On August 23, 2024, and supplemented on September 17, 2024, ( printed page 50531) PacifiCorp filed an application seeking an exemption from the licensing requirements of Part 1 of the Federal Power Act (conduit exemption, Stairs Project No. 15372), and an administrative surrender of the license for the Stairs Project No. 597. The project is located along Big Cottonwood Creek, near the city of Cottonwood Heights, in Salt Lake County, Utah, and occupies federal lands within the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

PacifiCorp's application seeks a conduit exemption for the hydropower project currently licensed as the Stairs Project No. 597, and an administrative surrender of the project's license. The proposal does not involve any construction, modification, deconstruction, or ground disturbance. PacifiCorp would continue operating the project as it currently does; however, certain currently licensed facilities would be administratively removed from the Commission's jurisdiction as part of the license surrender ( i.e., 150-foot-long and 35-foot-high diversion dam (Storm Mountain Dam); spillway; intake structure; 2,850-foot-long penstock; 7-foot-wide by 5.3-foot-deep tailrace; and other appurtenances). Other facilities would remain under the Commission's jurisdiction as part of the conduit exemption ( i.e., 100-foot-wide by 35-foot-long powerhouse containing one generating unit with an installed capacity of 1,200 kilowatts and appurtenances).

On May 15, 2025, Commission staff issued public notice of the application and established deadlines for filing comments, motions to intervene, and protests by July 14, 2025, and reply comments by August 28, 2025. On July 1, 2025, the Forest Service filed a notice of intervention.

This notice identifies Commission staff's intention to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq) for the project.^[1] Commission staff plans to issue an EA by November 6, 2026. Revisions to the schedule may be made as appropriate. The EA will be issued for a 30-day comment period. All comments filed on the EA will be reviewed by staff and considered in the Commission's final decision on the proceeding.

For public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, contact the Office of Public Participation at (202) 502-6595 or OPP@ferc.gov.

Any questions regarding this notice may be directed to Christopher Chaney at (202) 502-6778 or christopher.chaney@ferc.gov.

(Authority: 18 CFR 2.1)