E3-00658. Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Vist and Soliciting Scoping Comments

December 19, 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.: 2630-004.

c. Date Filed: June 27, 2003.

d. Applicant: PacifiCorp.

e. Name of Project: Prospect Nos. 1, 2, and 4 Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Rogue River, Middle Fork Rouge River, and Red Blanket Creek in Jackson County, near Prospect, Oregon. The project would not utilize federal lands.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Toby Freeman, Hydro Licensing, 825 NE Multnomah Avenue, Suite 1500, Portland, OR 97232, [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Nick Jayjack at [phone] or [e-mail].

j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: February 23, 2004.

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.

Scoping comments 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.

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

l. The existing Prospect Nos. 1, 2, and 4 Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 10-foot-high, 165-foot-long concrete gravity-type overflow diversion dam on the Middle Fork Rogue River; (2) a 10-foot-high, 1,160-foot-long concrete and earth-fill diversion dam on Red Blanket Creek; (3) a 50-foot-high, 384-foot-long concrete gravity diversion dam on the Rogue River; (4) a 260-acre-foot impoundment behind the North Fork diversion dam (the other two dams form minimal impoundments); (5) non-functional fishways at the Red Blanket Creek and Middle Fork Rogue River diversion dams; (6) a 9.25-mile-long water conveyance system composed of gunite-lined canals (24,967 feet), unlined earthen canals (4,426 feet), open-top woodstave flumes (6,609 feet), woodstave flow lines (7,139 feet), and steel penstocks (1,796 feet); (7) three powerhouses with a combined installed capacity of 41,560-kilowatts; (8) three 69-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines (0.26, 0.28, and 0.31 miles in length) and one 2.3-kV transmission line (0.6 miles in length); (9) a developed recreation area known as North Fork Park; and (10) appurtenant facilities. The applicant is proposing certain non-power resource enhancements. The applicant estimates that the total average annual generation is 280,657 megawatt-hours. Power from the project serves the applicant's residential and commercial customers in the communities of northern Jackson County and southern Douglas County, Oregon.

m. 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/​esubscribenow.htm to be notified via e-mail of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

n. Scoping process.

The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action.

Scoping Meetings

Commission staff will conduct two scoping meetings. An evening meeting will focus on public input and a second, daytime meeting will focus on agency, Indian tribe, and non-governmental organization input. All interested individuals, organizations, agencies, and Indian tribes are invited to attend one or both of the meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope of the environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:

Evening Scoping Meeting

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2004.

Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Location: Reston Hotel and Convention Center, 2300 Crater Lake Hwy., Medford, Oregon.

Daytime Scoping Meeting

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2004.

Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Location: Reston Hotel and Convention Center, 2300 Crater Lake Hwy., Medford, Oregon.

Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA were distributed to parties on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the scoping meeting or may be viewed on the Web at http://www.ferc.gov using the “eLibrary” link (see item m above).

Site Visit

PacifiCorp and Commission staff will conduct a project site visit beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday, January 22, 2004. If you would like to attend the site visit, please RSVP Arianne Poindexter, PacifiCorp at [phone] by January 16, 2004. We will assemble at the Prospect Nos. 1, 2, and 4 Operator Office/Warehouse located at 1111 Mill Creek Drive, Prospect, Oregon. All participants will be responsible for their own transportation to the designated meeting site.

Objectives

At the scoping meetings, staff will: (1) Summarize the environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2) solicit from the meeting participants all available information, especially empirical data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage statements from participants on issues that should be analyzed in the EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) identify those issues that do not require a detailed analysis.

Procedures

The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and become part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.

Individuals, organizations, agencies, and Indian tribes with environmental expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and to assist Commission staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed in the EA.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.