99-11946. Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25499-25500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-11946]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping 
Comments

May 6, 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.: 2634-007.
    c. Date Filed: April 28, 1998.
    d. Applicant: Great Northern Paper, Inc.
    e. Name of Project: Storage Project.
    f. Location: The four-reservoir project is located on Ragged 
Stream, Caucomgomoc Stream, the West Branch, and the South Branch of 
the Penobscot River in Somerset and Piscataquis Counties, Maine.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. Secs. 791(a)-
825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Brian R. Stetson, Manager, Environmental 
Affairs, Great Northern Paper, Inc., One Katahdin Avenue, Millinocket, 
ME 04462, [phone].
    i. FERC Contact: Any questions on this notice should be addressed 
to John Costello, E-Mail address, [e-mail], or 
telephone [phone].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: August 3, 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.
    k. Status of environmental analysis: This application is not ready 
for environmental analysis at this time.
    l. Description of the Project: The Storage Project consists of four 
dams and associated storage reservoirs including Canada Falls Lake, 
Seboomook Lake, Caucomgomoc Lake, and Ragged Lake, located in the West 
Branch of the Penobscot River drainage basin. There are no 
hydroelectric generating facilities at the Storage Project 
developments.
    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 [phone]. 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.
    h. Scoping Process: The Commission intends to prepare an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed relicensing of the 
Storage Project (FERC No. 2634) 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 for the Storage Project, 
one in the daytime and one in the evening, to

[[Page 25500]]

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

Thursday, June 3, 1999, 1:00 p.m., Trail Side Restaurant at the Leisure 
Life Resort, Leisure Life Resort Road, Greenville, Maine

Evening Meeting

Thursday, June 3, 1999, 7:00 p.m., Trail Side Restaurant at the Leisure 
Life Resort, Leisure Life Resort Road, Greenville, Maine

    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 Wednesday, June 2, 1999. We will meet at the public boat 
launch on Route 16 located approximately 2 miles west of Greenville, 
Maine at 7 a.m. If you would like to attend, please call Ed Speer, 
Great Northern Paper, Inc. at [phone], no later than May 28, 
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.
    All questions concerning the scoping process should be directed to 
John Costello E-mail address, [e-mail], or telephone 
at [phone].
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-11946 Filed 5-11-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M