83542 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 

3 18 CFR 157.205. 

4Persons include individuals, organizations, 

businesses, municipalities, and other entities. 18 

CFR 385.102(d). 

5 18 CFR 157.205(e). 

6 18 CFR 385.214. 

7 18 CFR 157.10. 

8Additionally, you may file your comments 

electronically by using the eComment feature, 

which is located on the Commission’s website at 

www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and 

Filings. Using eComment is an easy method for 

interested persons to submit brief, text-only 

comments on a project. 

9Hand-delivered submissions in docketed 

proceedings should be delivered to Health and 

Human Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. 

NGA,3 any person 4 or the Commission’s 

staff may file a protest to the request. If 

no protest is filed within the time 

allowed or if a protest is filed and then 

withdrawn within 30 days after the 

allowed time for filing a protest, the 

proposed activity shall be deemed to be 

authorized effective the day after the 

time allowed for protest. If a protest is 

filed and not withdrawn within 30 days 

after the time allowed for filing a 

protest, the instant request for 

authorization will be considered by the 

Commission. 

Protests must comply with the 

requirements specified in section 

157.205(e) of the Commission’s 

regulations,5 and must be submitted by 

the protest deadline, which is February 

16, 2021. A protest may also serve as a 

motion to intervene so long as the 

protestor states it also seeks to be an 

intervenor. 

Interventions 

Any person has the option to file a 

motion to intervene in this proceeding. 

Only intervenors have the right to 

request rehearing of Commission orders 

issued in this proceeding and to 

subsequently challenge the 

Commission’s orders in the U.S. Circuit 

Courts of Appeal. 

To intervene, you must submit a 

motion to intervene to the Commission 

in accordance with Rule 214 of the 

Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure 6 and the regulations under 

the NGA 7 by the intervention deadline 

for the project, which is February 16, 

2021. As described further in Rule 214, 

your motion to intervene must state, to 

the extent known, your position 

regarding the proceeding, as well as 

your interest in the proceeding. For an 

individual, this could include your 

status as a landowner, ratepayer, 

resident of an impacted community, or 

recreationist. You do not need to have 

property directly impacted by the 

project in order to intervene. For more 

information about motions to intervene, 

refer to the FERC website at https://

www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/how-to/ 

intervene.asp. 

All timely, unopposed motions to 

intervene are automatically granted by 

operation of Rule 214(c)(1). Motions to 

intervene that are filed after the 

intervention deadline are untimely and 

may be denied. Any late-filed motion to 

intervene must show good cause for 

being late and must explain why the 

time limitation should be waived and 

provide justification by reference to 

factors set forth in Rule 214(d) of the 

Commission’s Rules and Regulations. A 

person obtaining party status will be 

placed on the service list maintained by 

the Secretary of the Commission and 

will receive copies (paper or electronic) 

of all documents filed by the applicant 

and by all other parties. 

Comments 

Any person wishing to comment on 

the project may do so. The Commission 

considers all comments received about 

the project in determining the 

appropriate action to be taken. To 

ensure that your comments are timely 

and properly recorded, please submit 

your comments on or before February 

16, 2021. The filing of a comment alone 

will not serve to make the filer a party 

to the proceeding. To become a party, 

you must intervene in the proceeding. 

How To File Protests, Interventions, and 

Comments 

There are two ways to submit 

protests, motions to intervene, and 

comments. In both instances, please 

reference the Project docket number 

CP21–14–000 in your submission. 

(1) You may file your protest, motion 

to intervene, and comments by using the 

Commission’s eFiling feature, which is 

located on the Commission’s website 

(www.ferc.gov) under the link to 

Documents and Filings. New eFiling 

users must first create an account by 

clicking on eRegister. You will be asked 

to select the type of filing you are 

making; first select General and then 

select Protest, Intervention, or Comment 

on a Filing; or 8

(2) You can file a paper copy of your 

submission by mailing it to the address 

below.9 Your submission must reference 

the Project docket number CP21–14– 

000. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20426. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic filing of submissions (option 

1 above) and has eFiling staff available 

to assist you at (202) 502–8258 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 

Protests and motions to intervene 

must be served on the applicant either 

by mail or email (with a link to the 

document) at: GRichman@

NJResources.com, 1415 Wyckoff Road, 

Wall, NJ 07719. Any subsequent 

submissions by an intervenor must be 

served on the applicant and all other 

parties to the proceeding. Contact 

information for parties can be 

downloaded from the service list at the 

eService link on FERC Online. 

Tracking the Proceeding 

Throughout the proceeding, 

additional information about the project 

will be available from the Commission’s 

Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208– 

FERC, or on the FERC website at 

www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary link as 

described above. The eLibrary link also 

provides access to the texts of all formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and 

rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. For more information and to 

register, go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

esubscription.asp. 

Dated: December 16, 2020. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28245 Filed 12–21–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 1889–085] 

FirstLight MA Hydro LLC; Notice 

Establishing Procedural Schedule for 

Licensing and Deadline for 

Submission of Final Amendments 

Take notice that the following 

amended hydroelectric application has 

been filed with the Commission and is 

available for public inspection. 

a. Type of Application: New Major 

License. 

b. Project No.: 1889–085. 

c. Date Material Amendments Filed: 

December 4, 2020. 

d. Applicant: FirstLight MA Hydro 

LLC (FirstLight). 

e. Name of Project: Turners Falls 

Hydroelectric Project (project). 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 83543 

f. Location: The existing project is 

located on the Connecticut River in 

Windham County, Vermont, Cheshire 

County, New Hampshire, and Franklin 

County, Massachusetts. There are 

approximately 20 acres of federal lands 

within the current project boundary 

associated with the U.S. Geological 

Survey’s Silvio Conte Anadromous Fish 

Laboratory. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act, 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)–825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Justin 

Trudell, Vice President, Operations, 

FirstLight MA Hydro LLC, 111 South 

Bedford Street, Suite 103, Burlington, 

MA 01803; (781) 653–4247 or 

justin.trudell@firstlightpower.com. 

i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 

502–6131 or stephen.kartalia@ferc.gov. 

j. This application is not ready for 

environmental analysis at this time. 

k. FirstLight Hydro Generating 

Company filed an application for a new 

license for the Turners Falls 

Hydroelectric Project No. 1889 (project) 

on April 29, 2016. In the license 

application, FirstLight Hydro 

Generating Company stated that it could 

not develop a complete licensing 

proposal for the project since many of 

the required environmental studies were 

not complete as of April 29, 2016. 

FirstLight Hydro Generating Company 

indicated that it would amend the 

license application after completing 

additional field work, consultation, and 

analyses on the required studies. On 

July 11, 2019, Commission staff 

approved the transfer of the license for 

the project from FirstLight Hydro 

Generating Company to FirstLight MA 

Hydro LLC. FirstLight MA Hydro LLC 

filed material amendments to the final 

license application on December 4, 

2020. 

l. Project Description: The existing 

Turners Falls Project consists of: (1) A 

630-foot-long, 35-foot-high dam 

(Montague dam) that includes: (i) Four 

120-foot-wide, 13.25-foot-high bascule 

gates; and (ii) a 170-foot-long fixed 

section with a crest elevation of 185.5 

feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 

1929 (NGVD 29); (2) a 493-foot-long, 55- 

foot-high dam (Gill dam) that includes: 

(i) Three 40-foot-wide, 39-foot-high 

tainter gates; and (ii) 97.3- and 207.5- 

foot-long fixed sections with crest 

elevations of 185.5 feet NGVD 29; (3) a 

2,110-acre impoundment with a useable 

storage volume of 16,150 acre-feet 

between elevations 176.0 feet and 185.0 

feet NGVD 29; (4) a 214-foot-long, 33- 

foot-high gatehouse that includes six 9- 

foot-wide, 10.66-foot-high gates and 

nine 9.5-foot-wide, 12.6-foot-high gates; 

(5) a 2.1-mile-long, 120- to 920-footwide, 17- to 30-foot-deep power canal; 

(6) a 700-foot-long, 100-foot-wide, 16- to 

23-foot-deep branch canal; (7) the 

Station No.1 generating facility that 

includes: (i) Eight 15-foot-wide bays 

with trashracks with 2.625-inch clearbar spacing; (ii) four 100-foot-long, 13.1- 

to 14-foot-diameter penstocks; (iii) a 

134-foot-long, 64-foot-wide powerhouse 

that contains five turbine-generator 

units with a total installed capacity of 

5.693 megawatts (MW); (iv) four 21-footlong, 6.5-foot-diameter draft tubes; (v) 

five 40- to 70-foot-long, 2.4-kilovolt (kV) 

generator leads that connect the turbinegenerator units to a generator bus; (vi) 

a 110-foot-long, 2.4-kV generator lead 

that connects the generator bus to a 

substation; and (vii) a 20-foot-long, 2.4- 

kV generator lead that connects the 

substation to three transformers; (8) the 

Cabot Station generating facility that 

includes: (i) An intake structure with 

217-foot-wide, 31-foot-high trashracks 

with 0.94-inch and 3.56-inch clear-bar 

spacing; (ii) six 70-foot-long penstocks; 

(iii) a 235-foot-long, 79.5-foot-wide 

powerhouse that contains six turbinegenerator units with a total installed 

capacity of 62.016 MW; (iv) six 41-footlong, 12.5- to 14.5-foot-diameter draft 

tubes; (v) six 80- to 250-foot-long, 13.8- 

kV generator leads that connect the 

turbine-generator units to a generator 

bus; (vi) a 60-foot-long, 13.8-kV 

generator lead that connects the 

generator bus to the powerhouse roof; 

and (vii) a 200-foot-long, 13.8-kV 

generator lead that connects to a 

transformer; (9) eight 13.6-foot-wide, 

16.7-foot-high power canal spillway 

gates that are adjacent to Cabot Station; 

(10) a 16.2-foot-wide, 13.1-foot-high log 

sluice gate in the Cabot Station forebay 

with an 8-foot-wide weir for 

downstream fish passage; (11) a 200- 

foot-long, 7-foot-diameter drainage 

tunnel (Keith Drainage Tunnel) and 

headgate; (12) a 955-foot-long, 5-footdiameter lower drainage tunnel; (13) an 

850-foot-long, 16-foot-wide, 10-foot-high 

fishway (Cabot fishway); (14) a 500-footlong, 10-foot-wide, 10-foot-high fishway 

(Spillway fishway); (15) a 225-foot-long, 

16-foot-wide, 17.5-foot-high fishway 

(Gatehouse fishway); and (16) 

appurtenant facilities. 

The Turners Falls Project operates in 

peaking and run-of-river modes, 

depending on inflows. Average annual 

generation from 2011–2019 was 

approximately 332,351 MW-hours. 

FirstLight proposes three changes to 

the current project boundary: (1) 

Remove 0.2 acre of land associated with 

residential property; (2) add 0.8 acre of 

land for recreation purposes; and (3) 

remove 20.1 acres of land associated 

with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Silvio 

Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory. 

FirstLight proposes to construct new 

fish passage facilities and recreational 

access trails. FirstLight also proposes 

changes to project operation that would 

generally reduce impoundment 

fluctuations and increase flow releases 

to the portion of the Connecticut River 

that is bypassed by the project. The 

specific proposed changes are described 

in the amended application. 

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., 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–1889). 

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 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call 

toll-free, (866) 208–3676 or (202) 502– 

8659 (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. Procedural Schedule: The 

application will be processed according 

to the following preliminary Hydro 

Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the 

schedule may be made as appropriate. 

Milestone Target date 

Commission issues letters identifying application deficiencies and requesting additional information ........................................... January 2021. 

Notice of Acceptance/Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis ................................................................................................ May 2021. 

Filing of recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and fishway prescriptions .............................................................. July 2021. 

Reply Comments due ....................................................................................................................................................................... August 2021. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
83544 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 

p. 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: December 16, 2020. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28235 Filed 12–21–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 2485–071] 

Northfield Mountain LLC; Notice 

Establishing Procedural Schedule for 

Licensing and Deadline for 

Submission of Final Amendments 

(December 16, 2020) 

Take notice that the following 

amended hydroelectric application has 

been filed with the Commission and is 

available for public inspection. 

a. Type of Application: New Major 

License. 

b. Project No.: 2485–071. 

c. Date Material Amendments Filed: 

December 4, 2020. 

d. Applicant: Northfield Mountain 

LLC (Northfield). 

e. Name of Project: Northfield 

Mountain Pumped Storage Project. 

f. Location: The existing project is 

located on the Connecticut River in 

Windham County, Vermont, Cheshire 

County, New Hampshire, and Franklin 

County, Massachusetts. There are no 

federal lands within the project 

boundary. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Justin 

Trudell, Vice President, Operations, 

Northfield Mountain LLC, 111 South 

Bedford Street, Suite 103, Burlington, 

MA 01803; (781) 653–4247 or 

justin.trudell@firstlightpower.com. 

i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 

502–6131 or stephen.kartalia@ferc.gov. 

j. This application is not ready for 

environmental analysis at this time. 

k. FirstLight Hydro Generating 

Company (FirstLight) filed an 

application for a new license for the 

Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage 

Project No. 2485 (project) on April 29, 

2016. In the license application, 

FirstLight stated that it could not 

develop a complete licensing proposal 

for the project since many of the 

required environmental studies were 

not complete as of April 29, 2016. 

FirstLight indicated that it would 

amend the license application after 

completing additional field work, 

consultation, and analyses on the 

required studies. On July 11, 2019, 

Commission staff approved the transfer 

of the license for the project from 

FirstLight to Northfield Mountain LLC. 

Northfield Mountain LLC filed material 

amendments to the final license 

application on December 4, 2020. 

l. Project Description: The existing 

Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage 

Project consists of: (1) A 1-mile-long, 30- 

foot-wide, 30- to 140-foot-high main 

dam that includes: (i) An intake 

structure with two 7-foot-wide, 9-foothigh sluice gates and an 8-foot-diameter 

outlet pipe; and (ii) a 589-foot-long, 2- 

foot-diameter low-level outlet pipe; (2) a 

425-foot-long, 25-foot-high dike (North 

dike); (3) a 2,800-foot-long, 45-foot-high 

dike (Northwest dike); (4) a 1,700-footlong, 40-foot-long dike (West dike); (5) 

a 327-foot-long, 10- to 20-foot-high 

gravity dam; (6) an ungated 550-footlong, 6-foot-high spillway structure with 

a 20-foot-long notch at an elevation of 

1,005.0 feet National Geodetic Vertical 

Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (7) a 286- 

acre impoundment (upper reservoir) 

with a useable storage volume of 12,318 

acre-feet between elevations 938.0 feet 

and 1,000.5 feet NGVD 29; (8) a 2,110- 

acre impoundment (lower reservoir or 

Turners Falls impoundment); (9) a 

1,890-foot-long, 130-foot-wide intake 

channel with a 63-foot-long, 9-foot-high 

submerged check dam and two 6-footwide, 2.75-foot-high sluice gates and 

two 18-foot-wide stoplogs; (10) a 200- 

foot-long, 55-foot-wide, 80-foot-high 

pressure shaft; (11) an 853-foot-long, 31- 

foot-diameter penstock; (12) two 22- 

foot-diameter, 100- to 150-foot-long 

penstocks; (13) four 340-foot-long, 9.5- 

to 14-foot-diameter penstocks; (14) a 

328-foot-long, 70-foot-wide powerhouse 

that contains four reversible pump 

turbine-generator units with a total 

installed capacity of 1,166.8 megawatts 

(MW); (15) four 25-foot-long, 11-footdiameter draft tubes that transition to a 

20-foot-long, 17-foot-diameter draft 

tube; (16) a 5,136-foot-long, 33-footwide, 31-foot-high horseshoe-shaped 

tailrace tunnel; (17) 35-foot-long, 40- 

foot-high trapezoid-shaped stoplogs 

with 74.3- to 99.5-foot-wide, 48-foothigh trashracks with 6-inch clear-bar 

spacing; (18) four 26-foot-long, 13.8- 

kilovolt (kV) generator leads that 

connect the turbine-generator units to 

four transformers; (19) two 3,000-footlong, 345-kV transmission lines; and 

(20) (21) appurtenant facilities. 

The existing Northfield Mountain 

Pumped Storage Project generally 

operates in pumping mode when 

electricity demand is low and 

generating mode when electricity 

demand is high. In the summer and 

winter, the project generally operates in 

a peaking mode in the morning and late 

afternoon. In the spring and fall, the 

project may operate in a peaking mode 

one or two times a day depending on 

electricity demand. The existing license 

requires maintaining the upper reservoir 

between elevations 938.0 feet and 

1,000.5 feet NGVD 29 (i.e., a maximum 

reservoir drawdown of 62.5 feet). 

Average annual generation at the 

Northfield Mountain Project from 2011– 

2019 was 889,845 MW-hours, and 

average annual energy consumption for 

pumping from 2011 to 2019 was 

1,189,640 MW-hours. 

Northfield proposes three changes to 

the current project boundary: (1) 

Remove 0.2 acre of land associated with 

residential property; (2) remove 8.1 acre 

of land referred to as ‘‘Fuller Farm’’ that 

includes residential and agricultural 

structures; and (3) add 135.5 acres of 

land that includes recreation trails. 

Northfield proposes to increase the 

maximum water surface elevation of the 

upper reservoir to 1,004.5 feet NGVD 29 

and decrease the minimum water 

surface elevation of the upper reservoir 

to 920.0 feet NGVD 29 (i.e., a maximum 

reservoir drawdown of 84.5 feet) yearround. Northfield proposes to install a 

barrier net in the lower impoundment to 

prevent fish entrainment. Northfield 

also proposes to periodically dredge the 

upper reservoir and to construct new 

recreation access trails. The specific 

proposed changes are described in the 

amended application. 

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., 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–2485). 

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 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call 

toll-free, (866) 208–3676 or (202) 502– 

8659 (TTY). 

n. You may also register online at 

https://ferconline.ferc.gov/ 

FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via 

email of new filings and issuances 


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