E7-16249. Eugene West and Electric Board; Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

August 10, 2007.

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

a. Type of Application: New Major License.

b. Project No.: 2242-078.

c. Date filed: November 24, 2006.

d. Applicant: Eugene Water and Electric Board.

e. Name of Project: Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the McKenzie River in Lane and Linn Counties, near McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. The project occupies approximately 560 acres of the Willamette National Forest.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Randy L. Berggren, General Manager, Eugene Water and Electric Board, 500 East 4th Avenue, P.O. Box 10148, Eugene, OR 97440, [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Bob Easton, [phone] or [e-mail].

j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: October 12, 2007.

All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: Kimberly D. Bose, 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 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.

Scoping comments 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.

k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

l. The Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project consists of two developments, the Carmen development and the Trail Bridge development. The Carmen development includes:

(1) A 25-foot-high, 2,100-foot-long, and 10-foot-wide earthen Carmen diversion dam with a concrete weir spillway, (2) a 11,380-foot-long by 9.5-foot-diameter concrete Carmen diversion tunnel located on the right abutment of the spillway, (3) a 235-foot-high, 1,100-foot-long, and 15-foot-wide earthen Smith diversion dam with a gated Ogee spillway, (4) a 7,275-foot-long by 13.5 foot-diameter concrete-lined Smith power tunnel, (5) a 1,160-foot-long by 13-foot-diameter steel underground Carmen penstock, (6) a 86-foot-long by 79-foot-wide Carmen powerhouse, (7) two Francis turbines each with a generating capacity of 52.25 megawatts (MW) for a total capacity of 104.50 MW, (8) a 19-mile, 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that connects the Carmen powerhouse to the Bonneville Power Administration's Cougar-Eugene transmission line; and (9) appurtenant facilities.

The Trail Bridge development includes: (1) A 100-foot-high, 700-foot-long, and 24-foot-wide earthen Trail Bridge dam section with a gated Ogee spillway, (2) a 1,000-foot-long and 20-foot-wide emergency spillway section, (3) a 300-foot-long by 12-foot-diameter concrete penstock at the intake that narrows to a diameter of 7 feet, (4) a 66-foot-long by 61-foot-wide Trail Bridge powerhouse, (5) one Kaplan turbine with a generating capacity of 9.975 MW; and (6) a one-mile, 11.5-kV distribution line that connects the Trail Bridge powerhouse to the Carmen powerhouse.

m. 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 1-866-208-3676, 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 e-mail of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

n. Scoping Process.

The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) on the project 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 action.

Scoping Meetings

Commission staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public scoping meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public 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:

Agency Scoping Meeting

Date: September 13, 2007, Time : 9 a.m. to noon (PST),

Place: Midgleys Building Meeting Room,

Address: 500 East 4th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon (The Midgleys Building Meeting Room is located at the corner of East 4th Avenue and High Street, adjacent to the EWEB office located at 409 High Street).

Public Scoping Meeting

Date: September 13, 2007,

Time: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. (PST),

Place: Midgleys Building Meeting Room,

Address: 500 East 4th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon (see above).

Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the scoping meetings or may be viewed on the internet at http://www.ferc.gov using the “eLibrary” link (see item m above).

Site Visit

EWEB and Commission staff will visit the Carmen-Smith Project on September 12, 2007. All participants interested in seeing the project should meet at EWEB's Offices at 500 East 4th Street, Eugene, Oregon at 8 a.m. or meet at the informal parking area across Highway 126 from the Trail Bridge Dam at 9:30 a.m. Anyone with questions about the site visit (or needing directions) should contact Karen Lee at [phone] or [e-mail]. Those individuals planning to participate in the site visit should notify Ms. Lee of their intent, no later than September 6, 2007.

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.

Procedures

The meetings are recorded by a stenographer and become part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.

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.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.