[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9514-9515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03105]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


[Project No. 5596-020]

Town of Bedford, Virginia; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments

    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.: 5596-020.
    c. Date filed: April 30, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Town of Bedford, Virginia (Town of Bedford).
    e. Name of Project: Bedford Hydroelectric Project (Bedford Project 
or project).
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the James River in 
the Town of Bedford in Bedford and Amherst counties, Virginia. The 
project does not occupy any federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: James Rowlett, Electric Systems Engineer, 
Town of Bedford Electric Department, 877 Monroe Street, Bedford, 
Virginia 24523; 540-587-6079 or [email protected]; and Joe 
Peterson, Hydro Plant Engineer, Town of Bedford Electric Department, 
877 Monroe Street, Bedford, Virginia 24523; 540-587-6071 or 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Andy Bernick at (202) 502-8660, or 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: March 10, 2023.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments 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 
[email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy via 
U.S. Postal Service 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. All filings must 
clearly identify the project name and docket number on the first page: 
Bedford Hydroelectric Project (P-5596-020).
    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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The current license for the Bedford Hydroelectric Project 
(Bedford Project) authorizes the following project facilities: (1) a 9- 
to 17-foot-high concrete gravity dam with a 1,680-foot-long concrete 
spillway; (2) a 57-acre impoundment with a storage capacity of 350 
acre-feet at the normal maximum pool elevation of 627.7 feet North 
American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88); (3) a 1,200-foot-long, 180-
foot-wide, 16-foot-deep power canal; (4) a power canal headgate 
composed of three 21.6-foot-wide, 15.9-foot-high steel gates; (5) a 
49.1-foot-wide, 29.47-foot-high steel trashrack with a clear bar 
spacing of 3.5 inches; (6) a 55-foot-long, 80-foot-wide powerhouse; (7) 
a 65-foot-long, 120-foot-wide tailrace; (8) two 2.5-megawatt (MW) 
turbine-generator units with a total capacity of 5.0 MW; (9) a 120-
foot-long, 4-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; (10) one 4.16/23 kV, 5-
megavolt-ampere (MVA) step-up transformer at the project substation, 
serving as the point of interconnection with the Town of Bedford's 
power grid; and (11) appurtenant facilities.
    The Town of Bedford proposes to: (1) construct a new 45-foot by 55-
foot maintenance shed within a previously disturbed area north of the 
powerhouse; and (2) modify the project boundary to remove 54.7 acres 
(including a 2,800-foot-long transmission line authorized in the 
current license that the Town of Bedford alleges is no longer part of 
the primary transmission system) and add 43.6 acres (to maintain the 
visual character of aesthetic resources within the current project 
boundary, including a Virginia scenic byway and an historic trail), for 
a total decrease of 11.1 acres.
    The Bedford Project is operated in run-of-river mode. The average 
annual generation is estimated to be 113,377 megawatt-hours.
    m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well 
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., scoping 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 (P-
5596). For assistance, contact FERC at [email protected] or 
call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or TYY, (202) 502-8659. 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.

[[Page 9515]]

    n. 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.
    o. Scoping Process: Commission staff will prepare either an 
environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) that describes and evaluates the probable effects, if any, of the 
licensee's proposed action and alternatives. The EA or EIS will 
consider environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed action. The Commission's scoping process will help determine 
the required level of analysis and satisfy the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) scoping requirements, irrespective of whether the 
Commission prepares an EA or an EIS. At this time, we do not anticipate 
holding on-site scoping meetings. Instead, we are soliciting written 
comments and suggestions on the preliminary list of issues and 
alternatives to be addressed in the NEPA document, as described in 
scoping document 1 (SD1), issued February 8, 2023.
    Copies of SD1 outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the 
NEPA document were distributed to the parties on the Commission's 
mailing list and the applicant's distribution list. Copies of SD1 may 
be viewed on the web 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, call 1-866-
208-3676 or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.

    Dated: February 8, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-03105 Filed 2-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


