[Federal Register: June 2, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 104)]
[Notices]
[Page 26387-26388]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02jn09-46]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. P-12495-002]
Cascade Creek, LLC; Notice of Scoping Meeting and Site Visit and
Soliciting Scoping Comments for an Applicant Prepared Environmental
Assessment Using the Alternative Licensing Process; Notice of Intent To
Prepare Environmental Impact Statement
May 26, 2009.
a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
b. Project No.: 12495-002.
c. Applicant: Cascade Creek, LLC.
d. Name of Project: Cascade Creek Hydroelectric Project.
e. Location: On Swan Lake and Cascade Creek, approximately 15 miles
northeast of Petersburg, Alaska. The project would occupy lands of the
Tongass National Forest.
f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 USC 791(a)-825(r).
g. Applicant Contact: Chris Spens, Project Manager, Cascade Creek
LLC, 3633 Alderwood Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225; 360-738-9999, e-mail:
cspens@thomasbayhydro.com.
h. FERC Contact: David Turner, at (202) 502-6091.
i. Deadline for filing scoping comments: July 20, 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 Procedure require all
interveners 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 intervener 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/docs-filing/ferconline.asp) under the
``e-filing'' link. For a simpler method of submitting text only
comments, click on ``Quick Comment.''
j. The project would consist of: (1) Swan Lake, with a high-flood
lake surface elevation of 1,520 feet and surface area of 579 acres at
the high-flood elevation; (2) a 9-foot-diameter lake siphon on Swan
Lake, housed in a 46-foot-long, 34-foot-wide, and 25-foot-high concrete
intake control structure that would also provide for a helicopter
landing area; (3) approximately 3 miles of predominately-unlined rock
tunnel; (4) a 600-foot-long, 9-foot-diameter buried steel penstock; (5)
a 120-foot-long, 60-foot-wide powerhouse with three 23-MW vertical-
shaft pelton-type turbines; (6) two housing units for construction
workers; (7) a 400-foot-long, 40-foot-wide tailrace connecting the
powerhouse to Thomas Bay; (8) new dock and/or road facilities; (9) a
transmission line beginning at the powerhouse and extending via a
combination of overhead and underwater lines to the existing Scow Bay
substation in Petersburg; and (10) appurtenant facilities.
k. Scoping Process
Cascade Creek, LLC (Cascade Creek) is using the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's (Commission) alternative licensing process
(ALP). Under the ALP, Cascade Creek will prepare an Applicant Prepared
Environmental Assessment (APEA) and license application for the Cascade
Creek Hydroelectric Project.
Although Cascade Creek's intent is to prepare an EA, the Commission
will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project.
This meeting will satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements.
The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the opportunity to
participate in the upcoming scoping meetings identified below, and to
solicit your scoping comments.
Scoping Meetings
Cascade Creek and the Commission staff will hold two scoping
meetings, one in the daytime and one in the evening, to help us
identify the scope of issues to be addressed in the APEA.
The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns,
while the evening 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 environmental issues that should be analyzed in the
APEA. The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:
Daytime Meeting: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 9 a.m., Tides Inn, 307 North
1st St., Petersburg, AK 99833.
Evening Meeting: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 7 p.m., Tides Inn, 307 North
1st St., Petersburg, AK 99833.
To help focus discussions, Scoping Document 1 was mailed May 22,
2009, outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the APEA to the
parties on the mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will be available
at the scoping meetings. SD1 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 1-866-208-3676,
or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.
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.
Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document 2 (SD2)
may be issued. SD2 will include a revised list of issues, based on the
scoping sessions.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the APEA;
(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 APEA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine
[[Page 26388]]
the resource issues to be addressed in the APEA; and (5) identify those
issues that require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that
do not require a detailed analysis.
Procedures
The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become
part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.
Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and to
assist Cascade Creek in defining and clarifying the issues to be
addressed in the APEA.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-12702 Filed 6-1-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P