[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83542-83544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28235]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 1889-085]
FirstLight MA Hydro LLC; Notice Establishing Procedural Schedule
for Licensing and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments
Take notice that the following amended hydroelectric application
has been filed with the Commission and is available for public
inspection.
a. Type of Application: New Major License.
b. Project No.: 1889-085.
c. Date Material Amendments Filed: December 4, 2020.
d. Applicant: FirstLight MA Hydro LLC (FirstLight).
e. Name of Project: Turners Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
[[Page 83543]]
f. Location: The existing project is located on the Connecticut
River in Windham County, Vermont, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, and
Franklin County, Massachusetts. There are approximately 20 acres of
federal lands within the current project boundary associated with the
U.S. Geological Survey's Silvio Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Justin Trudell, Vice President,
Operations, FirstLight MA Hydro LLC, 111 South Bedford Street, Suite
103, Burlington, MA 01803; (781) 653-4247 or
justin.trudell@firstlightpower.com.
i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131 or
stephen.kartalia@ferc.gov.
j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
k. FirstLight Hydro Generating Company filed an application for a
new license for the Turners Falls Hydroelectric Project No. 1889
(project) on April 29, 2016. In the license application, FirstLight
Hydro Generating Company stated that it could not develop a complete
licensing proposal for the project since many of the required
environmental studies were not complete as of April 29, 2016.
FirstLight Hydro Generating Company indicated that it would amend the
license application after completing additional field work,
consultation, and analyses on the required studies. On July 11, 2019,
Commission staff approved the transfer of the license for the project
from FirstLight Hydro Generating Company to FirstLight MA Hydro LLC.
FirstLight MA Hydro LLC filed material amendments to the final license
application on December 4, 2020.
l. Project Description: The existing Turners Falls Project consists
of: (1) A 630-foot-long, 35-foot-high dam (Montague dam) that includes:
(i) Four 120-foot-wide, 13.25-foot-high bascule gates; and (ii) a 170-
foot-long fixed section with a crest elevation of 185.5 feet National
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (2) a 493-foot-long, 55-
foot-high dam (Gill dam) that includes: (i) Three 40-foot-wide, 39-
foot-high tainter gates; and (ii) 97.3- and 207.5-foot-long fixed
sections with crest elevations of 185.5 feet NGVD 29; (3) a 2,110-acre
impoundment with a useable storage volume of 16,150 acre-feet between
elevations 176.0 feet and 185.0 feet NGVD 29; (4) a 214-foot-long, 33-
foot-high gatehouse that includes six 9-foot-wide, 10.66-foot-high
gates and nine 9.5-foot-wide, 12.6-foot-high gates; (5) a 2.1-mile-
long, 120- to 920-foot-wide, 17- to 30-foot-deep power canal; (6) a
700-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, 16- to 23-foot-deep branch canal; (7) the
Station No.1 generating facility that includes: (i) Eight 15-foot-wide
bays with trashracks with 2.625-inch clear-bar spacing; (ii) four 100-
foot-long, 13.1- to 14-foot-diameter penstocks; (iii) a 134-foot-long,
64-foot-wide powerhouse that contains five turbine-generator units with
a total installed capacity of 5.693 megawatts (MW); (iv) four 21-foot-
long, 6.5-foot-diameter draft tubes; (v) five 40- to 70-foot-long, 2.4-
kilovolt (kV) generator leads that connect the turbine-generator units
to a generator bus; (vi) a 110-foot-long, 2.4-kV generator lead that
connects the generator bus to a substation; and (vii) a 20-foot-long,
2.4-kV generator lead that connects the substation to three
transformers; (8) the Cabot Station generating facility that includes:
(i) An intake structure with 217-foot-wide, 31-foot-high trashracks
with 0.94-inch and 3.56-inch clear-bar spacing; (ii) six 70-foot-long
penstocks; (iii) a 235-foot-long, 79.5-foot-wide powerhouse that
contains six turbine-generator units with a total installed capacity of
62.016 MW; (iv) six 41-foot-long, 12.5- to 14.5-foot-diameter draft
tubes; (v) six 80- to 250-foot-long, 13.8-kV generator leads that
connect the turbine-generator units to a generator bus; (vi) a 60-foot-
long, 13.8-kV generator lead that connects the generator bus to the
powerhouse roof; and (vii) a 200-foot-long, 13.8-kV generator lead that
connects to a transformer; (9) eight 13.6-foot-wide, 16.7-foot-high
power canal spillway gates that are adjacent to Cabot Station; (10) a
16.2-foot-wide, 13.1-foot-high log sluice gate in the Cabot Station
forebay with an 8-foot-wide weir for downstream fish passage; (11) a
200-foot-long, 7-foot-diameter drainage tunnel (Keith Drainage Tunnel)
and headgate; (12) a 955-foot-long, 5-foot-diameter lower drainage
tunnel; (13) an 850-foot-long, 16-foot-wide, 10-foot-high fishway
(Cabot fishway); (14) a 500-foot-long, 10-foot-wide, 10-foot-high
fishway (Spillway fishway); (15) a 225-foot-long, 16-foot-wide, 17.5-
foot-high fishway (Gatehouse fishway); and (16) appurtenant facilities.
The Turners Falls Project operates in peaking and run-of-river
modes, depending on inflows. Average annual generation from 2011-2019
was approximately 332,351 MW-hours.
FirstLight proposes three changes to the current project boundary:
(1) Remove 0.2 acre of land associated with residential property; (2)
add 0.8 acre of land for recreation purposes; and (3) remove 20.1 acres
of land associated with the U.S. Geological Survey's Silvio Conte
Anadromous Fish Laboratory.
FirstLight proposes to construct new fish passage facilities and
recreational access trails. FirstLight also proposes changes to project
operation that would generally reduce impoundment fluctuations and
increase flow releases to the portion of the Connecticut River that is
bypassed by the project. The specific proposed changes are described in
the amended application.
m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) 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 (P-
1889). 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
at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or
(202) 502-8659 (TTY).
n. 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.
o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the
schedule may be made as appropriate.
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Milestone Target date
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Commission issues letters identifying January 2021.
application deficiencies and requesting
additional information.
Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for May 2021.
Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms July 2021.
and conditions, and fishway prescriptions.
Reply Comments due........................... August 2021.
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p. 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: December 16, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-28235 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P