2021-20272. Pyrites Hydro, LLC; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

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

a. Type of Application: New Major License.

b. Project No.: 6115-016.

c. Date Filed: August 31, 2021.

d. Applicant: Pyrites Hydro, LLC.

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

f. Location: The existing project is located on the Grass River near the Town of Canton, St. Lawrence 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: Mr. Kevin M. Webb, Hydro Licensing Manager, Pyrites Hydro, LLC, 670 N. Commercial Street, Suite 204, Manchester, NH 03101, [phone]; email—[e-mail].

i. FERC Contact: Christopher Millard at [phone]; or email at [e-mail].

j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See, 94 FERC ¶ 61,076 (2001).

k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of the request on the applicant.

l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status: October 30, 2021.^[1]

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/​FERCOnline.aspx. 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. All filings must clearly identify the project name and docket number on the first page: Pyrites Hydroelectric Project (P-6115-016).

m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

n. Project Description: The existing Pyrites Project consists of: (1) A 170-foot-long and 12-foot-high concrete Ambursen overflow spillway with 1.5-foot-high flashboards, a 115-foot-long concrete auxiliary spillway, and a 208-foot-long non-overflow dam, which includes a 50-foot-wide intake structure; (2) a 6-foot-diameter, 700-foot-long steel penstock running from the intake structure to an upper powerhouse and a 10-foot-diameter, 2,160-foot-long penstock running from the intake structure to a lower powerhouse; (3) a 21-foot by 31-foot upper powerhouse located 700 feet downstream of the intake structure containing one 1.2-megawatt (MW) turbine/generator unit operating under a rated head of 76 feet and a 50-foot by 53-foot lower powerhouse located 1,200 feet downstream of the tailrace containing two 3.5-MW turbine/generator units operating under a rated head of 111 feet; (4) a 50-foot by 97-foot 115/4.16/2.3-kilovolt (kV) switchyard and substation for use by both powerhouses; (5) a 470-foot-long 2.3-kV transmission line connecting the upper powerhouse to the switchyard; (6) a 1,150-foot-long 4.16 kV transmission line connecting the lower powerhouse to the switchyard; and (7) appurtenant facilities.

The Pyrites Project is operated in a run-of-river mode with an average annual generation of 27,865 megawatt-hours.

o. 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., license application) 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-6115). 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).

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.

p. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

Milestone	Target date
Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)	October 2021.
Request Additional Information	October 2021.
Issue Acceptance Letter	January 2022.
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments	February 2022.
Issue Scoping Document 2	May 2022.
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis	May 2022.

Final amendments to the application must be filed with the Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice of ready for environmental analysis.

Dated: September 14, 2021.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure provide that if a filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday, or other day when the Commission is closed for business, the filing deadline does not end until the close of business on the next business day. 18 CFR 385.2007(a)(2) (2020). Because the 60-day filing deadline falls on a Saturday (i.e., October 30, 2021), the filing deadline is extended until the close of business on Monday, November 1, 2021.