[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16443-16444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-8272]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Notice of Scoping Meeting and Site Visit, ND Soliciting Scoping
Comments
March 30, 1999.
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.: 2161-006
c. Date Filed: June 26, 1998
d. Applicant: Rhinelander Paper Company
e. Name of Project: Rhinelander Hydroelectric Project
f. Location: On the Wisconsin River, at river mile 357, in the
townships of Tomahawk, Newbold, Pine Lake, and Pelican, Oneida County,
Wisconsin. There are no federal lands located within the project area.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contacts:
Mr. Bruce Olson, Utility Superintendent, Rhinelander Paper Company,
515 West Davenport Street, Rhinelander, Wisconsin 54501, (715) 369-
4244.
i. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed
to Michael Spencer, E-mail address, michael.spencer@ferc.fed.us, or
telephone (202) 219-2846.
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: May 15, 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 the resource agency.
k. Status of environmental analysis: This application is not ready
for environmental analysis at this time.
l. Description of the Project: The project consists of the
following existing facilities: (1) a main dam comprised of 370 feet of
earth embankments, in two sections to the left and right of a spillway
section containing two 10.7-foot-wide steel roller gates; (2) a 965-
foot-long power canal, with a single 26-foot-wide Taintor gate spillway
structure located downstream of a 14-gate canal inlet structure,
located adjacent to the right embankment of the dam; (3) an 8.5-mile-
long, 3,576-acre impoundment with a normal water surface elevation of
1,555.45 feet above mean sea level (msl), and a normal storage capacity
of 21,500 acre-feet; (4) a brick powerhouse located at the downstream
end of the power canal, containing three horizontal Francis turbine
units for a total installed capacity of 2,120 kilowatts (kW) and an
average annual energy production of 10.692 gigawatt-hours (GWh); (5)
switchgear connections with the adjacent paper mill; and (6)
appurtenant facilities.
m. Locations of the application: A copy of the application is
available for inspection and reproduction at the Commission's Public
Reference Room, located at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington,
DC 20426, or by calling (202) 208-1371. This filing may be viewed on
the web at http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call 202-208-2222
for assistance). A copy is also available for inspection and
reproduction at the address shown in item h.
n. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare a multiple
project Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed relicensing of
the Rhinelander Project, Stevens Point Project (FERC No. 2110), and
Biron Project (FERC No. 2192), 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 actions.
Scoping Meetings
The Commission will hold scoping meetings, one in the daytime and
one in the evening, to help us identify the scope of issues to be
addressed in the EA.
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 scope of the environmental issues that should be
analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of these meetings are as
follows:
Daytime Meeting
Friday, April 16, 1999, 9 a.m., Best Western Claridge Inn, 70 North
Stevens
[[Page 16444]]
St., Highway 17 North, Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Evening Meeting
Thursday, April 15, 1999, 7 p.m., Best Western Claridge Inn, 70
North Stevens St., Highway 17 North, Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document
(SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA to parties
on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 also will be
available at the scoping meetings.
Site Visit
The applicant and Commission staff will conduct a project site
visit on Thursday, April 15, 1999. We will meet at the guard desk in
the Rhinelander Paper Company lobby, 515 West Davenport Street, at 1
p.m. If you would like to attend, please call Bruce Olson, Rhinelander
Paper Company, at 715-369-4244, no later than April 9, 1999.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) summarize the
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (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 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
require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that do not
require a detailed analysis.
The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become
part of the formal record of the Commission's proceeding on the
project. Individuals presenting statements at the meetings will be
asked to sign in before the meeting starts and to identify themselves
clearly 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 EA.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-8272 Filed 4-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
