Tapoco, Inc.; Notice of Scoping Meetings Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 8, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48823-48824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23263]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2169 NC/TN]


Tapoco, Inc.; Notice of Scoping Meetings Pursuant to the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for an Applicant Prepared 
Environmental Assessment

September 1, 1999.
    Pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 1992, and as part of the 
license application, Tapoco, Inc. (Tapoco) intends to prepare an 
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment (APEA) to file along with 
the license application, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) for the Tapoco Project, FERC No. 2169. The license for the 
project expires on February 28, 2005.
    In June, 1998, Tapoco initiated the cooperative consultation 
process with federal and state resource agencies, local interests, 
Indian tribes and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for the 
relicensing of the Tapoco Project. Tapoco obtained support from the 
parties involved in the cooperative process to pursue the Alternative 
Licensing Process (ALP) for the relicensing of the Tapoco Project. On 
September 30, 1998, Tapoco, Inc. requested, and on February 9, 1999, 
the Commission approved the use of the ALP. The process has involved 
identification of environmental issues associated with the relicensing 
of the Tapoco Project, including a project site visit for agencies/
stakeholders and a public meeting to solicit comments on the Initial 
Consultation Document (ICD) and initiate issue identification on April 
13 and 14, 1999 and additional public meetings on June 15 and 16, 1999 
to continue issue identification.
    As part of the ALP, Tapoco, with the Commission has prepared a 
Scoping Document I (SDI), which provides information on the scoping 
process, an APEA preparation schedule, background information, 
environmental issues, and proposed project alternatives.
    The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Advise all parties as to the 
proposed scope of the environmental analysis, including cumulative 
effects, and to seek additional information pertinent to this analysis; 
and (2) advise all parties of their opportunity for comment.

Scoping Process

    The purpose of the scoping process is to identify significant 
issues related to the proposed action and to determine

[[Page 48824]]

what issues should be addressed in the document to be prepared pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The SDI will 
be circulated to enable appropriate federal, state, and local resource 
agencies, Indian tribes, NGOs, and other interested parties to 
participate in the scoping process. SDI provides a brief description of 
the proposed action, project alternatives, the geographic and temporal 
scope of a cumulative effects analysis, and a list of issues.

Scoping Meetings

    Tapoco and FERC staff will conduct two scoping meetings. All 
interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
attend and assist in identifying the scope of environmental issues that 
should be analyzed in the APEA.
    The first scoping meeting will be held on October 5, 1999, from 
8:30 am to 3:30 pm at the Tapoco Lodge in Tapoco, NC, and the second 
scoping meeting will be held on October 5, 1999, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 
pm at the Blount County Chamber of Commerce Board Room, 201 South 
Washington Street, Maryville, TN. Each meeting will commence with a 
presentation by Tapoco representatives followed by the opportunity for 
participants to provide information on resources at issue or which 
should be analyzed in the APEA. For more details, interested parties 
should contact Sue Fugate at Tapoco at (423) 977-3321, prior to the 
meeting date.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, Tapoco and FERC staff will: (1) Summarize 
the environmental issues identified for analysis in the APEA; (2) 
identify reasonable alternatives to be addressed in the APEA, (3) 
solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantified data, on the resources at issue, and (4) 
encourage statements from experts and the public on issues that should 
be analyzed in the APEA. Individuals, organizations, and agencies with 
environmental expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the 
meetings and to assist in defining and clarifying the issues to be 
addressed.

Meeting Procedures

    The meetings will be conducted according to the procedures used at 
Commission scoping meetings. Because these meetings will be NEPA 
scoping meetings, the Commission will not conduct another scoping 
meeting after the application and APEA are filed with the Commission.
    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and become a part 
of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the relicensing of 
the Tapoco Project. Individuals presenting statements at the meetings 
will be asked to identify themselves for the record. Speaking time 
allowed for individuals will be determined before each meeting, based 
on the number of persons wishing to speak and the approximate amount of 
time available for the session. Persons choosing not to speak but 
wishing to express an opinion, as well as speakers unable to summarize 
their positions within their allotted time, may submit written 
statements for inclusion in the public record no later than December 4, 
1999.
    All filings should contain an original and 8 copies. Failure to 
file an original and 8 copies may result in appropriate staff not 
receiving the benefit of your comments in a timely manner. All comments 
should be submitted to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, 
and should clearly show the following captions on the first page: 
Tapoco Project, FERC No. 2169. A copy of each filing should also be 
sent to Norm Pierson, Tapoco, Inc., 300 North Hall Road, Alcoa, TN 
37701 and to Paul Shiers, Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, 245 
Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210.
    Based on all comments, a Scoping Document II (SDII) may be issued. 
SDII will include a revised list of issues, based on the scoping 
sessions and written statements received.
    For further information regarding the scoping process, please 
contact Ronald McKitrick, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Atlanta 
Regional Office, Parkridge 85 North, Suite 300, 3125 Presidential 
Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30340 at (770) 452-3778, E-mail 
ronald.mckitrick@ferc.fed.us, or Norm Pierson at Tapoco at (423) 977-
3326.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-23263 Filed 9-7-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M