80 FR 15784 - Mr. Ray F. Ward; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 57 (March 25, 2015)

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 25, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15784-15785]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06742]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 9842-006]


Mr. Ray F. Ward; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental 
Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Minor New License.
    b. Project No.: 9842-006.
    c. Date Filed: August 28, 2014.
    d. Applicant: Mr. Ray F. Ward.
    e. Name of Project: Ward Mill Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Watauga River, in the Township of Laurel Creek, 
Watauga County, North Carolina. The project does not occupy lands of 
the United States.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Andrew C. Givens, Cardinal Energy Service, 
Inc., 620 N. West St., Suite 103, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603, (919) 
834-0909.
    i. FERC Contact: Adam Peer, (202) 502-8449 or [email protected].
    j. Deadline for Filing Scoping Comments: May 21, 2015.
    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, please send a paper copy 
to: Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street 
NE., Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include 
docket number P-9842-006.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures 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 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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The Ward Mill Project consists of the following facilities: (1) 
A 130-foot-long, 20-foot-high rock and concrete dam; (2) an impoundment 
with a surface area of 4.6 acres and an estimated gross storage 
capacity of 16.3 acre-feet; (3) a 14-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, and 7.5-
foot-tall penstock made of rock, reinforced concrete and steel; (4) a 
60-foot-long, 20-foot-wide powerhouse integrated into the south end of 
the dam, containing two generating units with a total capacity of 168 
kW; (5) a 45-foot-long, 12.48-kilovolt transmission line; and (6) 
appurtenant facilities. The project is estimated to generate from below 
290,000 to over 599,000 kilowatt-hours annually. The dam and existing 
facilities are owned by the applicant. No new project facilities are 
proposed.
    m. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the 
Commission's Web site 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. A copy is also available for inspection and 
reproduction at the address in item h above.

[[Page 15785]]

    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.
    n. Scoping Process
    The Commission intends to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) 
on the project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and cumulative 
environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
action.

Scoping Meetings

    FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public 
meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and 
non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public scoping 
meeting is primarily for public input. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend one or both of the 
meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope of the 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and 
locations of these meetings are as follows:

Agency Scoping Meeting

    DATE: Tuesday, April 21, 2015.
    TIME: 1 p.m. (EDT).
    PLACE: Watauga County Center.
    ADDRESS: 971 W. King Street, Boone, NC 28607.

Public Scoping Meeting

    DATE: Tuesday, April 21, 2015.
    TIME: 7 p.m. (EDT).
    PLACE: Watauga County Center.
    ADDRESS: 971 W. King Street, Boone, NC 28607.
    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the 
scoping meeting or may be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item m above).

Environmental Site Review

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project Environmental 
Site Review. The time and location of this meeting is as follows:
    PROJECT: Ward Mill Hydroelectric Project.
    DATE: Tuesday, April 21, 2015.
    TIME: 3:30 p.m. (EDT).
    LOCATION: Watauga County Center Parking Lot, 971 W. King Street, 
Boone, NC 28607.
    All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited 
to attend. All participants should meet at the time and location 
specified above. All participants are responsible for their own 
transportation to the site. Anyone with questions about the 
Environmental Site Review should contact Andrew C. Givens, Cardinal 
Energy Service, Inc., 620 N. West St., Suite 103, Raleigh, North 
Carolina 27603, (919) 834-0909 on or before April 14, 2015.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2) 
solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements from experts and the public on issues that should be 
analyzed in the EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) identify those issues that 
require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that do not 
require a detailed analysis.

Procedures

    The meetings are recorded by a stenographer and become part of the 
formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meeting and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the EA.

     Dated: March 18, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-06742 Filed 3-24-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P