[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 116 (Monday, June 17, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28031-28032]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12738]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14633-001]


Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and 
Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, and Terms and Conditions: New 
England Hydropower Company, LLC

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Exemption From Licensing.
    b. Project No.: 14633-001.
    c. Date filed: October 1, 2018.
    d. Applicant: New England Hydropower Company, LLC (NEHC).
    e. Name of Project: Albion Dam Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Blackstone River, near the Towns of Cumberland 
and Lincoln, Providence County, Rhode Island. No federal or tribal 
lands would be occupied by project works or located within the project 
boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 
1978, 16 U.S.C. 2705, 2708 (2012), amended by the Hydropower Regulatory 
Efficiency Act of 2013, Public Law 113-23, 127 Stat. 493 (2013).
    h. Applicant Contact: Michael C. Kerr, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 
451C, Beverly, MA 01915; phone at (978) 360-2547 or email at 
Michael@nehydropower.com.
    i. FERC Contact: Patrick Crile, (202) 502-8042, or email at 
patrick.crile@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, and terms and 
conditions: 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply 
comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
comments, recommendations, and terms and conditions using the 
Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at 
http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You must include your 
name and contact information at the end of your comments. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy to: 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, 
Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include 
docket number P-14633-001.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice 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.
    k. This application has been accepted and is now ready for 
environmental analysis.
    l. The proposed Albion Dam Hydroelectric Project would consist of: 
(1) An approximately 266-foot-long existing concrete gravity dam with 
an ogee spillway; (2) an existing 20.4-acre impoundment with a normal 
storage capacity of 235 acre-feet at an operating elevation of 
approximately 87.0 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988; (3) a 
new 51-foot-long, 45.75-foot-wide intake canal; (4) two new 14-foot-
wide, 10.4-foot-high hydraulically-powered sluice gates, each equipped 
with a 15-foot-wide, 9.7-foot-high steel trashrack with 9-inch clear-
bar spacing; (5) two new 30-foot-long, 15-foot-wide, 9.7-foot-high 
concrete penstocks; (6) a new 50-foot-long, 24-foot-wide, 18-foot-high 
concrete powerhouse containing two 210-kilowatt (kW) Archimedes Screw 
turbine-generator units, for a total installed capacity of 420 kW; (7) 
a new 50-foot-long concrete tailrace; (8) a new step-up transformer and 
500-foot-long, above-ground transmission line connecting the project to 
the distribution system owned by the Narragansett Electric Company; (9) 
a new access road; and (10) appurtenant facilities. The existing Albion 
Dam and appurtenant works are owned by the State of Rhode Island.
    NEHC proposes to operate the project in a run-of-river mode with an 
estimated annual energy production of approximately 2,034 megawatt-
hours.
    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 website 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. A copy is also available for inspection and 
reproduction at the Cumberland Town Hall, 45 Broad Street, Cumberland, 
RI 02864.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS'', ``REPLY COMMENTS'', ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' or ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' (2) set forth in the heading the name of the applicant 
and the project number of the application to which the filing responds; 
(3) furnish the name, address, and telephone number of the person 
submitting the filing; and (4) otherwise comply with the requirements 
of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All comments, recommendations, or 
terms and conditions must set forth their evidentiary basis and 
otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may 
obtain copies of the application directly from the applicant. Each 
filing must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on 
the service list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in 
accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    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.

[[Page 28032]]

For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
    n. Public notice of the filing of the initial development 
application, which has already been given, established the due date for 
filing competing applications or notices of intent. Under the 
Commission's regulations, any competing development application must be 
filed in response to and in compliance with public notice of the 
initial development application. No competing applications or notices 
of intent may be filed in response to this notice.
    o. With this notice, we are initiating informal consultation with 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries under section 7 
of the Endangered Species Act and the joint agency regulations 
thereunder at 50 CFR part 402; and NOAA Fisheries under section 305(b) 
of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and 
implementing regulations at 50 CFR 600.920. We are also initiating 
consultation with the Rhode Island State Historic Preservation Officer, 
as required by section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, 
and the implementing regulations of the Advisory Council on Historic 
Preservation at 36 CFR 800.2.
    p. Based on the presence of an existing dam, the applicant's 
coordination with federal and state agencies during the preparation of 
the application, and studies completed during pre-filing consultation, 
we accept the consultation that has occurred on this project during the 
pre-filing period as satisfying National Environmental Policy Act 
scoping. Based on a review of the application, resource agency 
consultation letters, and comments filed to date, Commission staff 
intends to prepare a single environmental assessment (EA) for the 
proposed project. Commission staff determined that the issues that need 
to be addressed in its EA have been adequately identified during the 
pre-filing period, which included a public meeting, and no new issues 
are likely to be identified through additional scoping. The EA will 
consider assessing the potential effects of project construction and 
operation on geology and soils, aquatic, terrestrial, threatened and 
endangered species, recreation and land use, and cultural and historic 
resources.
    q. Procedural Schedule and Final Amendments: The application will 
be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions 
to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

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              Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of comments, recommendations,   August 2019.
 and terms and conditions.
Commission issues Environmental        December 2019.
 Assessment.
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    r. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

    Dated: June 11, 2019.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-12738 Filed 6-14-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


