2020-20164. City of Watervliet, NY; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments

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

a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.

b. Project No.: P-2955-011.

c. Date filed: February 28, 2020.

d. Applicant: City of Watervliet, New York.

e. Name of Project: Normanskill Hydropower Project.

f. Location: The project is located on the Normans Kill in Guilderland, Albany County, New York. The project does not occupy any federal land.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Michele E. Stottler, Gomez and Sullivan Engineers, DPC, 399 Albany Shaker Road, Suite 203, Loudonville, NY 12211; [phone]; email—[e-mail] or Joseph LaCivita, General Manager, The City of Watervliet, 2 Fifteenth Street, Watervliet, NY 12189; [phone]; email—[e-mail].

i. FERC Contact: Woohee Choi at [phone]; or email at [e-mail].

j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: October 8, 2020.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file scoping comments 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, Room 1A, 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-2955-011.

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 is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

l. The Normanskill Project consists of the following existing facilities: (1) A 380-foot-long reinforced concrete Ambursen-type dam with a 306-foot-long overflow section having a crest elevation of 259 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29) surmounted by 3-foot-high flashboards; (2) a 380-acre reservoir with a gross volume of 3,600 acre-feet at the normal maximum pool elevation of 262 feet NGVD29; (3) an intake structure and sluiceway; (4) a 700-foot-long, 6-foot-diameter, concrete-encased steel, buried penstock; (5) a reinforced concrete underground powerhouse containing a single 1,250-kilowatt tube-type generating unit; (6) a 600-foot-long, 2.4-kilovolt (kV) transmission line; (7) a 2.4/13.2-kV transformer bank; and (8) appurtenant facilities.

m. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., scoping document) via the internet through the Commission's Home Page (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 (P-2955). At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference Room due to the proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) issued by the President on March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC at [e-mail] or call toll-free, [phone] or [phone] (TTY).

n. You may also 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.

o. Scoping Process

The Commission staff intends to prepare a single Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Normanskill Hydroelectric 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.

Commission staff does not propose to conduct any on-site scoping meetings at this time. Instead, we are soliciting comments, recommendations, and information, on the Scoping Document (SD) issued on September 8, 2020.

Copies of the SD outlining the subject areas to be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the Commission's mailing list and the applicant's distribution list. Copies of the SD may be viewed on the web 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, call 1-866-208-3676 or for TTY, [phone].

Dated: September 8, 2020.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.