

[Federal Register: April 16, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 72)]
[Notices]               
[Page 18978-18980]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16ap07-67]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2088-068]

 
South Feather Water and Power Agency; Notice of Application 
Tendered for Filing With the Commission, Soliciting Additional Study 
Requests, and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a 
Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

April 9, 2007.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric Application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: P-2088-068.
    c. Date Filed: March 26, 2007.
    d. Applicant: South Feather Water and Power Agency.
    e. Name of Project: South Feather Power Project.
    f. Location: On the South Fork Feather River (SFFR), Lost Creek and 
Slate Creek in Butte, Yuba and Plumas counties, California. The project 
affects 1,977.12 acres of federal lands administered by the Plumas 
National Forest and 10.57 acres of federal land administered by the 
U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Michael Glaze, General Manager, South Feather 
Water and Power Agency, 2310 Oro-Quincy Highway, Oroville, CA 95966, 
(530) 533-4578
    i. FERC Contact: John Mudre, (202) 502-8902, or 
john.mudre@ferc.gov.

    j. Cooperating Agencies: We are asking Federal, State, local, and 
tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect 
to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the preparation of the 
environmental document. Agencies who would like to request cooperating 
status should follow the instructions for filing such requests 
described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note the 
Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation of 
the environmental document cannot also intervene. See, 94 FERC ] 61,076 
(2001).
    k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes 
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to 
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the 
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person 
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of 
the request on the applicant.
    l. Deadline for filing requests for cooperating agency status and 
additional study requests: May 25, 2007.
    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.
    Additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency 
status 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.

    m. This application has not been accepted for filing and is not 
ready for environmental analysis. We are not soliciting motions to 
intervene, protests, or final terms and conditions at this time.
    n. The South Feather Power Project is a water supply/power project 
constructed in the late 1950s/early 1960s. The Project is composed of 
four developments: Sly Creek, Woodleaf, Forbestown and Kelly Ridge, 
each of which is described below. The Project can store about 172,000 
acre-feet (af) of water (gross storage) and has generated an average of 
about 514.1 gigawatt hours (gWh) of power annually for the past 20 
years, since the addition of Sly Creek Powerhouse.
    The Sly Creek Development includes: (1) Little Grass Valley Dam--a 
210-foot-high, 840-foot-long, rock filled dam on the SFFR with a crest 
elevation of 5,052 feet (all elevations are in National Geodetic 
Vertical Datum, or NGVD, unless otherwise specified) and with a 180-
foot-long spillway controlled by two 14-feet-high by 40-feet-long steel 
radial gates that forms a 89,804 acre-foot (af) storage reservoir 
covering 1,650 acres at a maximum water surface (flood level) elevation 
of 5,047 feet with the spill gates closed; (2) South Fork Diversion 
Dam--a 60-foot-high, 167-foot-long, concrete overflow arch dam on the 
SFFR with a crest elevation of 3,557 to 3,559 feet and with four 
uncontrolled overflow spillway sections that forms an 87 af diversion 
impoundment covering about 9 acres at a normal maximum water surface 
elevation of 3,557 feet; (3) South Fork Diversion Tunnel--a 14,256-
foot-long, 11-foot-diameter concrete lined and unlined horseshoe un-
pressurized tunnel controlled by two 6-foot-high by 4-foot-long 
electric hoist slide gates that diverts up to 600 cubic feet per second 
(cfs) of water from the South Fork Diversion Dam to Sly Creek 
Reservoir; (4) Slate Creek Diversion Dam--a 62-foot-high, 223.5-foot-
long, concrete overflow arch dam on Slate Creek with a crest elevation 
of 3,552 to 3,554 feet and with three uncontrolled overflow spillway 
sections that forms a negligible diversion impoundment due to sediment 
accumulation; (5) Slate Creek Diversion Tunnel--a 13,200-foot-long, 11-
foot-diameter, concrete lined and unlined horseshoe un-pressurized 
tunnel controlled by two 8-foot-high by 6-foot-long manual slide gates 
that diverts up to a maximum flow capacity of 848 cfs of water (though 
water rights limit flows to 600 cfs and at times flows are limited to 
500 cfs due to high storage volume in the receiving reservoir) from the 
Slate Creek Diversion Dam to Sly Creek Reservoir; (6) Sly Creek Dam--a 
289-foot-high, 1,200-foot-long, zoned earth-filled dam on Lost Creek 
with a crest elevation of 3,536 feet and with a 649-foot-long spillway 
controlled by one 16-foot-high by 54-foot-long steel radial gate that 
forms a 64,338 af storage reservoir covering 619 acres at a maximum 
water surface (flood level) elevation of 3,531 feet with the spill 
gates closed; (7) Sly Creek Penstock--a 1,100-foot-long, 90-inch-
inside-diameter, steel penstock enclosed in the

[[Page 18979]]

former outlet tunnel that delivers water to Sly Creek Powerhouse; (8) 
Sly Creek Powerhouse--a semi-outdoor, reinforced concrete, above ground 
powerhouse that releases water to Lost Creek Reservoir and that 
contains one reaction turbine rated at 17,690 horsepower (hp) directly 
connected to a 13,500-kilovolt-amperes (kVA) generator; (9) Sly Creek 
Powerhouse Switchyard--a switchyard adjacent to the Sly Creek 
Powerhouse that contains one 16,000 kVA transformer. Power generated at 
Sly Creek Powerhouse is delivered from the switchyard to the grid via 
Pacific Gas and Electric Company's 115 kilovolt (kV) Sly Creek Tap and 
Woodleaf-Kanaka Junction transmission line; (10) Little Grass Valley 
Reservoir Recreation Facility--the Little Grass Valley Reservoir 
Recreation Facility includes Little Beaver, Red Feather, Running Deer, 
Horse Camp, Wyandotte, Peninsula Tent, Black Rock Tent, Black Rock RV, 
and Tooms RV campgrounds; Black Rock, Tooms and Maidu Boat Launch 
areas; Pancake Beach and Blue Water Beach day use areas, Maidu 
Amphitheater and Little Grass Valley Dam ADA Accessible Fishing trail 
at Little Grass Valley Reservoir; and (11) Sly Creek Reservoir 
Recreation Facility--the Sly Creek Recreation Facility includes two 
campgrounds (Strawberry and Sly Creek), Strawberry Car-Top Boat Launch, 
Mooreville Boat Ramp and Mooreville Day Use Area on Sly Creek 
Reservoir. The Sly Creek Development does not include any roads except 
for the portions of the roads within the FERC Project Boundary that 
cross Little Grass Valley Dam (USFS Road 22N94) and Sly Creek Dam (USFS 
Road 21N16).
    The Woodleaf Development includes: (1) Lost Creek Dam--a 122-foot-
high, 486-foot-long, concrete overflow arch dam on the Lost Creek with 
a crest elevation of 3,279.05 feet and with a 251-foot-wide spillway 
controlled by 4-foot-high by 8-foot-long flashboards that forms a 5,361 
af storage reservoir covering 137 acres at a normal maximum water 
surface elevation of 3,283 feet with the flashboards installed; (2) 
Woodleaf Power Tunnel--an 18,385-foot-long, 12-foot-diameter, concrete 
lined and unlined horseshoe pressurized tunnel controlled by one 6-
foot-high by 12-foot-long electric hoist slide gate that diverts up to 
620 cfs of water from Lost Creek Reservoir to the Woodleaf Penstock; 
(3) Woodleaf Penstock--a 3,519-foot-long, 97-inch reducing to 78-inch-
inside-diameter, exposed steel penstock that delivers water to Woodleaf 
Powerhouse; (4) Woodleaf Powerhouse--a semi-outdoor, reinforced 
concrete, above ground powerhouse that releases water to the Forbestown 
Diversion Dam impoundment on the SFFR and that contains one 6-jet 
vertical shaft impulse Pelton turbine rated at 80,000 hp directly 
connected to a 65,500 kVA generator; and (5) Woodleaf Powerhouse 
Switchyard--a switchyard adjacent to the Woodleaf Powerhouse that 
contains one 70,000 kVA transformer. Power generated at Woodleaf 
Powerhouse is delivered from the switchyard to the grid via Pacific Gas 
and Electric Company's 115 kV Woodleaf-Kanaka Junction transmission 
line. The Woodleaf Development does not include any recreation 
facilities or roads.
    The Forbestown Development includes: (1) Forbestown Diversion Dam--
a 80-foot-high, 256-foot-long, concrete overflow arch dam on the SFFR 
with a crest elevation of 1,783 feet and with five 46-foot-wide 
uncontrolled overflow spillway sections with a combined width of 
approximately 240 feet that forms a 352 af diversion impoundment 
covering about 12 acres at a normal maximum water surface elevation of 
1,783 feet; (2) Forbestown Power Tunnel--a 18,388-foot-long, 12.5-foot 
by 11-foot-diameter, concrete lined and unlined horseshoe pressurized 
tunnel that diverts up to 660 cfs of water from the Forbestown 
Diversion impoundment to the Forbestown Penstock; (3) Forbestown 
Penstock--a 1,487-foot-long, 97-inch reducing to 83-inch-inside-
diameter exposed steel penstock that delivers water to Forbestown 
Powerhouse; (4) Forbestown Powerhouse--a semi-outdoor reinforced 
concrete above ground powerhouse that releases water to Ponderosa 
Reservoir on the SFFR and that contains one vertical reaction Francis 
turbine rated at 54,500 hp directly connected to a 40,500 kVA 
generator; and (5) Forbestown Powerhouse Switchyard--a switchyard 
adjacent to the Forbestown Powerhouse that contains one 35,200 kVA 
transformer. Power generated at Forbestown Powerhouse is delivered from 
the switchyard to the grid via Pacific Gas and Electric Company's 115 
kV Woodleaf-Kanaka Junction transmission line. The Forbestown 
Development does not include any recreation facilities or roads.
    The Kelly Ridge Development includes: (1) Ponderosa Dam--a 160-
foot-high, 650-foot-long, earth-filled dam that releases water into the 
3.6 million af Lake Oroville (part of the California Department of 
Water Resources' Feather River Project, FERC Project No. 2100) with a 
crest elevation of 985 feet and with a 352-foot-long spillway 
controlled by two 7 foot 7.5-inch-high by 51 feet-long steel gates that 
forms a 4,178 af storage reservoir covering 103 acres at a normal 
maximum water surface elevation of 960 feet; (2) Ponderosa Diversion 
Tunnel--a 516-foot-long, 10-foot by 9-foot-diameter concrete lined and 
unlined horseshoe unpressurized tunnel controlled by one 6-foot-high by 
8-foot-long hydraulic gate that diverts up to 300 cfs of water from 
Ponderosa Reservoir to Miners Ranch Conduit; (3) Miners Ranch Conduit--
a 32,254-foot-long, 10-foot-wide concrete or gunite-lined canal and 
concrete or bench flume that includes two siphon sections across the 
McCabe and Powell creek sections of Lake Oroville and that diverts 
water from the Ponderosa Diversion Tunnel to the Miners Ranch Tunnel; 
(4) Miners Ranch Tunnel--a 23,946-foot-long, 10-foot by 9-foot-
diameter, concrete lined horseshoe un-pressurized tunnel that diverts 
up to 300 cfs of water from the Miners Ranch Conduit to Miners Ranch 
Reservoir; (5) Miners Ranch Dam--a 55-foot-high, 1,650-foot-long, 
earth-filled off-stream dam with a crest elevation of 895 feet and with 
an 1,175-foot-long uncontrolled spillway that forms a 896 af storage 
reservoir covering 48 acres at a normal maximum water surface elevation 
of 890 feet; (6) Kelly Ridge Power Tunnel--a 6,736-foot-long, 9-foot by 
8-foot-diameter, pressurized tunnel controlled by one 4-foot-high by 8-
foot-long fixed wheel gate that diverts up to 260 cfs of water from 
Miners Ranch Reservoir to Kelly Ridge Penstock: (7) Kelly Ridge 
Penstock--a 6,064-foot-long 69-inch reducing to 57-inch-inside-
diameter, exposed steel penstock that delivers water to Kelly Ridge 
Powerhouse; (8) Kelly Ridge Powerhouse--a semi-outdoor reinforced 
concrete above ground powerhouse that releases water to CDWR Feather 
River Project's Thermalito Diversion Pool downstream of Oroville Dam 
and that contains one vertical reaction Francis turbine rated at 13,000 
hp directly connected to a 11,000 kVA generator; and (5) Kelly Ridge 
Powerhouse Switchyard--a switchyard adjacent to the Kelly Ridge 
Powerhouse that contains one 11,000 kVA transformer. Power generated at 
the Kelly Ridge Powerhouse is delivered from the switchyard to the grid 
via Pacific Gas and Electric Company's 60 kV Kelly Ridge-Elgin Junction 
transmission line. The Kelly Ridge Development does not include any 
recreation facilities or roads.
    o. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission

[[Page 18980]]

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. 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.
    p. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the 
California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), as required by 
Sec.  106, National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of 
the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36, CFR, at Sec.  800.4.
    q. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will 
be processed according to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. 
Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

    Issue Acceptance or Deficiency Letter: May 2007.
    Request Additional Information: May 2007,
    Issue Scoping Document: June 2007.
    Hold Scoping Meetings/Site Visit: June 2007.
    Issue Scoping Document 2: July 2007.
    Notice of application is ready for environmental analysis: 
August 2007.
    Notice of the availability of the draft NEPA document: February 
2008.
    Initiate 10(j) process: April 2008.
    Notice of the availability of the final NEPA document: August 
2008.

    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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-7148 Filed 4-13-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
