[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 78 (Wednesday, April 22, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22417-22419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08447]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 298-081]


Southern California Edison Company; Notice of Application 
Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, 
Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, 
Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary 
Fishway Prescriptions

    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.: 298-081.
    c. Date Filed: December 23, 2019.
    d. Applicant: Southern California Edison Company.
    e. Name of Project: Kaweah Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Kaweah River 
and East Fork Kaweah River in Tulare County, California. The project 
occupies 176.26 acres of public lands administered by the Bureau of 
Land Management. The project incorporates non-project facilities 
(diversion structures and water conveyance facilities) located within 
Sequoia National Park, which are authorized by a National Park Service 
special use permit.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Wayne P. Allen, Principle Manager, Hydro 
Licensing and Implementation, Southern California Edison Company, 1515 
Walnut Grove Avenue, Rosemead, CA 91770, (626) 302-9741 or email at 
wayne.allen@sce.com.
    i. FERC Contact: Jim Hastreiter, (503) 552-2760 or 
james.hastreiter@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
prescriptions: 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 motions 
to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary terms 
and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions 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-298-081.
    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 for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    l. The Kaweah Project has three developments.

Kaweah No. 1

    This development consists of: (1) A 20-foot-long and 6-foot-high 
concrete diversion dam on the East Fork Kaweah River, (2) a 30,723-
foot-long steel flume, (3) a forebay tank, (4) a 3,340-foot-long 
penstock, and (4) a powerhouse with an impulse turbine rated at 2.25 
megawatts (MW).

Kaweah No. 2

    This development consists of: (1) A 161-foot-long and 7-foot-high 
masonry diversion dam on the Kaweah River, (2) a 16,738-foot-long 
concrete-lined ditch, (3) a 3,822-foot-long steel flume, (4) a 1,047-
foot-long steel pipe, (5) a forebay, (6) a 1,012-foot-long buried 
penstock, and (7) a powerhouse with a Francis turbine rated at 1.8 MW.

Kaweah No. 3

    This development consists of: (1) A 2,580-foot-long concrete-lined 
flume, (2) an embankment forebay, (3) a 3,151-foot-long penstock, and 
(4) a powerhouse with two impulse turbines rated at a combined 4.8 MW.
    The project has a primary 4.09-mile-long transmission line 
extending from the Kaweah No. 3 powerhouse to a substation, and two tap 
lines (120-foot-long and 0.4-mile-long) connecting Kaweah No. 1 and No. 
2 powerhouses, respectively, to the primary line, and appurtenant 
facilities.

[[Page 22418]]

Non-Project Facilities

    The project makes use of several non-project facilities located in 
Sequoia National Park. These facilities comprise portions of Kaweah No. 
1 and No. 3 developments: (1) Two diversion structures on the Middle 
Fork and Marble Fork Kaweah Rivers, (2) a 21,000-foot-long steel flume 
that is the initial section of flowline which conveys water to the 
Kaweah No. 3 powerhouse, and (3) four small reservoirs on the East Fork 
Kaweah River. These facilities are operated under a special use permit 
(Permit No. PWR-SEKI-6000-2016-015) issued to SCE by the National Park 
Service, which expires on September 8, 2026.

Project Boundary

    SCE is proposing the following modifications to the existing 
project boundary to include all lands necessary for operation and 
maintenance of the project, remove lands no longer necessary for 
operation and maintenance of the project, and correct known errors in 
the current Exhibit G for the project.

Boundary Increases

    The project boundary will be increased to include the following 
existing project facilities that are currently outside the boundary.
Kaweah No. 1 Development
 Kaweah No. 1 Gaging Cableway (Map G-1h)
 Kaweah No. 1 Diversion Solar Panel (Map G-1h)
 Kaweah No. 1 Solar Yard Satellite Repeater (Map G-1h)
 Kaweah No. 1 Flowline Access Road--Unnamed (portion) (Map G-
1h)
 Kaweah No. 1 Flowline Access Road--Bear Canyon (portion) (Map 
G-1h)
 Kaweah No. 1 Flowline Access Road--Slick Rock (portion) (Map 
G-1h)
Kaweah No. 2 Development
 Kaweah No. 2 Gaging Cableway (Map G-1d)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline--West Access Road (portion) (Map G-1b)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline--Center Access Road (portion) (Map G-1b)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline Access Road--Canal 6 West (Map G-1c)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline Access Road--Canal 6 East (Map G-1c)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline Access Road--Canal 5 (portion) (Map G-
1c)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline Access Road--Canal 4 West (Map G-1c)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline Access Road--Canal 4 East (Map G-1c)
 Kaweah No. 2 Flowline Access Road--Canal 2 Brushout Grid 
(portion) (Map G-1c)

Boundary Decreases

    The project boundary will be decreased to remove communication line 
and road corridors that are no longer necessary for operation and 
maintenance of the project.
Kaweah No. 1 Development
 Communication line corridor along Kaweah No. 1 Flowline in the 
vicinity of Kaweah No. 1 Diversion Dam (Map G-1h)
 Communication line corridor along Kaweah No. 1 Flowline in the 
vicinity of Kaweah No. 1 Forebay Tank (Map G-1f)
 Communication line corridor between Kaweah No. 1 Powerhouse 
and Kaweah No. 2 Flowline (Map G-1b)
Kaweah No. 2 Development
 Communication line corridor along the Kaweah No. 2 Flowline in 
the vicinity of Flume 9/Flume 10 (Map G-1b)
 Communication line corridor along the Kaweah No. 2 Flowline in 
the vicinity of Canal 9 (Map G-1b)
 Communication line corridor along the Kaweah No. 2 Flowline in 
the vicinity of Canal 6 (Map G-1c)
 Communication line corridor along the Kaweah No. 2 Flowline in 
the vicinity of Flume 5 (Map G-1c)
 Communication line corridor along the Kaweah No. 2 Flowline in 
the vicinity of Flume 2 (Map G-1c)

    The following road corridors will be removed as they are remnants 
of the original project which have been removed and are no longer in 
existence.
Kaweah No. 2 Development
 Road corridor along the Kaweah No. 2 Flowline in the vicinity 
of Canal 9 (Map G-1b)
 Road corridor from Kaweah No. 2 Flowline--East Access Road to 
Kaweah No. 2 Flowline (Map G-1c)
Kaweah No. 3 Development
 Road corridor from Kaweah No. 3 Forebay Road to Kaweah No. 3 
Penstock (Map G-1d)

Boundary Corrections

    The project boundary will be further modified because a review of 
the existing boundary against the latest data sources available for the 
project resulted in some corrections to the project boundary currently 
approved by the Commission. These specific instances of boundary 
corrections will be included in the revised Exhibit G.
    m. The Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to 
view and/or print the license application via the internet through the 
Commission's Home Page (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. At this time, the 
Commission has suspended access to Commission's Public Reference Room, 
due to the proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning the 
Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued by the President on March 
13, 2020. 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.
    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. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with 
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST'', ``MOTION TO INTERVENE'', ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' 
``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' or 
``PRELIMINARY FISHWAY PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (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 protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise 
comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions 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. A copy of any protest or 
motion to intervene must be served

[[Page 22419]]

upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular 
application. A copy of all other filings in reference to this 
application must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons 
listed in the service list prepared by the Commission in this 
proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Milestone                           Target date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filing of recommendations, preliminary   June 2020.
 terms and conditions, and preliminary
 fishway prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EA or EIS......  February 2021.
Comments on Draft EA or EIS............  March 2021.
Modified Terms and Conditions..........  May 2021.
Commission Issues Final EA or EIS......  August 2021.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    q. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following 
the date of issuance of the notice of acceptance and ready for 
environmental analysis provided for in 5.22: (1) A copy of the water 
quality certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, 
including proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the 
request; or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification.

    Dated: April 15, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-08447 Filed 4-21-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


