[Federal Register: September 25, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 185)]
[Notices]
[Page 55775-55776]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25se06-17]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and
Conduct a Public Scoping Meeting for the Bluestone Hydropower Project,
Hinton, Summers County, WV
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD, Huntington District will
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate potential
impacts to the natural, physical, and human environment as a result of
the proposed installation of hydropower generation facilities at
Bluestone Dam, Hinton, Summers County, WV (Hydropower Project). The
proposed hydropower project would utilize three of the six existing
penstocks which were part of the original construction of the dam. The
proposed project would also involve the discharge of dredged and fill
material into waters of the United States (U.S.) and would involve work
in the New River, a navigable water of the U.S. Therefore, the subject
proposal would require a Department of the Army (DA) permit pursuant to
section 404 of the Clean Water Act (Section 404) and Section 10 of the
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (Section 10). This EIS will document the
agency's evaluation of all reasonable alternatives as they affect
stability of the dam and control the release of water from Bluestone
Dam, and will document analysis of impacts to Waters of the U.S.
sufficient to accommodate the NEPA process for permitting under section
10 and section 404.
DATES: A public scoping meeting is announced for October 2, 2006, from
11 a.m.-8 p.m. at Hinton Technology Center, 301 Summers Street, Hinton,
Summers County, WV.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning this
proposed project to John Preston, PM-PD-R, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Huntington District, 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, WV,
25701-2070. Telephone: (304) 399-5870. Electronic mail:
John.S.Preston@usace.army.mil. Requests to be placed on the mailing
list should also be sent to this address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain additional information about
the proposed project, contact Kenneth Halstead EC-WH, U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, Huntington District, 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, WV,
25701-2070. Telephone: (304) 399-5811. Electronic mail:
Kenneth.C.Halstead@usace.army.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1. Public Participation: a. The Corps of
Engineers will conduct a public scoping meeting (open house format) to
gain input from interested agencies, organizations, and the general
public concerning the content of the EIS, issues and impacts to be
addressed in the EIS, and alternatives that should be analyzed. The
meeting is scheduled for (see DATES).
b. The Corps invites full public participation to promote open
communication and better decision-making. All persons and organizations
that have an interest in potential effects
[[Page 55776]]
of hydropower development and electric power generation at Bluestone
Dam and the affected environment are urged to participate in this NEPA
environmental analysis process. Assistance will be provided upon
request to anyone having difficulty.
c. Public comments are welcomed anytime throughout the NEPA
process. Formal opportunities for public participation include: (1)
Public meetings to be held near the community of Hinton; (2) Anytime
during the NEPA process via mail, telephone or e-mail: (3) During
Review and Comment on the Draft EIS (DEIS)--approximately late Summer
2007; and (4) Review of the Final EIS (FEIS)--Winter 2007/2008.
Schedules and locations will be announced in local news media.
Interested parties may also request to be included on the mailing list
for public distribution of meeting announcements and documents (see
ADDRESSES).
d. To ensure that all issues related to the proposed project are
approximately addressed, the Corps invites input from interested
agencies, local and regional stakeholders and the general public to
assist in identifying areas of concern, issues and impacts to be
addressed in the EIS, and the alternatives that should be analyzed.
Scoping for the DEIS will continue to build upon the knowledge and
information developed during the more than 50 years of Corps of
Engineer operation of the Bluestone Dam.
2. Background: a. The Bluestone Lake project is located in southern
West Virginia, with the uppermost reaches of the lake extending into
Virginia. Bluestone Dam is on the New River at Hinton, WV. Authorized
in the 1935 and 1938 Flood Control Acts (FCAs) for flood control and
hydropower, the Bluestone Lake project was completed in 1949. As the
first of four authorized reservoirs in the Kanawha River Basin,
Bluestone is operated for flood control. During construction hydropower
development at Bluestone was delayed until other basin flood control
projects could be constructed, with penstocks incorporated to permit
future power facilities installation. Two of the three planned projects
(Sutton and Summerville Lakes) have been constructed and the third was
de-authorized. The Bluestone project was designed to operate at a
normal summer pool elevation of 1490 feet and maximum flood control
pool elevation of 1520 feet; 40 percent of the active storage was
planned for flood control and almost 60 percent for hydropower. Current
operations maintain the summer pool at 1410, with maximum flood control
pool at 1520 and 97 percent of the active storage for flood control.
The 1944 FCA authorized the Secretary of the Army to permit recreation
development at water resources projects, and during the 1950s and in
1970 project operations at Bluestone were changed to provide a
conservation pool that allowed lake recreation. Section 6 of the 1988
Water Resources Development Act added recreation and downstream
recreation as project purposes at Bluestone Lake.
b. Section 547 of Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Pub. L.
106-541) authorized the Tri-Cities Power Authority to construct
hydroelectric generating facilities at the Bluestone dam. ``Tri-Cities
Power Authority '' (TCPA) refers to the entity established by the City
of Hinton, WV, the City of White Sulphur Springs, WV, and the City of
Philippi, WV, pursuant to a document entitled ``Second Amended and
Restated Intergovernmental Agreement'' approved by the Attorney General
of West Virginia on February 14, 2002. Further, this act directs the
Secretary of the Army to enter into a binding agreement with the
Secretary of Energy and TCPA to accomplish construction of the project.
c. Section 122 of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations
Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-103) amended the aforementioned legislation.
These amendments include the designation of TCPA as the owner and
operator of said hydropower project. Further, section 122 removed
hydroelectric power as an authorized project purpose ``so long as Tri-
Cities Power Authority continues to exercise its responsibilities as he
builder, owner, and operator of the hydropower facilities at Bluestone
Dam.'' In addition, this legislation focused the approval that the
Secretary of the Army must exercise for the proposed project, which is
``to review the design and construction activities for all features of
the hydroelectric project that pertain to and affect stability of the
dam and control the release of water from Bluestone Dam to ensure that
the quality of construction of those features meets all standards
established for similar facilities constructed by the Secretary.''
d. Reasonable alternatives for hydropower development are limited
to those which will provide profitable power generation, meet
established design criteria with respect to stability of the dam, do
not significantly affect other Bluestone Lake project purposes as
related to flow, and are environmentally acceptable. Only one physical
hydropower facility design has been found feasible by TCPA. No changes
to pool elevations are proposed.
e. The proposed hydropower facility would utilize up to 9000 cubic
feet per second (cfs) of flow. Under current operating procedures for
the dam, a minimum discharge of 610 cfs is maintained. The alternatives
to be considered in the EIS are those which evaluate various discharges
through the stilling basin of the dam, including providing all flow up
to 9000 cfs through the hydropower facility. In addition, the no-action
alternative will be evaluated. As necessary, any reasonable
alternatives that may become apparent as the evaluation process will be
addressed.
3. Cooperating Agencies: a. At this time, no other federal, state,
or local agencies are expected to be cooperating agencies in
preparation of this EIS. However, numerous federal and state agencies,
including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Elkins West Virginia Field Office,
Department of Interior National Park Service, West Virginia Department
of Environmental Protection, and the West Virginia Division of
Wildlife, are expected to be involved in this process.
4. Additional Information and Review: a. Compliance with other
federal and state requirements that will be addressed in the EIS
include, but will not be limited to, State Water Quality Certification
under section 401 of the Clean Water Act, West Virginia Pollution
Discharge Elimination System section 402 permit, section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act and
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
5. Availability of the Draft: a. The draft EIS is projected to be
available late Summer 2007. A formal public hearing will be conducted
following release of the Draft EIS.
Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 06-8126 Filed 9-22-06; 8:45 am]
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