Notice of Scoping Meeting and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 77 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19767-19768]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10041]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meeting and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

April 16, 1999.
    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 License.
    b. Project No.: 2084-020.
    c. Date filed: January 28, 1999.
    d. Applicant: Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation.
    e. Name of Project: Upper Raquette River Project.
    f. Location: On the Raquette River, between river miles 52 and 68 
from the confluence with the St. Lawrence River, in the towns of Colton 
and Parishville, St. Lawrence County, New York. The project would not 
utilize federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 USC Secs. 791(a)-
825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Jerry L. Sabattis, P.E., Licensing 
Coordinator, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, 300 Erie Boulevard West, 
Syracuse, New York 13202, (315) 428-5561.
    i. FERC Contact: Charles T. Raabe, charles.raabe@ferc.fed.us, 202-
219-2811.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: June 11, 1999.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
David P. Boergers, Secretary, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 
20426.
    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 whose name appears 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. Status of environmental analysis: This application is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. Description of the Project: The project consists of five 
developments:

Stark Falls Development comprising: (a) a 35-foot-high concrete 
gravity-type dam with a concrete overflow section and a control gate 
section flanked by earth dikes; (b) six earth saddle dikes; (c) a 1.5-
mile-long reservoir at normal pool elevation 1,355.0 feet USGS; (d) an 
intake; (e) a penstock; (f) a powerhouse containing a 23,872-kW 
generating unit; and (g) appurtenant facilities;
Blake Falls Development comprising: (a) a 75-foot-high concrete 
gravity-type dam with a concrete overflow section; (b) an earth dike; 
(c) a 5.5-mile-long reservoir at normal pool elevation 1,250.5 feet 
USGS; (d) an intake; (e) a penstock; (f) a powerhouse containing a 
13,913-kW generating unit; and (g) appurtenant facilities;
Rainbow Falls Development comprising: (a) a 75-foot-high concrete 
gravity-type dam with a concrete overflow section flanked by a 1,600-
foot-long earth dike; (b) an earth saddle dike; (c) a 3.5-mile-long 
reservoir at normal pool elevation 1,181.5 feet USGS; (d) an intake; 
(e) a penstock; (f) a

[[Page 19768]]

powerhouse containing a 22,828-kW generating unit; and (g) appurtenant 
facilities;
Five Falls Development comprising: (a) a 50-foot-high concrete gravity-
type dam with a concrete overflow section flanked at each end by an 
earth dike; (b) a 1.0-mile-long reservoir at normal pool elevation 
1,077.0 feet USGS; (c) an intake; (d) a 1,200-foot-long penstock; (e) a 
powerhouse containing a 22,828-kW generating unit; and (f) appurtenant 
facilities; and
South Colton Development comprising: (a) a 45-foot-high concrete 
gravity-type dam with a concrete overflow section and earth abutments; 
(b) a 1.5-mile-long reservoir at normal pool elevation 973.5 feet USGS; 
(c) an intake; (d) a 1,300-foot-long penstock; (e) a powerhouse 
containing a 18,948-kW generating unit; and (f) appurtenant facilities. 
The project has a total installed capacity of 102,389 kW.

    m. Locations of the application: A copy of the application is 
available for inspection and reproduction at the Commission's Public 
Reference Room located at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington, 
D.C. 20426, or by calling (202) 208-1371. The application may be viewed 
on the web at http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call 202-208-2222 
for assistance. A copy is also available for inspection and 
reproduction at the address in item h above.
    n. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare a multiple 
project Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed relicensing of 
the Upper Raquette River Project, Carry Falls Project (FERC No. 2060), 
Middle Raquette River Project (FERC No. 2320), and the Lower Raquette 
River Project (FERC No. 2330), in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The EA will consider both site-
specific and cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable 
alternatives to the proposed actions.

Scoping Meetings

    The Commission will hold one combined agency and public scoping 
meeting to help us identify the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
EA. All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited 
to attend the meeting, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope 
of the environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The 
meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 1999, beginning at 7:00 p.m. 
in the Barben Room B, Cheel Center, Clarkson University, in the town of 
Potsdam, New York.
    To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document 
(SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA to parties 
on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will be 
available at the scoping meeting.

Site Visit

    The applicant and the Commission staff will conduct a project site 
visit on Tuesday, May 11, 1999. We will meet in the parking lot to the 
tailrace fishing platform at the South Colton development of the Upper 
Raquette River Project at 9:30 a.m. If you would like to attend, please 
call Jack Kuhn, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, at (315) 428-5042, no 
later than May 4, 1999.

Objectives

    At the scoping meeting, 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.
    The meeting will be recorded by a stenographer and will become part 
of the formal record of the Commission's proceeding on the project. 
Individuals presenting statements at the meeting will be asked to sign 
in before the meeting starts and to identify themselves clearly for the 
record.
    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.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-10041 Filed 4-21-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M