[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75006-75007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25923]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 3472-024]
Aspinook Hydro, LLC; 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: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 3472-024.
c. Date filed: April 30, 2020.
d. Applicant: Aspinook Hydro, LLC.
e. Name of Project: Wyre Wynd Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Quinebaug River in New London and Windham
Counties, Connecticut. 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).
[[Page 75007]]
h. Applicant Contact: Mark Boumansour, Chief Operating Officer,
Gravity Renewables, Inc., 1401 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302; Phone
at (303) 440-3378, or email at mark@gravityrenewables.com.
i. FERC Contact: Kristine Sillett at (202) 502-6575, or
kristine.sillett@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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 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-3472-024.
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. The existing Wyre Wynd Project consists of: (1) A concrete-
encased masonry dam that includes: (a) A 473-foot-long, 18-foot-high
spillway with 2-foot-high wooden flashboards, and one, 5-foot-wide by
3-foot-high sluice gate; (b) a 100-foot-long left abutment that
includes a 65-foot-wide headgate structure with five, 10-foot-wide by
12-foot-high headgates; and (c) a 4-foot-long right abutment; (2) a
333-acre impoundment with a usable storage capacity of 167-acre-feet at
a normal elevation of 97.3 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of
1929; (3) a 170-foot-long, 50-foot-wide forebay that includes: (a) A
60-foot-long, 10-foot-high auxiliary spillway; and (b) two, 10-foot-
wide by 12-foot-high arched-top low-level outlet gates; (4) a
powerhouse intake structure located at the downstream end of the
forebay that includes: (a) A 37-foot-high steel trash rack structure
varying in width from 19.5 feet to 21.3 feet, with a clear bar spacing
of 2.6 inches; and (b) a 16-foot-long, 12-foot-diameter steel penstock
that supplies flow to the main 2.7-megawatt (MW) S-type Kaplan turbine-
generator unit housed within the 30-foot-wide, 100-foot-long concrete
powerhouse; (5) a 450-foot-long, 50-foot-wide tailrace that receives
discharges from the main turbine-generator unit; (6) a second intake
structure branching off of the right side of the forebay, approximately
35 feet downstream of the headgate structure, that includes: (a) A 4-
foot-wide by 4-foot-high head gate; (b) a 9-foot-wide by 20-foot-high
trash rack structure with 1.5-inch clear bar spacing that extends from
the floor of the headgate structure to approximately 12 feet below the
forebay water surface; and (c) a 40-foot-long, 4-foot-diameter steel
penstock that provides flow to a mini, in-line 0.08-MW fixed-blade
propeller turbine-generator unit; (7) a 10-foot-long, 30-foot-wide
tailrace that receives discharges from the mini turbine-generator unit;
(8) an 80-foot-long, 600-volt transmission line that connects the
generators to the local utility distribution system; and (9)
appurtenant facilities. The project creates an approximately 400-foot-
long bypassed reach of the Quinebaug River.
The current license requires an instantaneous minimum flow of 120
cubic feet per second (cfs), or inflow, whichever is less, downstream
from the dam to protect fish and wildlife resources in the Quinebaug
River.
The project generates an average of 11,000 megawatt-hours annually
(estimate based on generation from 2003 through 2015).
Aspinook Hydro proposes to: (1) Operate the project in a run-of-
river mode; (2) provide an 84-cfs minimum flow to the bypassed reach;
and (3) provide upstream and downstream fish passage.
m. A copy of the application is available for review via the
internet through the Commission's Home Page (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. 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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp 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
Comments on Scoping Document 1 January 2021
Request Additional Information (if necessary) February 2021
Issue Scoping Document 2 February 2021
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis March 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: November 18, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-25923 Filed 11-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P