2132 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 9 / Thursday, January 14, 2010 / Notices 

Any questions regarding the petition 

should be directed to B. Michelle Willis, 

Manager—Regulatory & Compliance, 

CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission 

Company, P.O. Box 21734, Shreveport, 

Louisiana 71151 at (318) 429–3708. 

There are two ways to become 

involved in the Commission’s review of 

this project. First, any person wishing to 

obtain legal status by becoming a party 

to the proceedings for this project 

should, on or before the comment date 

stated below file with the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 

a motion to intervene in accordance 

with the requirements of the 

Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 385.211) 

and the Regulations under the NGA (18 

CFR 157.10). A person obtaining party 

status will be placed on the service list 

maintained by the Secretary of the 

Commission and will receive copies of 

all documents filed by the applicant and 

by all other parties. A party must submit 

14 copies of filings made in the 

proceeding with the Commission and 

must mail a copy to the applicant and 

to every other party. Only parties to the 

proceeding can ask for court review of 

Commission orders in the proceeding. 

However, a person does not have to 

intervene in order to have comments 

considered. The second way to 

participate is by filing with the 

Secretary of the Commission, as soon as 

possible, an original and two copies of 

comments in support of or in opposition 

to this project. The Commission will 

consider these comments in 

determining the appropriate action to be 

taken, but the filing of a comment alone 

will not serve to make the filer a party 

to the proceeding. The Commission’s 

rules require that persons filing 

comments in opposition to the project 

provide copies of their protests only to 

the party or parties directly involved in 

the protest. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filings of comments, protests 

and interventions in lieu of paper using 

the ‘‘eFiling’’ link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 14 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

This filing is accessible on-line at 

http://www.ferc.gov, using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for 

review in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room in Washington, DC. 

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the 

Web site that enables subscribers to 

receive e-mail notification when a 

document is added to a subscribed 

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC 

Online service, please e-mail 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659. 

Comment Date: January 27, 2010. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–517 Filed 1–13–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 12777–001] 

Maine Maritime Academy; Notice of 

Declaration of Intention and Petition 

for Relief Filing and Soliciting 

Comments 

January 6, 2010. 

Take notice that the following 

declaration of intention and petition for 

relief from the requirements of 

hydropower licensing has been filed 

with the Commission and is available 

for public inspection. 

a. Type of Filing: Declaration of 

Intention and Petition for Relief. 

b. Project No.: 12777–001. 

c. Date Filed: October 28, 2009. 

d. Applicant: Maine Maritime 

Academy. 

e. Name of Project: Bagaduce River 

Tidal Energy Project. 

f. Location: In the Bagaduce River and 

Estuary, in Hancock County, Maine. The 

project would not occupy federal lands. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: 18 CFR Part 24, 

Section 24.1. 

h. Applicant Contact: Richard S. 

Armstrong, Executive Director, Tidal 

Energy Demonstration and Evaluation 

Center, Capt. Quick Hall, Maine 

Maritime Academy, Castine, ME 04420 

(207) 326–2186. 

i. FERC Contact: Tom Dean at (202) 

502–6041. 

j. Deadline for filing comments: 30 

days from the issuance date of this 

notice. 

All documents (original and eight 

copies) should be filed with: Kimberly 

D. Bose, 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. 

Comments may be filed electronically 

via the Internet in lieu of paper. The 

Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filings. See 18 CFR 

385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions 

on the Commission’s Web site (http:// 

www.ferc.gov) under the ‘‘eFiling’’ link. 

k. Description of Project: The Maine 

Maritime Academy (Academy) intends 

to deploy and test for short periods, for 

study purposes, hydrokinetic devices 

that would be located at sites located in 

Bagaduce Narrows and Castine Harbor. 

The experimental hydrokinetic devices 

could include: (1) 4.9-foot-diameter, 

19.7-foot-long 4 kilowatt (kW) Cross 

Flow Darrius style rotors; (2) 13.1-footdiameter, 3.3-foot-high 4 kW Cross Flow 

Savonius type rotors; and (3) 13.1-footdiameter, 3.3-foot-long 6 kW Axial Flow 

turbines with an average capacity up to 

1.5 kW. The devices would be mounted 

to floats attached to a concrete 

superstructure, concrete or stone blocks, 

and other gravity based weighted 

frameworks connected to research 

vessels, small launches or barges. The 

hydrokinetic devices would convert 

mechanical power from the tidal 

currents and the rise and fall of the tides 

in Bagaduce Narrows and Castine 

Harbor into electrical power without 

constructing a dam, reservoir, penstock, 

or powerhouse. 

l. Petition for Declaration of Intention: 

The Academy asks that it be allowed, 

without a license under Part I of the 

Federal Power Act, to deploy, test, and 

study the type of facilities listed above, 

and use the power from the test devices 

to heat water or charge 3 or 4 batteries 

which could sustain a charge and power 

a 12/24/32 volt array of instruments and 

lights aboard research vessels or small 

barges. The Academy would initially 

test the hydrokinetic devices for 12 to 

14 hours during tidal cycles, and once 

the initial tests were completed, would 

continue to test the devices for 

durability for up to five weeks. The 

deployment would provide educational 

experience for students to develop skills 

in deploying, retrieving, maintaining, 

and repairing hydrokinetic devices. 

m. A copy of the application is 

available for review at the Commission 

in the Public Reference Room or may be 

viewed on the Commission’s Web site 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, contact FERC Online 

Support at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or tollfree at 1–866–208–3676, or for TTY, 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 9 / Thursday, January 14, 2010 / Notices 2133 

(202) 502–8659. A copy is also available 

for inspection and reproduction at the 

address in item h above. 

You may also register online at http:// 

www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 

related to this or other pending projects. 

For assistance, contact FERC Online 

Support. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–525 Filed 1–13–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Western Area Power Administration 

Construction and Operation of the 

Quartzsite Solar Energy Project, La 

Paz County, AZ (DOE/EIS–0440) 

AGENCY: Western Area Power 

Administration, DOE. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and To 

Conduct Scoping Meetings; Notice of 

Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement. 

SUMMARY: The Western Area Power 

Administration (Western), an agency of 

the DOE, intends to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

for the proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy 

Project (Project) in La Paz County, near 

Quartzsite, Arizona. Quartzsite Solar 

Energy, LLC (QSE) has applied to 

Western to interconnect the proposed 

Project to Western’s power transmission 

system. Western is issuing this notice to 

inform the public and interested parties 

about Western’s intent to prepare an 

EIS, to conduct a public scoping 

process, and to invite the public to 

comment on the scope, proposed action, 

alternatives, and issues to be addressed 

in the EIS. Solar Reserve has applied to 

the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 

Yuma Field Office for a right-of-way 

grant for the proposed solar power 

plant. Western will apply to BLM for a 

right-of-way grant for the proposed 

substation. 

This EIS will address Western’s 

Federal action of interconnecting the 

proposed Project to Western’s 

transmission system and making any 

necessary modification to Western 

facilities to accommodate the 

interconnection. The EIS will also 

review the potential environmental 

impacts of QSE constructing, operating, 

and maintaining a 100-megawatt (MW) 

(net) solar-powered generating facility, 

consisting of a solar field of heliostat 

mirrors, power block, thermal energy 

storage system, substation site, 

transmission line, temporary laydown 

areas, and other ancillary facilities. 

The BLM has agreed to be a 

cooperating agency for the EIS. 

DATES: Public scoping meetings will be 

held: 

1. January 26, 2010, BLM, Yuma Field 

Office, 2555 E. Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, 

AZ 85365. 

2. January 27, 2010, Blue Water 

Casino, 11300 Resort Dr., Parker, AZ 

85344. 

3. January 28, 2010, Quartzsite Town 

Hall, 465 N. Plymouth Ave., Quartzsite, 

AZ 85346. 

The public scoping meetings will 

begin at 6 p.m. and will end at 8 p.m. 

The meetings will be informal, and 

attendees will be able to speak directly 

with Western and QSE representatives 

about the proposed Project. The public 

scoping period begins with the 

publication of this notice and closes on 

February 16, 2010. Announcements will 

also be made by news release to the 

media, individual letter mailings, and 

posting on the Western Web site listed 

below. 

ADDRESSES: Western will host public 

scoping meetings at the time and 

locations indicated in the DATES section. 

Oral or written comments may be 

provided at the public scoping 

meetings, mailed or e-mailed to Ms. 

Mary Barger. Comments should be 

addressed to Ms. Mary Barger, National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

Document Manager, Western Area 

Power Administration, Desert 

Southwest Region, P.O. Box 6457, 615 

S. 43rd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85005 or 

quartzsitesolarEIS@wapa.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the proposed Project and 

general information about 

interconnections with Western’s 

transmission system, you may refer to 

the project Web site http:// 

www.wapa.gov/transmission/ 

quartzsitesolar.htm or contact Ms. Mary 

Barger, NEPA Document Manager, at the 

address above, by telephone (602) 605– 

2524, fax (602) 605–2630, or e-mail 

quartzsitesolarEIS@wapa.gov. 

For general information on DOE’s 

NEPA review procedures or status of a 

NEPA review, contact Ms. Carol M. 

Borgstrom, Director of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance, GC–54, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585, telephone 

(202) 586–4600 or (800) 472–2756. 

For information on BLM’s 

participation, contact Eddie Arreola, 

Supervisory Project Manager, Bureau of 

Land Management, One North Central 

Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004, telephone 

(602) 417–9505, fax (602) 417–9454, or 

e-mail Quartzsite_Solar@blm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Western, 

an agency within DOE, markets Federal 

hydroelectric power to preference 

customers, as specified by law. These 

customers include municipalities, 

cooperatives, irrigation districts, Federal 

and State agencies, and Native 

American tribes. Western’s service 

territory covers 15 western states, of 

which Arizona is included. Western 

owns and operates more than 17,000 

miles of high-voltage transmission lines. 

QSE is a Santa Monica, Californiabased energy company formed by U.S. 

Renewables Group, a private equity firm 

focused exclusively on renewable 

energy. 

Project Description and Alternatives 

QSE proposes to construct a 100-MW 

(net), solar-powered electrical 

generation facility in La Paz County, 

Arizona. The solar power facility would 

occupy approximately 1,450 acres of 

BLM administered lands within a larger 

BLM administered area. The proposed 

Project would be located approximately 

six miles north of Quartzsite, and 

adjacent to Arizona State Route 95. The 

proposed Project, powerline and 

ancillary facilities would be on BLM 

administered land. 

The proposed Project would use 

concentrating solar ‘‘power tower’’ 

technology to capture the sun’s heat to 

make steam, which would power 

traditional steam turbine generators. 

The solar power facility would contain 

the power block, a central receiver or 

tower, solar fields which consist of 

mirrors or heliostats to reflect the sun’s 

energy to the central tower, a thermal 

energy storage system, technical and 

non-technical buildings, a stormwater 

system, water supply and treatment 

systems, a wastewater system, and other 

supporting facilities. 

Other Project components would 

include access roads, an electrical 

substation, and a transmission line. The 

access road would originate from 

Highway 95 and extend approximately 

0.5 miles to the perimeter of the solar 

power facility. 

QSE has applied to Western to 

interconnect the proposed Project to 

Western’s transmission system. The 

transmission line from the solar facility 

would extend approximately 0.5 miles 

from the solar facility boundary to a 

new substation to be constructed 

adjacent to Western’s existing line. The 

substation would be owned, operated, 

and maintained by Western, and would 

be located adjacent to Western’s existing 

Bouse-Kofa 161-kV line that parallels 

State Route 95 in the vicinity of 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with NOTICES