[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83546-83547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-28244]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 1904-078]
Great River 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.: 1904-078.
c. Date Material Amendments Filed: December 7, 2020.
d. Applicant: Great River Hydro, LLC (Great River Hydro).
e. Name of Project: Vernon Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: The existing project is located on the Connecticut
River in Windham County, Vermont, and Cheshire County, New Hampshire.
There are no federal lands within the project boundary.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: John Ragonese, FERC License Manager, Great
River Hydro, LLC, 40 Pleasant Street, Suite 202, Portsmouth, NH 03801;
(603) 498-2851 or jragonese@greatriverhydro.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. Great River Hydro filed an application for a new license for the
Vernon Hydroelectric Project No. 1904 on May 1, 2017. In the license
application, Great River Hydro 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 May 1, 2017. Great River
Hydro indicated that it would amend the license application after
completing additional field work, consultation, and analyses on the
required studies. Great River Hydro filed material amendments to the
final license application on December 7, 2020.
l. Project Description: The existing Vernon Project consists of:
(1) A 956-foot-long, 58-foot-high concrete dam that includes: (a) 356-
foot-long section integral to the powerhouse; and (b) a 600-foot-long
overflow spillway section that includes: (i) A 9-foot-high, 6-foot-wide
downstream fishway sluice; (ii) a 13-foot-high, 13-foot-wide trash/ice
sluice; (iii) two 20-foot-high, 50-foot-wide tainter gates; (iv) four
10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide tainter gates; (v) two 10-foot-high, 50-
foot-wide hydraulic panel bays; (vi) two 10-foot-high, 50-foot-wide
stanchion bays; (vii) a 10-foot-high, 42.5-foot-wide stanchion bay; and
(viii) eight 7-foot-high, 9-foot-wide hydraulic flood gates; (2) a 26-
mile-long, 2,550-acre impoundment with a useable storage volume of
18,300 acre-feet between elevations 212.13 and 220.13 feet National
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (3) eight approximately 30-
foot-high trashracks with 1.75-inch clear bar spacing and two
approximately 30-foot-high trashracks with 3.625-inch clear bar
spacing; (4) a 356-foot-long, 55-foot-wide, 45-foot-high reinforced
concrete, steel, and brick powerhouse containing four 2-megawatt (MW)
vertical Francis turbine-generator units, four 4-MW vertical Kaplan
turbine-generator units, and two 4.2-MW vertical Francis turbine-
generator units, for a total project capacity of 32.4 MW; (5) ten
concrete draft tubes ranging from 16 to 27 feet in diameter; (6) a 500-
foot-long, 13.8-kilovolt underground generator lead that connects the
turbine-generator units to two step-up transformers; (7) a 984-foot-
long, 15-foot-wide upstream fishway; and (8) appurtenant facilities.
Great River Hydro operates the project in coordination with its
upstream Wilder Project No. 1892 and Bellows Falls Project No. 1855 and
in a peaking mode. Average annual generation is approximately 158,028
MW-hours. Great River Hydro is proposing changes to project operation
that would reduce impoundment fluctuations and increase the stability
of downstream flow releases relative to current project operation,
including targeted water surface elevation levels and flow ramping
rates. Great River Hydro proposes several protection, mitigation, and
enhancement measures for aquatic, terrestrial, cultural, and recreation
resources, and threatened and endangered species. 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-
1904). 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 letter 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.
[[Page 83547]]
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. 2020-28244 Filed 12-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P