[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18363-18365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06695]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14861-002]


Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and 
Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and 
Prescriptions; FFP Project 101, LLC

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Original Major License.
    b. Project No.: 14861-002.
    c. Date filed: June 23, 2020.
    d. Applicant: FFP Project 101, LLC (FFP).
    e. Name of Project: Goldendale Energy Storage Project (Goldendale 
Project).
    f. Location: Off-stream on the north side of the Columbia River at 
River Mile 215.6 in Klickitat County, Washington, with transmission 
facilities extending into Sherman County, Oregon. The project would be 
located approximately 8 miles southeast of the City of Goldendale, 
Washington. The project would occupy 18.1 acres of lands owned by the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and administered by the Bonneville Power 
Administration.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Erik Steimle, Rye Development, 745 Atlantic 
Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02111; (503) 998-0230; email_
[email protected]
    i. FERC Contact: Michael Tust at (202) 502-6522; or email at 
[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.

[[Page 18364]]

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-14861-002.
    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 43,304). 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 Goldendale Project. Commission staff intends to 
conduct its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.
    l. The proposed Goldendale Project would include the following new 
facilities: (1) A 61-acre upper reservoir formed by a 175-foot-high, 
8,000-foot-long rockfill embankment dam at an elevation of 2,940 feet 
National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29) with a vertical 
concrete intake-outlet structure; (2) a 63-acre lower reservoir formed 
by a 205-foot-high, 6,100-foot-long embankment at an elevation of 580 
feet (NGVD 29) with a horizontal concrete intake-outlet structure and 
vertical steel slide gates; (3) an underground conveyance tunnel system 
connecting the two reservoirs consisting of a 2,200-foot-long, 29-foot-
diameter concrete-lined vertical shaft, a 3,300-foot-long, 29-foot-
diameter concrete-lined high pressure tunnel, a 200-foot-long, 22-foot-
diameter high pressure manifold tunnel, three 600-foot-long, 15-foot-
diameter steel/concrete penstocks, three 200-foot-long, 20-foot-
diameter steel-lined draft tube tunnels with bonneted slide gates, a 
200-foot-long, 26-foot-diameter concrete-lined low-pressure tunnel, and 
a 3,200-foot-long, 30-foot-diameter concrete-lined tailrace tunnel; (4) 
an underground powerhouse located between the upper and lower reservoir 
in a 0.83-acre powerhouse cavern containing three, 400-megawatt (MW) 
Francis-type pump-turbine units for a total installed capacity of 1,200 
MW; (5) a 0.48-acre underground transformer cavern adjacent to the 
powerhouse containing intermediate step-up transformers that will step 
up the voltage from 18 kilovolts (kV) to 115 kV; (6) two 30-foot-
diameter tunnels for accessing the powerhouse and transformer caverns; 
(7) a 0.84-mile-long, 115-kV underground transmission line extending 
from the transformer gallery through the combined access/transmission 
tunnel to where it emerges aboveground near the west side of the lower 
reservoir and extending an additional 0.27 miles to an outdoor 7.3-acre 
substation/switchyard where the voltage would be stepped up to 500 kV; 
(8) a 3.13-mile-long, 500-kV transmission line routed from the 
substation/switchyard south across the Columbia River and connecting to 
Bonneville Power Administration's existing John Day Substation; (9) a 
buried 30-inch-diameter water fill line leading from a shut-off and 
throttling valve within a non-project water supply vault owned by 
Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) to an outlet structure within 
the lower reservoir to convey water to fill the reservoirs; and (10) 
appurtenant facilities. The project would also include an existing 0.7-
mile road for accessing the lower reservoir site and an existing 8.6-
mile-long road for accessing the upper reservoir site both of which may 
be modified to provide access for construction vehicles.
    The water supply used to initially fill the lower reservoir as well 
as to provide make-up water would be purchased from KPUD and would be 
obtained from KPUD's existing intake pond on the Columbia River. The 
project water fill line would connect to a new KPUD-owned flanged water 
supply service connection in a water supply vault located near the 
lower reservoir. Within the vault, and just downstream of the service 
connection, there would be a project shut-off and throttling valve to 
control the initial fill and make-up water flow rate into the lower 
reservoir. The initial fill would require 7,640 acre-feet of water and 
would be completed in about six months at an average flow rate of 
approximately 21 cubic feet per second (maximum flow rate available is 
35 cubic feet per second). It is estimated that the project would need 
360 acre-feet of water each year to replenish water lost through 
evaporation and seepage.
    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-
14861). 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.

[[Page 18365]]

    You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    n. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date 
of issuance of this notice either: (1) Evidence of the date on which 
the certifying agency received the water quality certification request; 
(2) a copy of the water quality certification; or (3) evidence of 
waiver of water quality certification.
    o. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

    Dated: March 24, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-06695 Filed 3-29-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


