81 FR 22587 - Hawks Nest Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 74 (April 18, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 74 (Monday, April 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22587-22588]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08858]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2512-075; Project No. 14439-001]


Hawks Nest Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, 
Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental 
Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms 
and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions

    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 Licenses.
    b. Project Nos.: 2512-075 and 14439-001.
    c. Date filed: December 29, 2015.
    d. Applicant: Hawks Nest Hydro, LLC (Hawks Nest Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Hawks Nest and Glen Ferris Hydroelectric 
Projects.
    f. Location: The existing Hawks Nest and Glen Ferris projects are 
located on the New and Kanawha rivers, respectively. Both projects are 
located in Fayette County, West Virginia. The projects do not occupy 
any federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Steven Murphy, Manager, Licensing, Brookfield 
Renewable Energy Group, 33 West 1st Street South, Fulton, New York 
13069; Telephone (315) 598-6130.
    i. FERC Contact: Monir Chowdhury, (202) 502-6736, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
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 
motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary 
terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions using the 
Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at 
http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You must include your 
name and contact information at the end of your comments. 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 the 
applicable project name(s) and docket number(s) (e.g., Hawks Nest P-
2512-075).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice 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 has been accepted for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    l. The existing project works consist of the following:
    The existing Hawks Nest Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 
948-foot-long concrete-gravity dam with a crest elevation of 795.0 feet 
National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29); (2) 14 ogee-type 
spillway bays extending almost the entire length of the dam, each with 
a 25-foot-high by 50-foot-wide Stoney-type steel lift gate and 
separated by a 9-foot-wide concrete pier; (3) a 243-acre reservoir with 
a gross storage capacity of 7,323 acre-feet at a normal pool elevation 
of 819.9 feet NGVD29; (4) an intake structure located at the right 
shoreline (looking downstream) of the reservoir just upstream of the 
dam and consisting of a 110-foot-wide by 50-foot-high trashrack 
structure and a Stoney-type 42-foot-high by 50-foot-wide bulkhead 
intake gate that sits back approximately 50 feet from the opening where 
the trashrack is located; (5) a 16,240-foot-long tunnel that runs along 
the right side of the river to convey water from the intake to the 
powerhouse downstream on the New River; (6) a 600-foot-long by 170-
foot-wide surge basin located at a point on the tunnel approximately 60 
percent of the distance from the intake to the powerhouse; (7) a 116-
foot-diameter and 56-foot-high differential surge tank located at the 
downstream end of the tunnel and before the powerhouse; (8) a 210-foot-
long by 74.5-foot-wide powerhouse containing four turbine-generator 
units, each with a rated capacity of approximately 25.5 megawatts (MW); 
(9) two parallel approximately 5.5-mile-long, 69-kilovolt (kV) 
transmission lines; and (10) appurtenant facilities. Hawks Nest Hydro 
operates the project in a run-of-river mode.
    The existing license for the Hawks Nest Hydroelectric Project 
requires that the project release a continuous minimum flow of 100 
cubic feet per second into the bypassed reach between the dam and the 
powerhouse (Article 402). Hawks Nest Hydro proposes to continue run-of-
river operation and increase the existing minimum flow for the bypassed 
reach. The project generates an annual average of 544,253 megawatt-
hours.
    The existing Glen Ferris Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 
low concrete dam with a maximum height of 12 feet above the river bed 
and a crest elevation of 651.0 feet NGVD29, consisting of (from left to 
right--looking downstream) (i) a 590-foot-long spillway section that 
generally curves upstream; (ii) a 128-foot-long five-bay stoplog 
sluice; (iii) a 2,132-foot-long right spillway that runs diagonally in 
a downstream direction; (iv) a trash sluice section; (v) a 54-foot-long 
by 38-foot-wide east powerhouse with a 62-foot-wide intake structure; 
and (vi) a 64.5-foot-long by 63-foot-wide west powerhouse with an 82.3-
foot-wide intake structure, with both powerhouses integral to the dam; 
(2) a 190-acre reservoir with a gross storage capacity of approximately 
1,500 acre-feet at the dam crest elevation of 651.0 feet NGVD29; (3) 
two turbine-generator units in the east powerhouse, each with a rated 
capacity of approximately 1.9 MW; (4) six turbine-generator units in 
the west powerhouse, each with a rated capacity of approximately 0.4 
MW; (5) a 4-mile-long, 13.8-kV transmission line; and (6) appurtenant 
facilities.
    The Glen Ferris Hydroelectric Project is currently operated in a 
run-of-river mode with no usable storage capacity. Hawks Nest Hydro 
proposes to continue run-of-river operation. The project generates an 
annual average of 41,482 megawatt-hours.
    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

[[Page 22588]]

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.
    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. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with 
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST,'' ``MOTION TO INTERVENE,'' ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' 
``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' or 
``PRELIMINARY FISHWAY 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, address, and telephone 
number of the person protesting or intervening; 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. A copy of any protest or 
motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the 
applicant specified in the particular application. A copy of all other 
filings in reference to this application must be accompanied by proof 
of service on all persons listed in the service list prepared by the 
Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 
385.2010.
    o. Procedural Schedule:
    The application will be processed according to the following 
revised Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made 
as appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of recommendations, preliminary   June 2016.
 terms and conditions, and preliminary
 fishway prescriptions.
Commission Issues Draft EA.............  December 2016.
Comments on Draft EA...................  January 2017.
Modified Terms and Conditions..........  March 2017.
Commission Issues Final EA.............  June 2017.
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    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    q. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following 
the date of issuance of the notice of acceptance and ready for 
environmental analysis provided for in 5.22: (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.

    Dated: April 6, 2016.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-08858 Filed 4-15-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P