
[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
