[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 249 (Thursday, December 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-32130]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: December 29, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Project No. 2569; Project No. 2538]
Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.; Beebee Island Corp.; Notice of Intent
To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Public Scoping
Meetings and Site Visits
December 23, 1994.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has received
applications for new licenses (relicense) for the existing Black River
Project No. 2569 and the existing Beebee Island Project No. 2538. The
projects are located on the Black River in Jefferson County, New York.
The FERC staff intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the hydroelectric projects in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act.
The staff's EIS will objectively consider both site-specific and
cumulative environmental impacts of the projects and reasonable
alternatives, and will include economic, financial and engineering
analyses.
A draft EIS will be issued and circulated for review by all
interested parties. All comments filed on the draft EIS will be
analyzed by the staff and considered in the final EIS. The staff's
conclusions and recommendations will then be presented for the
consideration of the Commission in reaching its final licensing
decision.
Site Visits
All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited
to join the staff for visits to the project sites on January 17 and 18,
1995. We will depart from the Watertown Holiday Inn at 8:30 a.m. each
day and conclude by noon on January 18. If the site visits are
cancelled because of weather conditions, they will not be rescheduled.
Scoping Meetings
The FERC will conduct two public scoping meetings on January 18,
1995. The first meeting will be held from 1:00 to 5:00 PM and will
focus on resource agency concerns. This will be followed by an evening
scoping meeting from 7:00 to 10:00 PM geared primarily for public
input. Both scoping meetings will be held at Watertown High School--
Large Group Instruction Room, 1335 Washington Street, Watertown, New
York. All interested individuals, organizations and agencies are
invited to attend and assist the staff in identifying the scope of
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EIS.
Everyone in attendance is encouraged to participate during the
public meetings. Speaking time allowed for individuals will be
determined before each meeting, based on the number of persons wishing
to speak and the approximate amount of time available for the session.
All speakers will be provided at least 5 minutes to present their
views.
To help focus discussions at the meetings, a Scoping Document
outlining subject areas to be addressed in the EIS will be mailed to
agencies and interested individuals on the FERC mailing list. Copies of
the scoping document will also be available at the scoping meetings.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, the staff will:
Identify reasonable alternatives that should be evaluated
in the EIS;
Identify significant environmental issues related to the
proposed project;
Determine the depth of analysis for issues to be addressed
in the EIS;
Identify resource issues that are not important and do not
require detailed analysis;
Solicit from the meeting participants all available
information, especially quantitative data on the resources at issue;
and
Encourage statements from experts and the public on issues
that should be analyzed in the EIS, including points of view in
opposition to, or in support of, the staff's preliminary views.
Procedures
The meetings will be recorded by a court stenographer and all
statements (oral and written) will become a part of the formal record
of the Commission proceedings for the project. Individuals presenting
statements at the meeting will be asked to clearly identify themselves
for the record.
Persons choosing not to speak at the meetings, but who have views
on the issues or information relevant to the issues, may submit written
statements for inclusion in the public record at the meeting. In
addition, written scoping comments may be filed with the Secretary,
Federal Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE,
Washington, D.C. 20426 until February 10, 1995.
All written correspondence should clearly identify the project on
the first page of the submittal: Black River Project, FERC No. 2569 or
Beebee Island Project, FERC No. 2538. Intervenors in this proceeding
are reminded that if they file comments with the Commission, they must
also serve a copy of their filing on the license applicant and all
intervenors whose names appear on the official service list. Further,
if a party or interceder 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.
If you have any questions, please contact Tom Camp at (202) 219-
2832.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-32130 Filed 12-28-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
