[Federal Register: December 8, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 236)]
[Notices]
[Page 74480-74481]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 12775-001]
City of Spearfish, SD; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit
and Soliciting Scoping Comments
December 2, 2008.
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: Major Project.
b. Project No.: P-12775-001.
c. Date filed: September 10, 2008.
d. Applicant: City of Spearfish, South Dakota.
e. Name of Project: Spearfish Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On Spearfish Creek in Lawrence County, South Dakota.
The project occupies about 57.3 acres of United States lands within the
Black Hills National Forest administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Ms. Cheryl Johnson, Public Works
Administrator, City of Spearfish, 625 Fifth Street, Spearfish, SD
57783; (605) 642-1333; or e-mail at cherylj@city.spearfish.sd.us.
i. FERC Contact: Steve Hocking at (202) 502-8753; or e-mail at
steve.hocking@ferc.gov.
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: February 13, 2009.
All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures 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.
Scoping comments may be filed electronically via the Internet in
lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings.
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's
Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) under the ``e-Filing'' link.
k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
l. The existing Spearfish Project consists of: (1) A 130-foot-long,
4-foot-high concrete gravity dam; (2) a 0.32-acre reservoir; (3) a
gatehouse next to the dam that contains four 2-foot-high, 4-foot-wide
steel intake gates; (4) a 4.5-mile-long, 6.5-foot-wide, 9-foot-high
concrete-lined rock tunnel; (5) a forebay pond; (6) two 1,200-foot-
long, 48-inch diameter, wood stave pipelines; (7) four 36-inch-
diameter, 54-foot-high standpipe surge towers; (8) two 4,700-foot-long,
30-to 34-inch diameter steel penstocks; (9) a reinforced concrete
powerhouse containing two Pelton turbines and two, 2,000-kilowatt
generators; and (10) appurtenant facilities.
m. A copy of the application is available for review at the
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the
Commission's Web site at 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. For assistance, contact
FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll-free at (866)
208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. A copy is also available for
inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.
You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
esubscription.asp to be notified via e-mail of new filings and
issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance,
contact FERC Online Support.
n. Scoping Process
The Commission intends to prepare a single (no draft) environmental
assessment (EA) for the project in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and
cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the
proposed action.
Scoping Meetings
Commission staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one
public meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource
agency and non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the
public scoping meeting is primarily for public input. All interested
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend one or
both of the meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope
of the environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The
times and locations of these meetings are as follows:
Evening Scoping Meeting
Date and Time: January 13, 2009, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Location: City of Spearfish Council Center, 625 Fifth Street,
Spearfish, SD 57783.
Daytime Scoping Meeting
Date and Time: January 14, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Location: City of Spearfish Council Center, 625 Fifth Street,
Spearfish, SD 57783.
Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to
be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the
Commission's mailing list for this project. Copes of SD1 will be
available at the scoping meeting or may be viewed on the Web at http://
www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item m above).
Site Visit
Commission staff will hold a site visit to the project on January
13, 2009, from 9 a.m. to about 12 noon. Anyone wishing to attend the
site visit should meet at the Spearfish Project powerhouse at 9 a.m.
located at 520 S. Canyon, Spearfish, South Dakota 57783. We will drive
to the dam and stop along the way to view Spearfish Creek; drive to the
project's forebay and standpipe facilities; then drive back to the
project's powerhouse and take a tour of the powerhouse. All
participants are responsible for their own transportation.
The site visit scheduled for January 13, 2009, is weather
dependent. If the site visit is cancelled, notice will be placed on the
Commission's January 13, 2009, calendar which can be found on the
Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). Please check the
Commission's January 13, 2009, calendar before leaving in the morning
to attend the site visit.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2)
solicit from the meeting participants all available information,
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage
statements from experts and the public on issues that should be
analyzed in the EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource
issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) identify those issues that
require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that do not
require a detailed analysis.
Procedures
Scoping meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become
part of
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the Commission's formal record for this proceeding.
Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meeting and to
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed
in the EA.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-28923 Filed 12-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P