[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42144-42145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19926]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Office of the Secretary
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Establishment of Advisory Committee to the Interagency Task Force
To Improve Hydroelectric Licensing Processes
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior, and Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of establishment.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Interior and the Chairman of the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, with the concurrence of members of the
Interagency Task Force to Improve Hydroelectric Licensing Processes
(Interagency Task Force) and after consultation with the General
Services Administration, have established the Advisory Committee to the
Interagency Task Force to Improve Hydroelectric Licensing Processes
(Committee). Established in January 1998, the Interagency Task Force is
addressing practical ways to improve and make more efficient the
process for relicensing hydropower projects under the Federal Power
Act. The Committee will provide a forum for non-Federal entities to
review and provide comments on the deliberations of the Interagency
Task Force.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alex Matthiessen, Office of the Deputy
Secretary, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW., Mail Stop
5100, Washington, D.C. 20042. Telephone 202-208-6291. Or, Carol
Connors, Office of External Affairs, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20426. Telephone
202-208-0870.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We are publishing this notice in accordance
with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
App.) (FACA). Secretary Babbitt and Chairman Hoecker certify that they
have determined that the creation of the Committee is necessary and is
in the public interest.
The Committee will conduct its operations in accordance with the
provisions of FACA. The Committee will report to the Steering Committee
of the Interagency Task Force and will function solely as an advisory
body. The Committee's charter provides for the Committee to assist the
Interagency Task Force by: (1) Holding public meetings and/or
conferences to solicit input on the Interagency Task Force's work
products; (2) providing informal input to the Interagency Task Force
working groups; and (3) identifying appropriate members of the public
with expertise in hydropower licensing to assist the Interagency Task
Force's working groups.
To achieve the Committee's goals, members will be appointed who can
represent effectively the varied interests affected by the hydropower
relicensing process. Members will represent a variety of viewpoints and
have varying experience, and the Committee will be fairly balanced in
terms of points of view, backgrounds, and tasks. Membership will be
composed of representatives of industry; Federal, State, and local
governments; non-governmental organizations; and Indian tribes. Each
member must be qualified on the basis of experience in or knowledge of
the processes involved in hydroelectric licensing. Federal members will
represent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of
the Interior, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, and
the Department of Agriculture. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
and the Department of the Interior representatives will serve as co-
chairs.
The Committee will meet at such intervals as are necessary to carry
out its functions. It is expected that meetings of the Committee
generally will occur no more frequently than four times per year. The
Department of the Interior will provide necessary support services to
the Committee.
The Committee will continue for only as long as the Interagency
Task Force is operating. In any event, the Committee will terminate at
the end of two years from the date of its establishment, unless, prior
to such time, its charter is renewed in accordance with FACA or unless
the Secretary and the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, with the concurrence of the members of the Interagency Task
Force, determine that continuance of the Committee is no longer in the
public interest.
Fifteen days after publication of this notice in the Federal
Register, a copy of the Committee's charter will be filed with the
Committee Management Secretariat, General Services Administration;
Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate;
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate;
Committee on Resources, United States House of Representatives;
Committee on Commerce, United States House of Representatives; and the
Library of Congress.
The Certification for establishment is published below.
Certification
We hereby certify that the establishment of the Advisory Committee
to the Interagency Task Force to Improve Hydroelectric Licensing
Processes is necessary and is in the public interest in connection with
the performance of duties imposed on participants in the Interagency
Task Force by the Federal Power Act and other Federal laws implicated
by the hydropower licensing process. The Committee will assist the
Department of the Interior, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
and other members of the Interagency Task Force, by providing advice on
work products and recommendations to improve the hydropower relicensing
process.
[[Page 42145]]
Dated: July 28, 1999.
James J. Hoecker,
Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Dated: July 29, 1999.
Bruce Babbitt,
Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 99-19926 Filed 8-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P
