
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 43 (Friday, March 4, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11554-11555]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04696]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 12532-006]


Pine Creek Mine, LLC; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing 
With the Commission and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Licensing 
and Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

    a. Type of Application: New Minor License.
    b. Project No.: 12532-006.
    c. Date Filed: February 12, 2016
    d. Applicant: Pine Creek Mine, LLC
    e. Name of Project: Pine Creek Mine Tunnel Hydroelectric Project
    f. Location: The project is located at Pine Creek Mine adjacent to 
Morgan and Pine Creeks in Inyo County California. The project's mine 
access tunnel, mine plug, mine water storage cavity, penstock, 
generator, and most of its primary transmission line would be located 
under Federal land managed by the United States Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r)
    h. Applicant Contacts: Craig N. Rossell, Member, Pine Creek Mine 
LLC, 228 West Bonita Avenue Claremont, California 91711, (909) 482-
1000; Lynn Goodfellow, 9050 Pine Creek Road, Bishop, California 93514 
(760) 387-2076.
    i. FERC Contact: Joseph Hassell, (202) 502-8079 or 
joseph.hassell@ferc.gov.
    j. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    k. The Project Description: The proposed Pine Creek Tunnel 
Hydroelectric Project would include: (1) The existing Pine Creek Mine 
site, mine

[[Page 11555]]

entrance tunnels, mine shafts, and concrete plug; (2) an existing 30-
foot-long steel pipe that runs through the concrete plug, to be used as 
a proposed penstock; (3) a proposed Pelton turbine generating unit 
located in the mine tunnel with a total installed capacity of 1.5 
megawatts; (4) a proposed underground power line that would run 
approximately 2,500 feet from the generating unit to the mine portal; 
and (5) another proposed 60-foot-long transmission line from the mine 
portal to an existing substation on the mine site. The proposed project 
would have an average annual generation of 5.6 gigawatt-hours.
    Pine Creek Mine, LLC would seal the mine entrance tunnel to store 
approximately 200 feet of groundwater in the existing mine works. The 
groundwater would be released at approximately the same rate at which 
it recharges the mine, which is about 10 cubic feet per second.
    l. Locations of the Application: 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, please contact FERC Online Support at 
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at 
the address in item (h) above.
    m. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. Procedural Schedule:
    The application will be processed according to the following 
preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be 
made as appropriate.

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                  Milestone                           Target date
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Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for       May 2016.
 Environmental Analysis.
Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms   July 2016.
 and conditions, and fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EA...................  January 2017.
Comments on Draft Environmental Assessment     March 2017.
 (EA).
Modified terms and conditions................  May 2017.
Commission issues Final EA...................  August 2017.
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    o. 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.

    Dated: February 25, 2016.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-04696 Filed 3-3-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


