Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 22, 2023 / Notices 57107 

meeting agenda includes: roll call, 

remarks from DOE program offices, 

discussion of future energy workforce 

needs, and public comments. The 

meeting will conclude at approximately 

3:30 p.m. 

Public Participation: The meeting is 

open to the public via a virtual meeting 

option. Individuals who would like to 

attend must register for the meeting 

here: https://teams.microsoft.com/

registration/zD4Ya1VL1U6zH9kvhxBOA,

eJoRzaPoQUuElbtOCKtbWQ,

pBbtdUJIYkOKcRiuZY6fDw,

aXmsWhibl0ycUwucZqCtsQ,

3dxScWg7fku7AguKAro2Yg,

7RlsUBNLTUetMZf

2VboYSg?mode=read&

tenantId=6b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-

7f64be1c4138&webinarRing=gcc. 

It is the policy of the EWAB to accept 

written public comments no longer than 

5 pages and to accommodate oral public 

comments, whenever possible. The 

EWAB expects that public statements 

presented at its meetings will not be 

repetitive of previously submitted oral 

or written statements. The public 

comment period for this meeting will 

take place on September 18, 2023, at a 

time specified in the meeting agenda. 

This public comment period is designed 

only for substantive commentary on the 

EWAB’s work, not for business 

marketing purposes. The Designated 

Federal Officer will conduct the meeting 

to facilitate the orderly conduct of 

business. 

Oral Comments: To be considered for 

the public speaker list at the meeting, 

interested parties should register to 

speak by contacting EWAB@hq.doe.gov 

no later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time 

on September 11, 2023. To 

accommodate as many speakers as 

possible, the time for public comments 

will be limited to three (3) minutes per 

person, with a total public comment 

period of up to 15 minutes. If more 

speakers register than there is space 

available on the agenda, the EWAB will 

select speakers on a first-come, firstserved basis from those who applied. 

Those not able to present oral comments 

may always file written comments with 

the Board. 

Written Comments: Although written 

comments are accepted continuously, 

written comments relevant to the 

subjects of the meeting should be 

submitted to EWAB@hq.doe.gov no later 

than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 

September 11, 2023, so that the 

comments may be made available to the 

EWAB members prior to this meeting 

for their consideration. Please note that 

because EWAB operates under the 

provisions of FACA, all public 

comments and related materials will be 

treated as public documents and will be 

made available for public inspection, 

including being posted on the EWAB 

website. 

Minutes: The minutes of this meeting 

will be available on the 21st Century 

Energy Workforce Advisory Board 

website at https://www.energy.gov/ 

policy/21st-century-energy-workforceadvisory-board-ewab or by contacting 

Piper O’Keefe at EWAB@hq.doe.gov. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on August 17, 

2023. 

LaTanya Butler, 

Deputy Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18045 Filed 8–21–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 4639–033] 

Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro, LLC; 

Notice of Application Accepted for 

Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene 

and Protests, Ready for Environmental 

Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, 

Recommendations, Terms and 

Conditions, and Fishway Prescriptions 

Take notice that the following 

hydroelectric application has been filed 

with the Commission and is available 

for public inspection. 

a. Type of Application: Subsequent 

Minor License. 

b. Project No.: 4639–033. 

c. Date filed: September 29, 2021. 

d. Applicant: Ampersand Christine 

Falls Hydro, LLC (Ampersand). 

e. Name of Project: Christine Falls 

Hydroelectric Project (Christine Falls 

Project or project). 

f. Location: On the Sacandaga River 

near the Village of Speculator, Hamilton 

County, New York. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Sayad 

Moudachirou, Licensing Manager, 

Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro LLC, 

717 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A, Boston, 

MA 02111, Phone: 617–933–7206, 

Email: sayad@ampersandenergy.com; 

and Mr. Jason Huang, Asset Manager, 

Ampersand Christine Falls Hydro LLC, 

717 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A, Boston, 

MA 02111, Phone: 773–919–0923, 

Email: jasonh@ampersandenergy.com. 

i. FERC Contact: Andy Bernick at 

(202) 502–8660, or andrew.bernick@

ferc.gov. 

j. Deadline for filing motions to 

intervene and protests, comments, and 

final recommendations, terms and 

conditions, and prescriptions: 60 days 

from the issuance date of this notice; 

reply comments are due 105 days from 

the issuance date of this notice. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filing. Please file motions to 

intervene, protests, comments, and final 

recommendations, terms and 

conditions, and fishway prescriptions 

using the Commission’s eFiling system 

at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

efiling.asp. Commenters can submit 

brief comments up to 6,000 characters, 

without prior registration, using the 

eComment system at http://

www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

ecomment.asp. You must include your 

name and contact information at the end 

of your comments. For assistance, 

please contact FERC Online Support at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (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: Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

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: 

Christine Falls Hydroelectric Project (P– 

4639–033). 

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. 

k. This application has been accepted 

for filing and is now ready for 

environmental analysis. 

The Council on Environmental 

Quality (CEQ) issued a final rule on 

April 20, 2022, revising the regulations 

under 40 CFR parts 1502, 1507, and 

1508 that Federal agencies use to 

implement the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) (see National 

Environmental Policy Act Implementing 

Regulations Revisions, 87 FR 23453–70). 

The final rule became effective on May 

20, 2022. Commission staff intends to 

conduct its NEPA review in accordance 

with CEQ’s new regulations. 

l. The Christine Falls Project consists 

of the following existing facilities: (1) a 


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57108 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 161 / Tuesday, August 22, 2023 / Notices 

15-foot-high, 152.6-foot-long concrete 

gravity dam (includes both abutments), 

with 3-foot-high wooden flashboards 

installed along the crest of the 135-footlong spillway; (2) a reservoir with a 

surface area of 1.1 acres and a storage 

capacity of 4-acre feet at a normal water 

surface elevation of 1,699.7 feet 

National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 

1929 (NGVD29); (3) an intake structure; 

(4) a 613-foot-long steel penstock with a 

diameter of 6 feet that bifurcates into 3- 

foot-diameter, 45-foot-long and 4-footdiameter, 32-foot-long penstocks; (5) a 

brick and concrete powerhouse 

containing two turbine-generator units 

(i.e., one 275-kilowatt (kW) unit and one 

575-kW unit) with a total capacity of 

850 kW; (7) a tailrace with a depth of 

21 feet; (8) a 610-foot-long bypassed 

reach; (9) a 185-foot-long underground 

transmission line connecting the 

generating units to a 1,000-kilovoltampere step-up transformer; (10) a 

9,315-foot-long, 4.16/13.2-kilovolt 

underground transmission line from the 

transformer to a point of 

interconnection; and (11) appurtenant 

facilities. 

The Christine Falls Project is operated 

in a run-of-river mode, with a minimum 

flow of 25 cubic feet per second (cfs) 

into the bypassed reach during the 

months of March, April, and May, and 

a minimum flow of 10 cfs during the 

remainder of the year. The project has 

an average annual generation of 2,478 

megawatt-hours. 

Ampersand proposes to operate the 

project in a strict run-of-river mode with 

an impoundment level fluctuation limit 

of 3 inches from the dam crest or 

flashboards when in place. As described 

in its October 11, 2022, settlement 

agreement with the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, New York State 

Department of Environmental 

Conservation, American Whitewater, 

and the New York State Council of 

Trout Unlimited, Ampersand proposes 

the following changes to project 

operation and facilities: (1) providing 

two seasonal minimum flow regimes 

over the spillway and through the 

bypass gate: (a) a 15-cubic foot per 

second (cfs) minimum flow or inflow, 

whichever is less, from June 1 to 

October 31, and (b) a 35-cfs minimum 

flow or inflow, whichever is less, from 

November 1 to May 31; (2) installing 

trash racks with 1-inch clear spacing or 

the equivalent (e.g., an overlay-type 

system) whereby approach velocities are 

less than or equal to 2 feet per second, 

as measured 1 foot in front of the trash 

racks; and (3) installing and maintaining 

a year-round downstream fish passage 

structure. Ampersand also proposes to 

remove the existing 9,315-foot-long 

transmission line from the project, 

stating that the line also provides power 

to the project from the grid and thus 

should not be considered a primary 

transmission line. 

m. A copy of the application may be 

viewed on the Commission’s website 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 this time, the 

Commission has suspended access to 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room. For assistance, contact FERC at 

FERCOnllineSupport@ferc.gov or call 

toll-free, (886) 208–3676 or TTY, (202) 

502–8659. 

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. 

n. Anyone may submit comments, a 

protest, or a motion to intervene in 

accordance with the requirements of 

Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 

385.210, .211, and .214. In determining 

the appropriate action to take, the 

Commission will consider all protests or 

other comments 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 comments, protests, or 

motions to intervene must be received 

on or before the specified comment date 

for the particular application. 

All filings must (1) bear in all capital 

letters the title ‘‘PROTEST,’’ ‘‘MOTION 

TO INTERVENE,’’ ‘‘COMMENTS,’’ 

‘‘REPLY COMMENTS,’’ 

‘‘RECOMMENDATIONS,’’ ‘‘TERMS 

AND CONDITIONS,’’ or ‘‘FISHWAY 

PRESCRIPTIONS;’’ (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. All 

comments, recommendations, terms and 

conditions or prescriptions must set 

forth their evidentiary basis and 

otherwise comply with the requirements 

of 18 CFR 4.34(b). 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. A copy of all other filings 

in reference to this application must be 

accompanied by proof of service on all 

persons listed in the service list 

prepared by the Commission in this 

proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 

4.34(b) and 385.2010. 

o. Procedural Schedule: 

The application will be processed 

according to the following schedule. 

Revisions to the schedule may be made 

as appropriate. 

Milestone Target date 

Filing of Comments, Recommendations, Terms and 

Conditions, and Fishway Prescriptions.

October 2023. 

Filing of Reply Comments ........ November 2023. 

p. Final amendments to the 

application must be filed with the 

Commission no later than 30 days from 

the issuance date of this notice. 

q. The applicant must file no later 

than 60 days following the date of 

issuance of this notice: (1) a copy of the 

water quality certification; (2) a copy of 

the request for certification, including 

proof of the date on which the certifying 

agency received the request; or (3) 

evidence of waiver of water quality 

certification. Please note that the 

certification request must comply with 

40 CFR 121.5(b), including 

documentation that a pre-filing meeting 

request was submitted to the certifying 

authority at least 30 days prior to 

submitting the certification request. 

Please also note that the certification 

request must be sent to the certifying 

authority and to the Commission 

concurrently. 

r. 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, environmental justice 

communities, 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 OPP@

ferc.gov. 

Dated: August 16, 2023. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18067 Filed 8–21–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 


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