99-4787. Notice of Scoping Meeting and Soliciting Scoping Comments for an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment Using the Alternative Licensing Process

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 38 (Friday, February 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9498-9499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4787]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meeting and Soliciting Scoping Comments for an 
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment Using the Alternative 
Licensing Process

February 22, 1999.
    a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
    b. Project No.: 346.
    c. Applicant: Minnesota Power, Inc.
    d. Name of Project: Blanchard Hydroelectric Project.
    e. Location: On the Mississippi River, downstream of the City of 
Little Falls, in Morrison County, Minnesota.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. Secs. 791(a)-
825(r).
    g. Applicant Contact: Bob Bohm, Minnesota Power, Inc., P.O. Box 60, 
Little Falls, MN 56345, [phone] (ext. 5042).
    h. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed 
to Tom Dean, E-mail address [e-mail], or telephone (202) 
219-2778.
    i. Deadline for filing scoping comments: April 23, 1999.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
David P. Boergers, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 
First Street, NE. Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all 
intervenors filing documents with the Commission to serve a copy of 
that document on each person whose name appears 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.
    j. Description of the Project: This Blanchard Project consists of 
the following existing facilities: (1) a 750-foot-long, 62-foot-high 
concrete gravity dam comprising: (a) a 190-foot-long non-overflow 
section; (b) a 437-foot-long gated spillway section; (c) eight 44-foot-
wide by 10.5 feet-high Taintor gates; and (d) a 124-foot-wide integral 
powerhouse; (2) approximately 3,540-foot-long earth dikes extending 
from both sides of the concrete dam; (3) a 1,152-acre reservoir at 
normal water surface elevation of 1,081.7 feet msl; (4) a powerhouse 
containing three generating units with a total installed capacity of 
18,000 kW; and (5) other appurtenances.
    k. Scoping Process:
    Minnesota Power, Inc. (Minnesota Power) intends to utilize the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) alternative 
licensing process (ALP). Under the ALP, Minnesota Power will prepare an 
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment (APEA) and license 
application for the Blanchard Hydroelectric Project.
    On September 21, 1998, Minnesota Power requested, and on November 
16, 1998, obtained the Commission's approval to use the ALP.
    Minnesota Power expects to file with the Commission, the APEA and 
the license application for the Blanchard Hydroelectric Project by 
August 2001.
    The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the opportunity to 
participate in the upcoming scoping meetings identified below, and to 
solicit your scoping comments.

Scoping Meetings

    Minnesota Power and the Commission staff will hold two scoping 
meetings, one in the daytime and one in the evening, to help us 
identify the scope of issues to be addressed in the APEA.
    The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, 
while the evening scoping meeting is primarily for public input. All 
interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
attend one or both of the meetings, and to assist the staff in 
identifying the environmental issues that should be analyzed in the 
APEA. The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:

Daytime Meeting

    Wednesday, March 24, 1999, 1:00 p.m., Country Inn and Suites, 209 
16th Street NE, Little Falls, Minnesota 56345.

Evening Meeting

    Wednesday, March 24, 1999, 7:00 p.m., Country Inn and Suites, 209 
16th Street NE, Little Falls, Minnesota 56345.
    To help focus discussions, Minnesota Power will mail SDI outlining 
the subject areas to be addressed in the APEA to the parties on the 
Minnesota Power's mailing list. Copies of the SDI also will be 
available at the scoping meetings.
    Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document II 
(SDII) may be issued. SDII will include a revised list of issues, based 
on the scoping sessions.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) summarize the 
environmental issues

[[Page 9499]]

tentatively identified for analysis in the APEA; (2) solicit from the 
meeting participants all available information, especially quantifiable 
data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage statements from experts 
and the public on issues that should be analyzed in the APEA, including 
viewpoints in opposition to, or in support of, the staff's preliminary 
views; (4) determine the resource issues to be addressed in the APEA; 
and (5) identify those issues that require a detailed analysis, as well 
as those issues that do not require a detailed analysis.

Procedures

    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become 
part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project. 
Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be asked to sign 
in before the meeting starts and to clearly identify themselves for the 
record.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the APEA.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-4787 Filed 2-25-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M