[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 134 (Friday, July 14, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45197-45198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14990]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2607-016]


Spencer Mountain Hydropower, LLC; Notice of Application Tendered 
for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests 
and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for 
Submission of Final Amendments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Subsequent License.
    b. Project No.: 2607-016.
    c. Date filed: June 26, 2023.
    d. Applicant: Spencer Mountain Hydropower, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Spencer Mountain Hydroelectric Project (Spencer 
Mountain Project).
    f. Location: On the South Fork Catawba River, near the town of 
Gastonia, in Gaston County, North Carolina.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Kevin Edwards and Mrs. Amy Edwards, 
Spencer Mountain Hydropower, LLC, 916 Comer Rd., Stoneville, NC 27048; 
Phone at (336) 589-6138, or [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Michael Spencer at (202) 502-6093, or 
[email protected].
    j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies 
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to 
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the 
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such 
requests described in item l 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).
    k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's 
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian 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, Indian 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.
    l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for 
cooperating agency status: September 8, 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 http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 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: Spencer Mountain 
Project (P-2607-016).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    n. The Spencer Mountain Project consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) a 12-foot-high, 636-foot-long masonry and rubble dam 
with a crest elevation of 634.7 feet mean sea level (msl); (2) a 68-
acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 166 acre-feet; (3) a 58.9-
foot-long canal headwork, consisting of four 6-foot-wide gates; (4) a 
53.8-foot-long canal spillway

[[Page 45198]]

connected to the downstream side of the canal headwork; (5) a 30-foot-
wide, 10-foot-deep, 3,644-foot-long open earthen canal; (6) a 32-foot-
wide trashrack at the powerhouse forebay; (7) a 36-inch-diameter bypass 
pipe; (8) a 22.5-foot-high, 49.5-foot-long, 48.75-foot-wide powerhouse 
containing two Francis-type generating units with a total capacity of 
0.64 megawatts; (9) a concrete lined tailrace discharging flows back 
into the South Fork Catawba River; (10) a substation containing a 2.3/
44-kilovolt (kV) transformer and interconnection to Duke Energy's 44kV 
transmission line; and (11) appurtenant facilities.
    The project operates in a run-of-river mode with a minimum bypass 
flow of 76 cubic feet per second. Spencer Mountain Hydropower, LLC 
proposes no changes to the project facilities or operations. The 
project has an average annual generation of 4,064 megawatt-hours.
    o. Copies of the application may be viewed on the Commission's 
website 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 (P-2607). For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support at [email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 
208-3676 or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
    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.
    The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports 
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission 
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners, 
environmental justice communities, Tribal members and others, access 
publicly available information and navigate Commission processes. For 
public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as 
interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is 
encouraged to contact OPP at (202) 502-6595 or [email protected].
    p. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will 
be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions 
to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)--August 2023
Request Additional Information (if necessary)--September 2023
Issue Acceptance Letter--November 2023
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--November 2023
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)--January 2024
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--February 2024

    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: July 10, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-14990 Filed 7-13-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


