[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16623-16625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05543]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14851-003]


White Pine Waterpower, LLC; Notice of Application Tendered for 
Filing With the Commission, Requesting Cooperating Agencies, and 
Soliciting Additional Study Requests

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Filing: Original major license.
    b. Project No.: 14851-003.
    c. Date Filed: February 27, 2023.
    d. Submitted By: rPlus Hydro, LLLP, on behalf of White Pine 
Waterpower, LLC (White Pine Waterpower).
    e. Name of Project: White Pine Pumped Storage Project.
    f. Location: The project would be located approximately 8 miles 
northeast of the City of Ely, in White Pine County, Nevada. The project 
would occupy 1,095.76 acres of federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau 
of Land Management.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Greg Copeland, Program Manager for rPlus 
Hydro, LLLP. Address: White Pine Waterpower, LLC c/o rPlus Hydro, LLLP, 
201 S Main St., Suite 2100, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. Phone: (801) 
759-2223.
    i. FERC Contact: Evan Williams, (202) 502-8462 or 
[email protected].
    j. Determination under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation 
Act (FAST-41): On February 27, 2023, the project sponsor submitted a 
FAST-41 Initiation Notice to the Federal Permitting Improvement 
Steering Council for the proposed project. On March 13, 2023, 
Commission staff determined that the proposed project qualifies as a 
covered project under FAST-41, as is defined in 42 U.S.C. 4370m(6).
    k. Cooperating agencies: Under 42 U.S.C. 4370m-2(a)(2)(A), as the 
lead agency, the Commission is required to: (1) identify all federal 
and non-federal agencies and governmental entities likely to have 
financing, environmental review, authorization, or other 
responsibilities with respect to the project; and (2) invite all 
federal agencies under (1) to become a cooperating or participating 
agency, as appropriate. Commission staff have identified the Bureau of 
Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nevada Division of Environmental 
Protection, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Nevada Department of 
Conservation and Natural Resources, and Nevada State Historic 
Preservation Office as the relevant agencies under (1) above. With this 
notice, we invite the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be 
cooperating agencies under (2) above. Under 42 U.S.C. 4370m-2(a)(3)(A), 
each invited federal agency above will be designated as a cooperating 
agency unless the agency responds in writing to the Commission and the 
Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering 
Council within 14 days of this notice stating that the agency: (1) has 
no jurisdiction or authority with respect to the proposed project; or 
(2) does not intend to exercise authority related to, or submit 
comments on, the proposed project.
    The federal agencies invited to cooperate above and any other 
federal, state, local, and tribal agencies with

[[Page 16624]]

jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental 
issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the environmental 
document should follow the filing instructions described in item m 
below. Cooperating agencies should note the Commission's policy that 
agencies that cooperate in the preparation of the environmental 
document cannot also intervene. See 94 FERC ] 61,076 (2001).
    l. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Native-American Tribe, or person 
believes that an additional scientific study should be conducted in 
order to form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the 
application on its merit, the resource agency, Native-American Tribe, 
or person must file a request for a study with the Commission not later 
than 60 days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a 
copy of the request on the applicant.
    m. Deadline under 42 U.S.C. 4370m-2(a)(2)(B) for responses from the 
specific federal agencies invited to cooperate in item k: March 27, 
2023.
    Deadline for filing additional study requests and deadline for 
agencies, other than the specific federal agencies invited to cooperate 
in item k, to file requests for cooperating agency status: April 28, 
2023.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status 
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. 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. All filings must clearly identify the project name and 
docket number on the first page: White Pine Pumped Storage Project (P-
14851-003).
    n. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    o. The proposed pumped storage project would involve constructing 
the following new facilities: (1) a 5,695-foot-long lined compacted 
rock-fill dam that would create a 46.8-acre upper reservoir that would 
be lined with an impermeable polyvinylchloride liner to reduce leakage 
and would be surrounded by a 10-foot-high wildlife and security fence; 
(2) a 6,629-foot-long compacted earth-fill embankment dam that would 
create a 62.8-acre lower reservoir that would be lined with an 
impermeable liner to reduce leakage and would be surrounded by a 10-
foot-high wildlife and security fence; (3) a water conveyance system 
connecting the upper and lower reservoirs that consists of the 
following structures: (a) an ungated vertical inlet/outlet bellmouth-
type structure located at the bottom of the upper reservoir with a 65-
foot-deep conical transition to provide flow into a 20-foot-diameter, 
2,260-foot-high reinforced concrete-lined vertical headrace shaft; (b) 
a 20-foot-diameter, 240-foot-long horizontal steel-lined high-pressure 
headrace tunnel; (c) three 11-foot-diameter, 134- to 200-foot-long 
steel-lined underground penstocks, each with a turbine main inlet valve 
just upstream of each pump-turbine unit; (d) three 13-foot-diameter, 
352- to 448-foot-long steel-lined draft tube tunnels of, that 
transition to concrete-lined tunnels of unknown length, downstream of 
the transformer cavern; (e) a 22-foot-diameter, 7,610-foot-long 
concrete-lined tailrace tunnel that terminates at the inlet/outlet 
structure; and (f) an approximately 92.5-foot-wide intake/outlet 
structure with trashracks, designed as a horizontal fan-shaped 
diffusor, that extends more than 100 feet from the tailrace tunnel and 
isolates the lower reservoir from the tailrace tunnel by a pair of 
10.5-foot by 25-foot stoplogs in slots extending down from the intake/
outlet structure; (4) a 367-foot-long, 83-foot-wide, 191-foot-high 
underground powerhouse cavern containing three 333-megawatt Francis 
pump-turbines and three generator-motors; (5) a 300-foot-long, 62-foot-
wide, 93-foot-high underground transformer cavern containing three-
phase step-up transformers connected to the powerhouse cavern by three 
busbar tunnels of unknown dimensions; (6) three 345-kilovolt 
underground circuits connecting from the unit transformers in the 
transformer cavern through a 4,950-foot-long, 24-foot-diameter, D-
shaped cable tunnel to the new switchyard; (7) a 400-foot-long by 370-
foot-wide fenced outdoor switchyard where the circuits would be 
combined into a single 345-kilovolt transmission line; (8) a 25-mile-
long, 345-kilovolt overhead transmission line that connects to the grid 
at the existing NV Energy Robinson Summit substation (the point of 
interconnection); (9) a 5,108-foot-long 30-foot-diameter, D-shaped 
shotcrete-lined main access tunnel to provide access to the powerhouse 
and transformer caverns; (10) six other secondary access tunnels for 
accessing the transformer and powerhouse caverns (4 tunnels), the 
tailrace, and the headrace; (11) access roads, including: (a) 4,872-
foot-long lower reservoir perimeter road; (c) a 572-foot-long 
switchyard access road; (d) a 37,300-foot-long, permanent, dual-lane 
paved upper reservoir access road; (e) a 6,200-foot-long upper 
reservoir perimeter road; and (f) an unknown number of access roads for 
transmission line access; (12) a gated, signed, and signaled railroad 
crossing for construction vehicle traffic across the active Nevada 
Northern Railway HiLine track; (13) a permanent, approximately 
1,005,000-cubic-yard spoil disposal site; (14) an unknown number of 
temporary explosives storage facilities of unknown dimensions; and (15) 
appurtenant facilities. A new, alternative upper reservoir access road 
is being considered that would utilize an approximately 3.5-mile long, 
permanent, dual-lane paved roadway that would connect the proposed 
upper reservoir location to White Pine County Road 29 (NV-486), through 
the Duck Creek Range and across Duck Creek. Additionally, a gated, 
signed, and signaled railroad crossing for construction vehicle traffic 
across the currently inactive Nevada Northern Railway Mainline track is 
also being considered, if the track is reactivated.
    The project would also utilize existing portions of unknown lengths 
of U.S. highway 93 and an existing unimproved, unpaved vehicle track as 
the proposed western access road, and an unknown number of existing 
access roads and tracks of unknown length to access the proposed 
transmission line and temporary explosives storage facilities. 
Additionally, an unknown number of existing power distribution lines 
would need to be re-routed and upgraded before construction of the 
project to avoid impacts as a result of lower reservoir construction 
and to facilitate crossings at the western access road. Further, an 
unidentified ridge road of unknown length would need to be rerouted to 
bypass construction and permanent facilities. NV Energy would also need 
to design and construct a new bay at the Robinson Summit Substation for 
the interconnection of the project.
    The water used for construction, to initially fill the new lower 
reservoir, and to provide make-up water would come from four new 
groundwater wells in the Steptoe Valley, located to the south of the 
lower reservoir. The initial volume of water necessary to fill the

[[Page 16625]]

lower reservoir is estimated to be 5,000 acre-feet and would be filled 
over a 12- to 18-month period. It is estimated that the project would 
need approximately 560 acre-feet of water each year to replenish water 
lost through seepage, leakage, and evaporation. Once the lower 
reservoir is filled, approximately 4,082 acre-feet could be cycled 
between the lower reservoir and upper reservoir each day. The project 
is designed to generate electricity on demand for up to 8 hours each 
day at the maximum generating capacity. The estimated annual generation 
is 2,400 gigawatt-hours per year.
    p. 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 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. For assistance, contact 
FERC at [email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or 
TYY, (202) 502-8659.
    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.
    q. Procedural schedule: Consistent with the requirements in FAST-
41, a procedural schedule for processing the license application will 
be developed in consultation with the relevant agencies and 
subsequently posted to the docket.
    r. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice 
of ready for environmental analysis.

    Dated: March 13, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-05543 Filed 3-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


