2022-11779. Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and ...

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.: 3509-042.

c. Date Filed: August 31, 2021.

d. Applicant: Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP (Little Falls Associates).

e. Name of Project: Little Falls Hydroelectric Project (Little Falls Project).

f. Location: The existing project is located on the Mohawk River, in the City of Little Falls, Herkimer County, New York. The project does not occupy federal land.

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

h. Applicant Contact: David H. Fox, Director, Licensing and Compliance, Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP, Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1100W, Bethesda, MD 20814, email— [e-mail]; Jody J. Smet, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP, Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1100W, Bethesda, MD 20814, email— [e-mail] .

i. FERC Contact: Monir Chowdhury at [phone] or email at [e-mail] .

j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​ecomment.asp. You must include your name and contact information at the end of your comments. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail], [phone] (toll free), or [phone] (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should include docket number P-3509-042.

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.

k. This application has been accepted for filing and is now ready for environmental analysis.

l. Project Description: The Little Falls Project consists of: (1) Two state-owned spillway dams ( i.e., North State Dam and South State Dam) joined by an island, and equipped with 1-foot-high flashboards and flow control gates, with a total length of 530 feet and a height of about 6 feet; (2) a reservoir with a storage capacity of 800 acre-feet at a normal surface elevation of 363.8 feet; ^[1] (3) a 45-foot-wide, 330-foot-long navigation lock (Lock 17); (4) a 55-foot-wide, 73-foot-long concrete intake structure with two roller head gates to control flow through the intake; (5) two 14.7-foot-diameter, 90-foot-long underground concrete penstocks; (6) a 65-foot-wide by 99-foot-long concrete powerhouse containing two-turbine-generator units each with a capacity of 6.65 megawatts; (7) two 74-foot-wide, 25-foot-high flood control gates; (8) two sets of 4.16-kilovolt (kV), 60-foot-long generator leads that run from the powerhouse to a 36-foot-wide by 46-foot-long switchyard containing a 4.16/46-kV transformer; and (9) appurtenant facilities.

There are structures inside the project boundary that are not considered part of the project: The Middle Dam, with sixty percent of the dam currently breached, located in the bypassed reach of the Mohawk River, and built as part of a hydropower plant that was decommissioned in 1962; and the Gilbert Dam located also in the bypassed reach approximately 700 feet upstream of the powerhouse to measure flow through the Mohawk River and to ensure minimum flow conditions are met in the river.

Little Falls Associates proposes to continue to operate the project in a run-of-river mode and continue to provide a minimum flow of 300 cubic feet per second, or inflow if less, into the project's bypassed reach. The project generated an annual average of 55,355 megawatt-hours between 2013-2020.

m. A copy of the application may be viewed on the Commission's website 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.

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.

n. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified comment date for the particular application.

All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title “PROTEST,” “MOTION TO INTERVENE,” “COMMENTS,” “REPLY COMMENTS,” “RECOMMENDATIONS,” “PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,” or “PRELIMINARY FISHWAY PRESCRIPTIONS;” (2) set forth in the heading the name of the applicant and the project number of the application to which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone number of the person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions must set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the application directly from the applicant. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular application. A copy of all other filings in reference to this application must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed in the service list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.

o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as appropriate.

Milestone	Target date
Filing of comments, recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions	July 2022.
Filing of Reply Comments	September 2022.

p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

q. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date of issuance of this notice: (1) A copy of the water quality certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note that the certification request must comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b), including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the certification request. Please also note that the certification request must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission concurrently.

Dated: May 25, 2022.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  All elevations refer to the Barge Canal Datum which is 0.8 foot higher than elevations in the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.