[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 53957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-21155]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1061-103]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment

    On August 24, 2020, Pacific Gas and Electric Company filed an 
application for a major, new license for the 1.6 megawatts Phoenix 
Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 1061). The existing project is located 
on the South Fork Stanislaus River and in the Tuolumne River Basin, in 
Tuolumne County, California. The project occupies 26.99 acres of 
federal land administered by the U.S. Forest Service and 0.59 acres 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
    In accordance with the Commission's regulations, on July 2, 2021, 
Commission staff issued a notice that the project was ready for 
environmental analysis (REA Notice). Based on the information in the 
record, including comments filed on the REA Notice, staff does not 
anticipate that licensing the project would constitute a major federal 
action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. 
Therefore, staff intends to prepare a draft and final Environmental 
Assessment (EA) on the application to relicense the Phoenix Project.
    The EA will be issued and circulated for review by all interested 
parties. All comments filed on the EA will be analyzed by staff and 
considered in the Commission's final licensing decision.
    The application will be processed according to the following 
schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as appropriate.
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    \1\ The Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations 
under 40 CFR 1501.10(b)(1) require that EAs be completed within 1 
year of the federal action agency's decision to prepare an EA. This 
notice establishes the Commission's intent to prepare a draft and 
final EA for the Phoenix Project. Therefore, in accordance with 
CEQ's regulations, the final EA must be issued within 1 year of the 
issuance date of this notice.

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                 Milestone                           Target date
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Commission issues draft EA................  May 2022.
Comments on draft EA......................  June 2022.
Commission issues final EA................  September 2022 \1\.
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    Any questions regarding this notice may be directed to Jim 
Hastreiter at (503) 552-2760 or james.hastreiter@ferc.gov.

    Dated: September 23, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-21155 Filed 9-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


