2020-20171. Village of Gouverneur, New York; 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: Original Minor License.

b. Project No.: P-14635-001.

c. Date filed: September 20, 2019.

d. Applicant: Village of Gouverneur, New York.

e. Name of Project: Gouverneur Hydroelectric Project (Gouverneur Project).

f. Location: The existing unlicensed project is located on the Oswegatchie River in the Village of Gouverneur in St. Lawrence County, New York.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Ronald P. McDougall, Mayor, Village of Gouverneur, 33 Clinton Street, Gouverneur, NY 13642; [phone]; [e-mail].

i. FERC Contact: Jody Callihan at [e-mail] or [phone].

j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: October 9, 2020.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/​FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/​QuickComment.aspx. 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-14635-001.

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. Project Description: The Gouverneur Project consists of: (1) A 250-foot-long concrete gravity dam that includes two bridge piers and three separate spillways that range in crest elevation from 403.4 to 403.7 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88); (2) an impoundment with a surface area of 109 acres at the normal pool elevation of 403.8 feet NAVD88; (3) a concrete intake structure containing two trash rack bays separated by a 2-foot-wide center pier, each containing a 14-foot-wide trash rack; (4) a 20-foot by 36-foot powerhouse integral to the dam and containing two vertical axial flow propeller type turbines rated at 100 kilowatts each and two 100-kilovolt-ampere Westinghouse generators with a power factor of 0.8; (5) two generator leads from the turbine-generator units to a switchgear at the powerhouse interconnecting with the local grid; and (6) appurtenant facilities. The project generates about 1,195 megawatt-hours annually.

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-14635). 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 https://ferconline.ferc.gov/​FERCOnline.aspx 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 an Environmental Assessment (EA) for 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.

At this time, we do not anticipate holding on-site public or agency scoping meetings. Instead, we are soliciting your comments and suggestions on the preliminary list of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EA, as described in scoping document 1 (SD1), issued September 8, 2020.

Copies of the SD1 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 SD1 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.