03-18316. Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission, Soliciting Additional Study Request, and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

July 14, 2003.

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.: P-2194-020.

c. Date filed: June 30, 2003.

d. Applicant: FPL Energy Maine Hydro, LLC.

e. Name of Project: Bar Mills Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Saco River, in the towns of Buxton and Hollis, York County, Maine. This project would not use federal lands.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. F. Allen Wiley, Vice President, FPL Energy Maine Hydro LLC, 160 Capitol Street, Augusta, Maine 04330, [phone].

i. FERC Contact: Blake Condo, [e-mail] [phone].

j. Cooperating Agencies: We are asking Federal, state, and local agencies and Indian tribes with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the preparation of the environmental document. Agencies who would like to request the cooperating status should follow the instructions for filing comments described in item k below.

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 factual basis for 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 no later than 60 days after the application filing and serve a copy of the request on the applicant.

l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status: August 29, 2003.

All documents (original and eight copies) should be filled with: Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

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.

Additional study requests may be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web site ( http://www.ferc.gov ) under the “e-Filing” link. After logging into the e-Filing system, select “Comment on Filing” from the Filing Type Selection screen and continue with the filing process.”

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

n. Project Description: The Bar Mills Hydroelectric Project consists of the following existing facilities: (1) The 400-foot-long by 25-foot-high dam, with 6.75 foot-high flashboards, and a 90 to 200 foot wide by 725 foot long power canal; (2) the 5.3 mile long impoundment, which has a surface area of 263 acres at the normal full pond elevation of 148.5 feet above mean sea level; (3) a powerhouse containing two generating units with total installed generating capacity of 4.0 megawatts (MW); (4) appurtenant facilities. The dam and existing project facilities are owned by FPL Energy Maine Hydro LLC.

o. A copy of the application is on file with the Commission and is available for public inspection. This filing may also be viewed on the Web at http://www.ferc.gov using the “FERRIS” link-select “Docket #” and follow the instructions. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail] or toll free at [phone] or for TTY, contact [phone]. A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.

p. You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/​esubscribenow.htm to be notified via email of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

q. With this notice, we are initiating consultation with the MAINE STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER (SHPO), as required by § 106, National Historic Preservation Act, and the regulations of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 36 CFR 800.4.

r. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will be processed according to the following Hydro Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate. The Commission staff proposes to issue one environmental assessment rather than issue a draft and final EA. Comments, terms and conditions, recommendations, prescriptions, and reply comments, if any, will be addressed in an EA issued in early 2005.

Issue Acceptance or Deficiency Letter October 2003.

Issue Scoping Document March 2004.

Notice that application is ready for environmental analysisJune 2004.

Notice of the availability of the EA December 2004.

Ready for Commission decision on the applicationFebruary 2005.

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.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.