E4-308. Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests

February 11, 2004.

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

a. Type of Application: Major unconstructed project.

b. Project No.: 11858-02.

c. Date Filed: February 2, 2004.

d. Applicant: Elsinore Municipal Water District and the Nevada Hydro Company, Inc.

e. Name of Project: Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage Project.

f. Location: On Lake Elsinore and San Juan Creek, in the Town of Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, California. The project would occupy federal lands, including lands managed by the Forest Service (Cleveland National Forest), Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Defense (Camp Pendleton).

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

h. Applicant Contact: Rexford Wait, The Nevada Hydro Company, 2416 Cades Way, Vista, California 92083, [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Jim Fargo, 202-502-6095, [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 18 CFR 4.32(b)(7) 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: April 2, 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.

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. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

n. The proposed project would consist of: (1) A new upper reservoir (Morrell Canyon) having a 180-foot-high main dam and a gross storage volume of 5,760 feet, at a normal reservoir surface elevation of 2,760 feet above mean sea level (msl); (2) a powerhouse with two reversible pump-turbine units with a total installed capacity of 500 megawatts; (3) the existing Lake Elsinore to be used as a lower reservoir; (4) about 30 miles of 500 kV transmission line connecting the project to an existing transmission line owned by Southern California Edison located north of the proposed project and to an existing San Diego Gas & Electric Company transmission line located to the south.

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 [phone], 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 California 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 or Deficiency Letter—May 2004

Request Additional Information—May 2004

Issue Acceptance letter—September 2004

Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments—October 2004

Hold Scoping Meeting—November 2004

Request Additional Information (if needed)—January 2005

Issue Scoping Document 2—January 2005

Notice of application is ready for environmental analysis—January 2005

Notice of the availability of the draft NEPA document—July 2005

Start 10(j) process—September 2005

Notice of the availability of the final NEPA document—January 2006

Ready for Commission's decision on the application—April 2006

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.

Linda Mitry,

Acting Secretary.