81 FR 45462 - Swan Lake North Hydro LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 135 (July 14, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 135 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45462-45464]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16651]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 13318-003]


Swan Lake North Hydro LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Notice of Scoping Meetings and 
Environmental Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Original Major License.
    b. Project No.: 13318-003.

[[Page 45463]]

    c. Date filed: October 28, 2015.
    d. Applicant: Swan Lake North Hydro LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Swan Lake North Pumped Storage Hydroelectric 
Project.
    f. Location: Approximately 11 miles northeast of the city of 
Klamath Falls, Klamath County, Oregon. The proposed project would 
include about 730 acres of federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of 
Land Management and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Joe Eberhardt, EDF-Renewable Energy, 1000 SW 
Broadway Ave., Ste. 1800, Portland, OR 97205; phone: (503) 889-3838.
    i. FERC Contact: Dianne Rodman, [email protected], (202) 502-
6077.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: September 9, 2016.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments 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-13318-003.
    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 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 proposed project would be a closed-loop system using 
groundwater for initial fill and consist of the following new 
facilities: (1) A 7,972-foot-long earthen embankment forming a 
geomembrane-lined upper reservoir with a surface area of 64.21 acres 
and a storage capacity of 2,568 acre-feet at a maximum surface 
elevation of 6,135 feet above mean sea level (msl); (2) a 8,003-foot-
long earthen embankment forming a geomembrane-lined lower reservoir 
with a surface area of 60.14 acres and a storage capacity of 3,206 
acre-feet at a maximum surface elevation of 4,457 feet msl; (3) a 500-
foot-long, rip-rap lined trapezoidal spillway built into the crest of 
each embankment; (4) a 0.5-percent slope perforated polyvinyl chloride 
tube of varying diameter and accompanying optical fiber drainage system 
designed to detect, collect, and monitor water leakage from the 
reservoirs; (5) a 25-inch-diameter bottom outlet with manual valve for 
gravitational dewatering of the lower reservoir; (6) an upper intake 
consisting of a bell mouth, 38.6-foot-wide by 29.8-foot-long inclined 
screen, head gate, and 13.8-foot-diameter foundational steel pipe; (7) 
a 36.5-foot-diameter, 9,655-foot-long steel high-pressure penstock from 
the upper reservoir to the powerhouse that is predominantly above 
ground with a 14-foot-long buried segment; (8) three 9.8-foot-diameter, 
1,430-foot-long steel low-pressure penstocks from the lower reservoir 
to the powerhouse that are predominantly above ground with a 78-foot-
long buried segment; (9) a partially-buried powerhouse with three 
131.1-megawatt (MW) reversible pump-turbine units with a total 
installed capacity of 393.3 MW; (10) a fenced substation next to the 
powerhouse; (11) 32.8 mile, 230-kilovolt above-ground transmission line 
interconnecting to an existing non-project substation; (12) 
approximately 10.7 miles of improved project access road; (13) 
approximately 3.4 miles of new permanent project access road; (14) 
approximately 8.3 miles of temporary project access road; and (15) 
appurtenant facilities. The project would generate about 1,187 
gigawatt-hours annually.
    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.
    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 Impact Statement (EIS) on the project in accordance with 
the National Environmental Policy Act. The EIS 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 EIS. The times and 
locations of these meetings are as follows:

Agency Scoping Meeting

    DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 2016.
    TIME: 9:00 a.m.
    PLACE: Mt. Scott Room.
    ADDRESS: College Union, Oregon Institute of Technology, 3201 Campus 
Drive, Klamath Falls, OR 97601.

Public Scoping Meeting

    DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 2016.
    TIME: 7:00 p.m.
    PLACE: Mt. Mazama Room.
    ADDRESS: College Union, Oregon Institute of Technology, 3201 Campus 
Drive, Klamath Falls, OR 97601.
    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EIS 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 beginning at 9:00 a.m. on August 9, 2016. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at the Edgewood Ranch, 12501 Swan Falls Road, 
Klamath Falls, Oregon. To reach the ranch from Main Street in Klamath 
Falls, follow Oregon 39 South/Crater Lake east and south of town. 
Follow signs for a slight left turn onto Oregon 140 East and follow it 
for 9.4 miles to Swan Lake Road. Follow Swan Lake Road for 9.4 miles. 
Edgewood Ranch is located off a driveway at the corner of a 90-degree 
left-land turn in Swan Lake Road. The main office building is located 
immediately on the right. Parking is available at the entry driveway 
before the main office building. Anyone with questions about the 
Environmental Site Review should contact Joe Eberhardt of EDF-Renewable 
Energy at (503) 889-3838.

[[Page 45464]]

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EIS; 
(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 EIS, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in the EIS; 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 will be 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 EIS.

    Dated: July 8, 2016.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-16651 Filed 7-13-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P