[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70143-70144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24455]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 4451-024]
Green Mountain Power Corporation; City of Somersworth, New
Hampshire; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting
Motions To Intervene and Protests
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
b. Project No.: 4451-024.
c. Date filed: April 30, 2020.
d. Applicants: Green Mountain Power, City of Somersworth, New
Hampshire.
e. Name of Project: Lower Great Falls Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Salmon Falls River in Strafford County, New
Hampshire, and York County, Maine. No federal lands are occupied by the
project works or located within the project boundary.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. John Greenan, Green Mountain Power
Corporation, 1252 Post Road, Rutland, VT 05701; Phone at (802) 770-
2195, or email at john.greenan@greenmountainpower.com.
i. FERC Contact: Amanda Gill, (202) 502-6773 or
amanda.gill@ferc.gov.
j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests: 60 days
from the issuance date of this notice.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
motions to intervene and protests using the Commission's eFiling system
at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. For assistance, please
contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-
3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic
filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S.
Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be
addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first
page of any filing should include docket number P-4451-024.
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 has been accepted for filing, but is not ready
for environmental analysis at this time.
l. Project Description: The existing Lower Great Falls Project
consists of: (1) A 297-foot-long, 32-foot-high stone masonry and
concrete dam that includes the following sections: (a) A 176-foot-long
spillway section with a crest elevation of 102.37 feet National
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD) and 4-foot-high flashboards at
an elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD at the top of the flashboards; (b) a
50-foot-long left abutment section; and (c) a 71-foot-long right
abutment section; (2) an impoundment with a surface area of 32 acres
and a storage capacity of 467 acre-feet at an elevation of 106.37 feet
NGVD; (3) a 40.5-foot-wide, 20-foot-high intake structure with four 5-
foot-wide, 10.5-foot-high steel frame gates and a trashrack with 2-inch
bar spacing; (4) two steel penstocks that include: (a) An 8.5-foot-
diameter, 120-foot-long left penstock that bifurcates into a 5.3-foot-
diameter, 85-foot-long section and a 7.6-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long
section; and (b) an 8.5-foot-diameter, 140-foot-long right penstock
that bifurcates into a 7-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section and a 7.6-
foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section; (5) a 46-foot-long, 30-foot-wide
concrete and brick powerhouse with four Francis turbine-generator units
with a total capacity of 1.28 megawatt; (6) a 55-foot-long, 30-foot-
wide tailrace; (7) a 260-foot-long underground transmission line that
delivers power to a 4.16-kilovolt distribution line; and (8)
appurtenant facilities. The project creates a 250-foot-long bypassed
reach of the Salmon Falls River between the dam and the downstream end
of the tailrace.
The project operates as a run-of-river (ROR) facility with no
storage or flood control capacity. The project impoundment is
maintained at a flashboard crest elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD. The
current license requires the project to maintain a continuous minimum
flow of 6.05 cubic feet per second (cfs) or inflow, whichever is less,
to the bypassed reach for the purpose of protecting and enhancing
aquatic resources in the Salmon Falls River. The average annual
generation production of the project was 3,916,825 kilowatt-hours from
2005 through 2018.
The applicant proposes to: (1) Continue operating the project in a
ROR mode; (2) provide a minimum flow of 30 cfs or inflow, whichever is
less, to the bypassed reach; (3) install an eel ramp for upstream eel
passage at the project; (4) implement targeted nighttime turbine
shutdowns to protect eels during downstream passage; and (5) install a
downstream fish passage structure for eels and other resident fish
species.
m. A copy of the application is available for review via the
internet through the Commission's Home Page
[[Page 70144]]
(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 (P-4451). At this time, the Commission has
suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference Room due to the
proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning the Novel
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued by the President on March 13,
2020. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
n. Anyone may submit a protest or a motion to intervene in
accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18
CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In determining the appropriate
action to take, the Commission will consider all protests filed, but
only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the
Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any protests
or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified
deadline date for the particular application.
All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title
``PROTEST'', or ``MOTION TO INTERVENE;'' (2) set forth in the heading
the name of the applicant and the project number of the application to
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone
number of the person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise
comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005.
Agencies may obtain copies of the application directly from the
applicant. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served
upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular
application.
o. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as
appropriate.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--November 2020
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--January 2021
Issue Scoping Document 2--February 2021
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--February 2021
Commission issues Environmental Assessment--August 2021
Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice
of ready for environmental analysis.
Dated: October 28, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-24455 Filed 11-3-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P