E3-00185. Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission, Soliciting Additional Study Requests, and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Reclicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

November 3, 2003.

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.: 2114-116.

c. Date Filed: October 29, 2003.

d. Applicant: Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, WA.

e. Name of Project: Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Columbia River in portions of Grant, Yakima, Kittitas, Douglas, Benton, and Chelan counties, Washington. The project occupies federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Energy, Department of the Army, and Fish and Wildlife Service.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Ms. Laurel Heacock, Licensing Manager, Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County, 30 C Street SW, Ephrata, Washington 98823, telephone [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Charles Hall, telephone [phone], e-mail [e-mail].

j. Cooperating agencies: We are asking Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the preparation of the environmental document. Agencies who would like to request cooperating status should follow the instructions for filing comments described in item l below.

k. Pursuant to § 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: December 22, 2003.

All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

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.

Additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) under the “e-Filing” link.

m. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

n. The project includes two developments with a total authorized capacity of 1,755 megawatts (MW) as follows:

(a) The Wanapum development consisting of a dam 186.5 feet high and 8,637 feet long with upstream fish passage facilities, a reservoir with an approximate surface area of 14,680 acres, a powerhouse with ten turbine-generator units with a total nameplate capacity of 900 MW, transmission lines, and appurtenant facilities.

(b) The Priest Rapids development consisting of a dam 179.5 feet high and 10,103 feet long with upstream fish passage facilities, a reservoir with an approximate surface area of 7,725 acres, a powerhouse with ten turbine-generator units with a total nameplate capacity of 855 MW, transmission lines, and appurtenant facilities.

o. A copy of the application is available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site 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, contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail] or toll-free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, [phone]. A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.

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.

p. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the WASHINGTON STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER (SHPO), as required by Section 106, National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36 CFR 800.4.

q. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will be processed according to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

Issue Acceptance letter: January 2004

Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments: January 2004

Issue Scoping Document 2: April 2004

Notice of application is ready for environmental analysis: April 2004

Notice of the availability of the draft NEPA document: December 2004

Notice of the availability of the final NEPA document: August 2005

Ready for Commission's decision on the application: August 2005

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.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.