cfs or
inflow, whichever is less, downstream of the project from March 1
through June 1 each year; and (5) release inflow downstream of the
project from June 2 to March 1 each year, when needed for the
downstream Saranac Hydroelectric Project No. 4472 (Saranac Project) to
maintain flows required by the Saranac Project's license. Erie utilizes
the storage capacity of the impoundment, within the allowable drawdown
limits, to meet electricity demand and regulate flow.
Erie proposes to revise the project boundary around the impoundment
to follow a contour elevation of 1,464.88 feet NGVD 29, which would
remove approximately 24.7 acres from the project boundary. Based on
Commission staff's review of the Exhibit G maps and georeferenced
shapefiles, Erie also proposes to remove a net total of 1.6 acres of
land adjacent to project facilities.
On August 9, 2024, Erie filed a Settlement Agreement for the
project's relicense proceeding, on behalf of itself; the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service; the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation; and Trout Unlimited. As part of the Settlement Agreement,
Erie proposes to construct a new bypass flow release structure at the
dam to provide minimum bypassed reach flows of 4 cfs and 8 cfs, from
November 1 through March 30 and June 1 through October 31,
respectively. Erie also proposes to: (1) operate the project in a run-
of-river mode by maintaining the surface elevation of the impoundment
within 6 inches of the crest of the spillway or flashboards, if
present; (2) release a minimum bypassed reach flow of 125 cfs or inflow
to the impoundment, whichever is less, from March 31 through May 31;
(3) release a year-round minimum flow of 165 cfs or inflow to the
impoundment, whichever is less, to the Saranac River downstream of the
tailrace; (4) implement measures to maintain continuity of flows
downstream of the project during normal project operation and during
shutdowns; (5) replace the existing trashrack with a trashrack with 1-
inch clear bar spacing; (6) maintain an existing hand-carry boat launch
and a portion of an existing portage trail; and (7) implement an
Operation Compliance Monitoring Plan, Impoundment Drawdown Plan, Bald
Eagle Protection Plan, and Invasive Species Management Plan.
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.
All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title
``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND
CONDITIONS,'' or ``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 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. Each filing 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,
community organizations, 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.
n. 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.
o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as
appropriate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milestone Target date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filing of Comments, Recommendations, Terms and April 2025.
Conditions, and Prescriptions..........................
[[Page 9968]]
Filing of Reply Comments................................ May 2025.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
p. 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 13, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-02836 Filed 2-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P