Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 63 (Friday, April 2, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15968-15969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8116]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

March 29, 1999.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Major New License.
    b. Project No.: 372-008.
    c. Date filed: June 12, 1998.
    d. Applicant: Southern California Edison Company.
    e. Name of Project: Lower Tule River Hydrolectric Project.
    f. Location: On the North and South Forks of the Middle Fork Tule 
River in Tulare County, California, partially within the boundaries of 
the Sequoia National Forest.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Wesley Moody, Southern California Edison 
Company, 2244 Walnut Grove Avenue, P.O. Box 800, Rosemead, CA 91770, 
(626) 302-1564.
    i. FERC Contact: Nan Allen, Nan.Allen@ferc.fed.us, 202-219-2938.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: May 27, 1999.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
David P. Boergers, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE, Washington, DC 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 existing project consists of: 
(1) a 15-foot-high, concrete dam; (2) a 5-foot-high, rubble masonry 
dam; (3) a 31,802-foot-long flow line; (4) a 2,815-foot-long steel 
penstock; (5) a 3.37 acre-foot forebay; (6) a powerhouse containing two 
turbine-generator units with a total installed capacity of 2,520 
kilowatts (kW); and (7) a 2,352-foot-long tailrace.
    m. Locations of the application: A copy of the application is 
available for inspection or 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. This filing may be viewed on 
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 an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) on the 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.

Scoping Meetings

    The Commission will hold scoping meetings, one in the daytime and 
one in the evening, to help us identify the scope of issues to be 
addressed in the EA.
    The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, 
while the evening 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 EA. The times and locations of these meetings are as 
follows:

Daytime Meeting

Tuesday, April 27, 1999
1:00 pm
Springville Veterans Memorial Building
35944 Highway 190
Springville, California

Evening Meeting

Tuesday, April 27, 1999
7:00 pm
Springville Veterans Memorial Building
35944 Highway 190
Springville, California

    To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document 
(SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA to the 
parties on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will 
be available at the scoping meetings.

Site Visit

    The applicant and Commission staff will conduct a project site 
visit to the Lower Tule Project on Tuesday, April 27, 1999. We will 
meet at 9:00 am at the US Forest Service, Tule River Ranger District, 
32588 Highway 190, Springville, California. Those who wish to attend 
should contact John W. Irwin,

[[Page 15969]]

909-394-8715 by Friday, April 23, 1999.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, 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.

Procedures

    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become 
part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project. 
Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be asked to sign 
in before the meeting starts and to clearly identify themselves for the 
record.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings 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. 99-8116 Filed 4-1-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M