02-28732. Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission, Soliciting Additional Study Requests, and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

November 5, 2002.

Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

a. Type of Application: New Minor License.

b. Project No.: 1413-032.

c. Date Filed: October 30, 2002.

d. Applicant: Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

e. Name of Project: Buffalo River (previously Pond's Lodge) Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Buffalo River near it's confluence with the Henry's Fork River, in Fremont, Idaho. The project occupies 9.8 acres of land within the Targhee National Forest.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Fall River Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc., 1150 North 3400 East, Ashton, Idaho 83420, Tel. # [phone], and/or Brent L. Smith, President, Northwest Power Services, Inc, P.O. Box 535, Rigby, Idaho 83442, Tel. # [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Gaylord Hoisington, [phone], [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 k below.

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: December 30, 2002.

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 existing Buffalo River Project consists of: (1) a 142-foot-long by 12-foot-high timber-faced rock-filled diversion dam; (2) a 40-foot-long by 3-foot-high concrete slab spillway with stop logs; (3) a fish passage structure; (4) a concrete intake structure with a 5-foot steel slide gate; (5) a trash rack; (6) a 52-foot-long by 5-foot-diameter concrete encased steel penstock; (7) a 34-foot-long by 22-foot-high masonry block powerhouse containing a 250-kilowatt Bouvier Kaplan inclined shaft turbine; and (8) other appurtenant facilities. The applicant estimates that the total average annual generation would be 1,679 megawatthours.

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 “FERRIS” link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail]. or toll-free at [phone], or for TTY, contact [phone]. A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.

p. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the IDAHO STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER (SHPO), as required by § 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 2003

Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments, February 2003

Request Additional Information, April 2003

Issue Scoping Document 2, June 2003

Notice of application is ready for environmental analysis, June 2003

Notice of the availability of the draft EA, September 2003

Notice of the availability of the final EA, November 2003

Ready for Commission's decision on the application, March 2004

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.

Note

—The schedule is going to vary depending upon the circumstances of the project (deficiencies, additional information, etc.) See Guidance for Publishing Hydro Licensing Schedules.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.