82 FR 46235 - Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments; Village of Lyndonville Electric Department

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 191 (October 4, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46235-46236]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21268]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2839-015]


Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments; Village of Lyndonville 
Electric Department

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric license application 
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public 
inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: P-2839-015.
    c. Date filed: May 26, 2017.
    d. Applicant: Village of Lyndonville Electric Department.
    e. Name of Project: Great Falls Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Passumpsic River, in the Town of Lyndon, 
Caledonia County, Vermont. There are no federal or tribal lands within 
the project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Bill Humphrey, Village of Lyndonville 
Electric Department, 119 Park Avenue, Lyndonville, VT 05851; (802) 626-
3366.
    i. FERC Contact: Bill Connelly, (202) 502-8587 or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: October 27, 2017.
    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. 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

[[Page 46236]]

(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-2839-015.
    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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing Great Falls Project consists of: (1) A 160-foot-
long, 32-foot-high curved, concrete dam with 2-foot-high flashboards; 
(2) an approximately 12-acre impoundment having a storage capacity of 
135-acre-feet at a normal full pond water surface elevation of 668.38 
feet above mean sea level; (3) an 18.5-foot-wide headworks structure 
with two headgates; (4) a headworks gate house; (5) an intake structure 
and bypass pipe that are integral to the dam; (6) a 290-foot-long power 
canal; (7) two sluice gates; (8) an intake gate house with two 
trashracks; (9) a 200-foot-long metal penstock; (10) a 47-foot-long, 
25-foot-wide powerhouse containing a 1,350-kilowatt (kW) turbine-
generator unit and a 40-foot-long, 40-foot-wide powerhouse containing 
two 350-kW turbine-generator units, for a total capacity of 2,050-kW; 
(11) a 350-foot-long, 2.4-kilovolt (kV) above-ground generator lead 
that connects the turbine-generator units to a step-up transformer; 
(12) a 1.75-mile-long, 12.5-kV above-ground transmission line; and (13) 
appurtenant facilities.
    The Village of Lyndonville Electric Department (Lyndonville) 
operates the project in a run-of-river mode with an annual average 
energy production of approximately 3,960 megawatt-hours. Lyndonville is 
not proposing any changes in project operation. Lyndonville proposes to 
continue to release a year-round minimum flow of 10 cfs (or inflow, 
whichever is less) to the bypassed reach to maintain habitat for fish 
and aquatic organisms and release a minimum flow of 75 cfs (or inflow, 
whichever is less) from the powerhouse during project shutdowns to 
protect fish and aquatic resources in the downstream reach. Lyndonville 
proposes to install an automatic pond level control system to improve 
control of impoundment water surface level fluctuations. Lyndonville 
also proposes to develop a minimum flow monitoring plan to ensure 
adequate flow is provided to the bypassed reach and downstream of the 
powerhouse.
    Lyndonville also proposes to construct and maintain a new carry-in 
boat access trail downstream of the tailrace, on the west bank of the 
Passumpsic River, designate a new bank fishing area, and install a 
designated parking area outside of the project gates along the access 
road to the project. To ensure the adequacy of project recreation 
facilities, Lyndonville proposes to conduct a Recreation Inventory, Use 
and Needs Assessment within one year of completion of recreational 
improvements. Finally, Lyndonville proposes to develop a Historic 
Properties Management Plan to protect historic resources.
    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 available for inspection and reproduction at 
the address in Item H above.
    n. 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.
    o. Scoping Process:
    Commission staff intends to prepare a single Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the Great Falls Hydroelectric 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.
    Commission staff does not propose to conduct on-site scoping 
meetings at this time. Instead, we are soliciting comments, 
recommendations, and information on the Scoping Document 1 (SD1) issued 
on September 27, 2017.
    Copies of SD 1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the 
EA were distributed to the parties on the Commission's mailing list and 
the applicant's distribution list. Copies of SD 1 may be viewed on the 
web 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, call 1-866-208-3676 or for TTY, 
call (202) 502-8659.

    Dated: September 27, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-21268 Filed 10-3-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P