00-20074. Notice of Application Acceptance for Filing and Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests

July 14, 2000.

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

a. Type of Application: A New Major License.

b. Project No.: 2042-013.

c. Date filed: January 21, 2000.

d. Applicant: Public Utility District No. 1 of Pend Oreille County.

e. Name of Project: Box Canyon Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Pend Oreille River, in Pend Oreille County, Washington and Bonner County, Idaho. About 709 acres within the project boundary are located on lands of the United States, including Kalispel Indian Reservation (493 acres), U.S. Forest Service Colville National Forest (182.93 acres), U.S. Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration (24.14 acres), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2.45 acres), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (5.29 acres), and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (1.44 acres).

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 USC 791(1)-825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Robert Gedds, Public Utility District No. 1 of Pend Oreille County, 130 North Washington St., Newport, WA 99156; [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Mr. Timothy Welch, E-mail: [e-mail] or telephone [phone].

j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protest: October 6, 2000.

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 Box Canyon Project is located in the northeast corner of Washington state in Pend Oreille County. The project dam is located at river mile 34.4 from the Pend Oreille River's confluence with the Columbia River. The site is 13 miles form the Canadian border, 14 miles from the Idaho border, and 90 miles north of city of Spokane, WA. The existing Box Canyon Project consists of: (1) 46-foot-high, 160-foot-long reinforced concrete dam with integral spillway, (2) 217-foot-long, 35-foot-diameter diversion tunnel, (3) 1,170-foot-long forebay channel, (4) auxiliary spillway, (5) powerhouse containing four generating units with a combined capacity of 72 MW, (6) 8,850-acre reservoir at maximum operating pool elevation of 2030.6 feet, and other associated facilities. PUD No. 1 operates the project in a run-of-river mode.

PUD No. 1 purposes to upgrade all four turbines with new high efficiency, fish-friendly runners and to rewind the four generators to increase generating capacity to 90 MW. No new structures will be built and no construction in the river will be required. No operational changes will be needed although peak flow through each turbine will be increased from 6,850 cfs to 8,100 cfs which will ultimately result in an 8% increase in average annual energy output.

m. Location 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 20246, 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 in item h. above.

n. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will be processed according to the following milestones, some of which may be combined to expedite processing:

Notice of NEPA scoping

Notice that the application is ready for environmental analysis

Notice of the availability of the draft NEPA document

Notice of the availability of the final NEPA document

Order issuing the Commission's decision on the application

Final amendments to the application must be filed with the Commission within 30 days of the Notice that the application is ready for environmental analysis.

Protests or Motions to Intervene—Anyone may submit a protest or a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, 385.211, and 385.214. In determining the appropriate action to take, the Commission will consider all protests 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 protests or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified deadline date for the particular application.

Filing and Service of Responsive Documents—The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time; therefore, the Commission is not now requesting comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions.

When the application is ready for environmental analysis, the Commission will issue a public notice requesting comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions.

All filing must (1) bear in all capital letters the title “PROTEST” or “MOTION TO INTERVENE,” (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. Agencies may obtain copies of the application directly from the applicant. Any of these documents must be filed by providing the original and the number of copies required by the Commission's regulations to: The Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426. An additional copy must be sent to Director, Division of Environmental and Engineering Review, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, at the above address. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular application.

David P. Boergers,

Secretary.