[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 5, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9022-9024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02225]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2302-101]
Brookfield White Pine Hydro LLC; Notice of Application Accepted
for Filing, Scoping Meetings, and Environmental Site Review; Soliciting
Motions To Intervene and Protests; and Soliciting Scoping Comments
Take notice that the following application has been filed with the
Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: New Major License.
b. Project No.: P-2302-101.
c. Date filed: August 28, 2024.
d. Applicant: Brookfield White Pine Hydro LLC.
e. Name of Project: Lewiston Falls Hydroelectric Project (project).
f. Location: On the Androscoggin River in the Cities of Lewiston
and Auburn, and the Town of Durham, Androscoggin County, Maine.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Luke T. Anderson, Brookfield Renewable, 150
Main Street, Lewiston, Maine 04240; (207) 755-5613; email at
[email protected].
i. FERC Contact: Lauren Townson at (202) 502-8572, or
[email protected].
j. Deadline for filing scoping comments and motions to intervene
and protests: March 31, 2025.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
scoping comments and motions to intervene and protests 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. For assistance, please
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected], (866) 208-
3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic
filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S.
Postal Service must be addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be
addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, 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: Lewiston Falls Project (P-2302-101).
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 on the official service list for the
project. Further, if an intervener 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 has been accepted for filing, but is not ready
for environmental analysis at this time.
l. Project Description: The Lewiston Falls Project consists of: (1)
a dam consisting of 5 distinct sections: (a) a 154-foot-long stone
masonry section topped with a single rubber dam for a total elevation
of 169.07 feet, (b) a 279-foot-long stone masonry section topped with a
single rubber dam for a total elevation of 169.07 feet, (c) a 161-foot-
long stone masonry section topped with a single rubber dam for a total
elevation of 168.60 feet, (d) a 162-foot-long stone masonry section
topped with a single rubber dam for a total elevation of 168.60 feet,
and (e) a 57-foot-long concrete section topped with 1.34-foot-high
flashboards for a total elevation of 168.17 feet; (2) a 2.5-mile-long,
169-acre impoundment at a full pond elevation of 168.17 feet; (3) an
85.16-foot-long, 60-foot-high reinforced concrete intake with 3.25-inch
spaced trashracks; (4) four 16.8-foot wide intake tubes, each pair
converging into one; (4) a reinforced concrete powerhouse containing
two vertical Kaplan turbine generators for a total installed capacity
of 28.44 megawatts; (5) a 400-foot-long, 75-foot-wide excavated
tailrace; (6) a 111.6-foot-long, 26.3-foot-wide masonry canal gatehouse
located at the southeast corner of the impoundment diverting flow to a
canal system; (7) a 12.5 to 34.5-kilovolt (kV) transformer; (8) a 125-
foot-long underground transmission line connected to Central Maine
Power's distribution system; and (8) appurtenant facilities. The
project average annual generation between 2013 and 2023 was 157,614
megawatt-hours (MWh).
[[Page 9023]]
Brookfield currently operates the project in a run-of-river mode by
typically limiting impoundment drawdowns to no more than 1 foot below
the normal elevation of 168.17 feet. However, the project is licensed
to operate with up to four feet of impoundment drawdowns. The current
license requires Brookfield to release a minimum flow of 1,430 cfs or
inflow, whichever is less. Brookfield states that it meets this
requirement by releasing 50 cfs from the impoundment to the Lewiston
Canal System and 1,380 cfs to the river downstream of the project. The
maximum hydraulic capacity of the project's generating units is 6,600
cfs and the minimum hydraulic capacity of a single unit is
approximately 800 cfs.
The licensee is proposing to remove an existing building from the
project boundary. The building is a non-project facility and is located
near the Canal Gatehouse. The building is privately owned and serves no
project purpose, according to Brookfield's application. In total, this
change will remove 0.08 acre from the project boundary, resulting in a
total of 237.88 acres remaining within the project boundary.
m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's
website at https://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, please contact FERC
Online Support (see item j above).
You may also register 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, please
contact FERC Online Support (see item j above).
n. 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.
When the application is ready for environmental analysis, the
Commission will issue a public notice requesting comments,
recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions.
All filings 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. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served
upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular
application.
o. The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners,
Tribal members and others, access publicly available information and
navigate Commission processes. For public inquiries and assistance with
making filings such as interventions, comments, or requests for
rehearing, the public is encouraged to contact OPP at (202) 502-6595 or
[email protected].
p. The Commission's scoping process will help determine the
required level of analysis and satisfy the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) scoping requirements, irrespective of whether the
Commission issues an environmental assessment or an environmental
impact statement.
Scoping Meetings
In addition to written comments solicited by this notice,
Commission staff will hold two public scoping meetings at the times and
locations noted below. All interested individuals, resource agencies,
Native American Tribes, and NGOs are invited to attend any of the
meetings to assist Commission staff in identifying the scope of
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the NEPA document.
The times and locations of these meetings are as follows:
Daytime Scoping Meeting
Date: February 19, 2025.
Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST.
Location: Hampton Inn Lewiston/Auburn Hotel.
Address: 15 Lincoln Street, Lewiston, Maine 04240.
Evening Scoping Meeting
Date: February 19, 2025.
Time: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST.
Location: Hampton Inn Lewiston/Auburn Hotel.
Address: 15 Lincoln Street, Lewiston, Maine 04240.
Scoping Document 1 (SD1), which outlines the subject areas to be
addressed in the environmental document, was mailed to the individuals
and entities on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of SD1 will be
available at the scoping meetings, or may be viewed on the web at
https://www.ferc.gov, using the ``eLibrary'' link. Follow the
directions for accessing information in paragraph m.
Environmental Site Review
Brookfield White Pine and Commission staff will conduct an
environmental site review of the project beginning at 8 a.m. on
February 20, 2025. We recommend meeting at the Hampton Inn Lewiston/
Auburn Hotel (located at 15 Lincoln Street, Lewiston, Maine 04240) to
carpool to project.
All interested individuals, resource agencies, Native American
Tribes, and NGOs are invited to attend the site review. Attendees
should wear appropriate outdoor clothing and footwear. Persons planning
on participating in the site visit must RSVP to Mr. Luke Anderson of
Brookfield at [email protected] or by phone at
(207) 755-5613, no later than February 10, 2025, to register for the
environmental site review.
Meeting Procedures
Individuals, NGOs, Native American Tribes, and agencies with
environmental expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the
meetings and to assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues
to be addressed in the NEPA document. At the start of each meeting,
Commission staff will provide a brief overview of the meeting format
and objectives. Individual oral comments will be taken on a one-on-one
basis with a court reporter (with Commission staff present). This
format is designed to receive the maximum number of oral comments in a
convenient way during the timeframe allotted. If you wish to speak,
Commission staff will hand out numbers in the order of your arrival. If
all individuals who wish to provide comments have had an opportunity to
do so, Commission staff may conclude the meeting a half hour earlier
than the scheduled time. Please see appendix 1 for additional
information on the session format and conduct.\1\
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\1\ The appendix referenced in this notice will not appear in
the Federal Register. Copies of the appendix were sent to all those
receiving this notice in the mail and are available at https://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. For assistance, please
contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] or call
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
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[[Page 9024]]
Scoping comments will be recorded by the court reporter and become
part of the public record for this proceeding. Transcripts will be
publicly available on FERC's eLibrary system. If a significant number
of people are interested in providing oral comments in the one-on-one
settings, a time limit of 5 minutes may be implemented for each
commentor.
It is important to note that the Commission provides equal
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in writing or
provided orally at a scoping session. Although there will not be a
formal presentation, Commission staff will be available throughout the
scoping session to answer your questions about the environmental review
process. Representatives from White Pine will also be present to answer
project-specific questions.
q. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following anticipated processing schedule. Revisions to the
schedule will be made as appropriate. The schedule for issuing draft
and final NEPA documents is consistent with the Commission's Notice of
Revised Schedule issued November 15, 2023:
Scoping Document 1 Issued--January 2025
Acceptance and Scoping Notice Issued--January 2025
Scoping Document 1 Comments Due--March 2025
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if needed)--April 2025
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--August 2025
Comments, Recommendations and Agency Terms and Conditions/Prescriptions
Due--October 2025
Applicant's Reply Comments Due--November 2025
Commission Issues Draft NEPA Document--April 2026
Commission Issues Final NEPA Document--October 2026
Dated: January 29, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-02225 Filed 2-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P