[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56929-56930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22226]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3472-024]


Aspinook Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application Ready for 
Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms 
and Conditions, and 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.: 3472-024.
    c. Date Filed: April 30, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Aspinook Hydro, LLC (Aspinook Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Wyre Wynd Hydroelectric Project (Wyre Wynd 
Project).
    f. Location: On the Quinebaug River in New London and Windham 
Counties, Connecticut. No federal lands are occupied by the project 
works or located within the project boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mark Boumansour, Chief Operating Officer, 
Gravity Renewables, Inc., 1401 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302; Phone 
at (303) 440-3378, or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Kristine Sillett at (202) 502-6575, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and 
conditions, and 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 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 
characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at 
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. You must include your 
name and contact information at the end of your comments. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. 
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via 
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should include docket 
number P-3472-024.
    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 ready for 
environmental analysis at this time.
    The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a final rule on 
July 15, 2020, revising the regulations under 40 CFR parts 1500-1518 
that federal agencies use to implement NEPA (see Update to the 
Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act, 85 FR 43304). The Final Rule became effective 
on and applies to any NEPA process begun after September 14, 2020. An 
agency may also apply the regulations to ongoing activities and 
environmental documents begun before September 14, 2020, which includes 
the proposed Wyre Wynd Project. Commission staff intends to conduct its 
NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.
    l. The Wyre Wynd Project consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) A 538-foot-long dam that includes: (a) A 473-foot-long 
central spillway with 2-foot-high flashboards, and one sluice gate; (b) 
a 55-foot-long east abutment that includes a headgate structure with 
five gates; and (c) a 10-foot-long west abutment; (2) a 333-acre 
impoundment at a normal elevation of 97.3 feet NGVD 29; \1\ (3) a 170-
foot[hyphen]long forebay that includes: (a) An auxiliary spillway; and 
(b) two outlet gates; (4) a powerhouse intake that includes: (a) A 
trash rack structure with 2.6 inch bar spacing; and (b) a 16-foot-long 
penstock that extends to the main, 2.7-megawatt (MW) turbine-generator 
unit within the powerhouse; (5) a 450-foot-long tailrace that receives 
discharges from the main unit; (6) a second intake structure branching 
off the forebay that includes: (a) A 4-foot-diameter intake opening; 
(b) a trash rack structure with 1.5-inch bar spacing; and (c) a 45-
foot-long penstock that extends to an in-line mini, 0.08-MW turbine-
generator unit; (7) a 350-foot-long tailrace that receives discharges 
from the mini unit; (8) a 600-volt (V), 10-foot-long main generator 
lead, and a 600-V, 200-foot-long mini lead; (9) an 80-foot-long, 600-V 
transmission line; and (10) appurtenant facilities. The project 
generates an average of 11,000 megawatt-hours annually.
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    \1\ National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.
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    Aspinook Hydro proposes to: (1) Operate the project in a run-of-
river mode with a 1-inch impoundment fluctuation band; (2) provide a 
continuous minimum flow of 84-cubic feet per second to the bypassed 
reach;

[[Page 56930]]

and (3) provide an Adaptive Management Plan for upstream and downstream 
fish passage.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document 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 (i.e., P-
3472). At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the 
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, contact FERC 
at [email protected] or call toll-free, (886) 208-3676 or TTY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' or ``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 submitting the filing; 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. 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. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. Aspinook Hydro must file no later than 60 days following the 
date of issuance of this notice: (1) A copy of the water quality 
certification (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 
certification. Please note that the certification request must comply 
with 40 CFR 121.5(b), including documentation that a pre-filing meeting 
request was submitted to the certifying authority at least 30 days 
prior to submitting the certification request. Please also note that 
the certification request must be sent to the certifying authority and 
to the Commission concurrently.
    o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as 
appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Deadline for filing comments,            December 2021.
 recommendations, preliminary terms and
 conditions, and preliminary fishway
 prescriptions.
Deadline for filing reply comments.....  January 2022.
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    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

    Dated: October 6, 2021.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-22226 Filed 10-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


