80290 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

[GDO Docket No. PP–481–3] 

Application To Amend Presidential 

Permit; CHPE LLC 

AGENCY: Grid Deployment Office, 

Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of application. 

SUMMARY: CHPE LLC (the Applicant) has 

filed an application to amend 

Presidential Permit No. PP–481–2. 

CHPE LLC is requesting the amendment 

to allow for a singular modification to 

the previously permitted route. 

DATES: Comments, protests, or motions 

to intervene must be submitted on or 

before December 4, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Comments, protests, or 

motions to intervene should be 

addressed to Christina Gomer, 

electricity.exports@hq.doe.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christina Gomer, Grid Deployment 

Office (GD–20), U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue 

SW, Washington, DC 20585, by phone at 

(240) 474–2403, or by email at 

electricity.exports@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

construction, operation, maintenance, 

and connection of facilities at the 

international border of the United States 

for the transmission of electric energy 

between the United States and a foreign 

country is prohibited in the absence of 

a Presidential permit issued by the 

Secretary of Energy pursuant to 

Executive Order (E.O.) 10485, as 

amended by E.O. 12038. On April 10, 

2023, the authority to issue such 

permits was delegated to the DOE’s Grid 

Deployment Office by Delegation Order 

No. S1–DEL–S3–2023 and Redelegation 

Order No. S3–DEL–GD1–2023. 

On October 6, 2014, the Department 

of Energy (DOE) issued Presidential 

Permit No. PP–362, authorizing 

Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. 

(CHPEI) to construct, operate, maintain, 

and connect the Champlain Hudson 

Power Express Project (Project). As 

described in PP–362, the Project is a 

1,000-megawatt (MW), high-voltage 

direct current (HVDC), underground and 

underwater merchant transmission 

system that will cross the United StatesCanada international border underwater 

near the Town of Champlain, New York, 

extend approximately 336 miles south 

through New York State, and 

interconnect to facilities located in 

Queens County, New York, owned by 

the Consolidated Edison Company of 

New York. The aquatic segments of the 

transmission line will primarily be 

buried in sediments of Lake Champlain 

and the Hudson, Harlem, and East 

rivers. The terrestrial portions of the 

transmission line will primarily be 

buried within existing road and railroad 

rights-of-way. 

On July 21, 2020, DOE issued 

Presidential Permit PP–481 transferring 

the facilities authorized in PP–362 to 

CHPE LLC at the request of CHPEI and 

CHPE LLC. 

On April 30, 2021, DOE issued 

Presidential Permit No. PP–481–1, 

amending CHPE LLC’s permit to 

incorporate proposed revisions to the 

Project route and authorizing the 

increase in the Project’s capacity from 

1,000 MW to 1,250 MW. 

On March 22, 2022, DOE issued 

Presidential Permit No. PP–481–2, 

amending CHPE LLC’s permit to further 

clarify the maximum non-simultaneous 

rate of transmission to account for 

anticipated line losses. 

On November 8, 2023, CHPE LLC 

filed an application (Application or 

App.) with the Grid Deployment Office 

(GDO) of the DOE, as required by 

regulations at 10 CFR 205.320 et seq., 

requesting that DOE amend Presidential 

Permit No. PP–481–2 to allow for a 

singular change in the route previously 

permitted. The proposed route 

modification would occur in the area 

referred to as the ‘‘Harlem Rail Yard 

Alternative.’’ App. at 4. CHPE LLC 

indicates that ‘‘[e]xtensive geotechnical 

investigations have revealed two critical 

geological formations that make the 

current [horizontal directional drill] 

launch area location infeasible.’’ Id. at 5. 

Therefore, CHPE LLC has identified 

alternate horizontal directional drill 

(HDD) entry and exit points, as well as 

a temporary staging area. The newly 

proposed route is ‘‘approximately 1,000 

feet away from the existing launch site 

in an area along the northern border of 

Randall’s Island adjacent to the Bronx 

Kill and existing route (Proposed HDD 

Site) as depicted in Figure 2 [of the 

App.]’’ Id. at 6. 

In issuing the amendments in PP– 

481–1, DOE previously considered a 

route modification in the Harlem Rail 

Yard area, among others. Notice of the 

amendment application associated with 

PP–481–1 was published in the Federal 

Register on October 5, 2020 (85 FR 

62721) with a 30-day comment period. 

DOE received no comments in response 

to this notice. 

Given the relatively small size of the 

singular modification, the analysis 

conducted by DOE in the subject area in 

its prior assessments, and the previous 

opportunities given to the public to 

comment on that analysis in response to 

proposed changes to the permit, DOE 

has determined that a 15-day comment 

period is appropriate for this 

Application. 

Procedural Matters: Any person may 

comment on this application by filing 

such comment at electricity.exports@

hq.doe.gov. Any person seeking to 

become a party to this proceeding must 

file a motion to intervene at 

electricity.exports@hq.doe.gov, in 

accordance with Rule 214 of the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission’s Rules 

of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 

385.214). Each comment or motion to 

intervene should be filed with DOE on 

or before the date listed above, should 

be clearly marked with Docket No. PP– 

481–3, and addressed to 

electricity.exports@hq.doe.gov. 

Additional copies are to be provided 

directly to Mr. Jay T. Ryan, Baker Botts 

LLP, 700 K Street NW, Washington, DC 

20001, jay.ryan@bakerbotts.com. 

Before a Presidential permit may be 

issued or amended, DOE must 

determine that the proposed action is in 

the public interest. In making that 

determination, DOE will consider the 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

action (i.e., granting the Presidential 

permit or amendment, with any 

conditions and limitations, or denying 

the permit), determine the proposed 

project’s impact on electric reliability by 

ascertaining whether the proposed 

project would adversely affect the 

operation of the U.S. electric power 

supply system under normal and 

contingency conditions, and weigh any 

other factors that DOE may also 

consider relevant to the public interest. 

DOE also must obtain the favorable 

recommendation of the Secretary of 

State and the Secretary of Defense 

before taking final action on a 

Presidential permit application. 

This application may be reviewed or 

downloaded electronically at 

www.energy.gov/gdo/pendingapplications-0. 

Signing Authority: This document of 

the Department of Energy was signed on 

November 13, 2023, by Maria Robinson, 

Director, Grid Deployment Office, 

pursuant to delegated authority from the 

Secretary of Energy. That document 

with the original signature and date is 

maintained by DOE. For administrative 

purposes only, and in compliance with 

requirements of the Office of the Federal 

Register, the undersigned DOE Federal 

Register Liaison Officer has been 

authorized to sign and submit the 

document in electronic format for 

publication, as an official document of 

the Department of Energy. This 

administrative process in no way alters 

the legal effect of this document upon 

publication in the Federal Register. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 80291 

Signed in Washington, DC, on November 

14, 2023. 

Treena V. Garrett, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25433 Filed 11–16–23; 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 Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment 

On September 29, 2021, Ampersand 

Christine Falls Hydro, LLC filed an 

application for a subsequent minor 

license for the 850-kilowatt Christine 

Falls Hydroelectric Project (Christine 

Falls Project or project; FERC No. 4639). 

The Christine Falls Project is located on 

the Sacandaga River near the Village of 

Speculator, Hamilton County, New 

York. 

In accordance with the Commission’s 

regulations, on August 16, 2023, 

Commission staff issued a notice that 

the project was ready for environmental 

analysis (REA notice). Based on the 

information in the record, including 

comments filed on the REA notice, staff 

does not anticipate that licensing the 

project would constitute a major federal 

action significantly affecting the quality 

of the human environment. Therefore, 

staff intends to prepare an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) on the 

application to license the Christine Falls 

Project. 

The EA will be issued and circulated 

for review by all interested parties. All 

comments filed on the EA will be 

analyzed by staff and considered in the 

Commission’s final licensing decision. 

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. 

The application will be processed 

according to the following schedule. 

Revisions to the schedule may be made 

as appropriate. 

Milestone Target date 

Commission issues 

EA.

July 2024 1

Comments on EA ...... August 2024 

1The Council on Environmental Quality’s 

(CEQ) regulations under 40 CFR 

1501.10(b)(1) (2022) require that EAs be completed within 1 year of the federal action agency’s decision to prepare an EA. See National 

Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

seq., as amended by section 107(g)(1)(B)(iii) 

of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, Public 

Law 118–5, 4336a, 137 Stat. 42. 

Any questions regarding this notice 

may be directed to Andy Bernick at 

(202) 502–8660 or andrew.bernick@

ferc.gov. 

Dated: November 9, 2023. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25396 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 2639–028] 

Northern States Power CompanyWisconsin; Notice of Intent To Prepare 

an Environmental Assessment 

On November 30, 2021, Northern 

States Power Company-Wisconsin filed 

an application for a new major license 

to continue operating the existing, 

licensed, 30.75-megawatt Cornell 

Hydroelectric Project No. 2639 (Cornell 

Project). The project is located on the 

Lower Chippewa River, in the township 

of Cornell, in Chippewa County, 

Wisconsin. The project does not occupy 

Federal land. 

In accordance with the Commission’s 

regulations, on July 14, 2023, 

Commission staff issued a notice that 

the project was ready for environmental 

analysis (REA notice). Based on the 

information in the record staff does not 

anticipate that licensing the project 

would constitute a major Federal action 

significantly affecting the quality of the 

human environment. Therefore, staff 

intends to prepare an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) on the application to 

license the Cornell Project. 

The EA will be issued and circulated 

for review by all interested parties. All 

comments filed on the EA will be 

analyzed by staff and considered in the 

Commission’s final licensing decision. 

The application will be processed 

according to the following schedule. 

Revisions to the schedule may be made 

as appropriate. 

Milestone Target date 

Commission 

issues EA.

April 2024 1

Comments on EA May 2024. 

1The Council on Environmental Quality’s 

(CEQ) regulations under 40 CFR 

1501.10(b)(1) require that EAs be completed 

within 1 year of the Federal action agency’s 

decision to prepare an EA. This notice establishes the Commission’s intent to prepare an 

EA for the Cornell Project. Therefore, in accordance with CEQ’s regulations, the EA must 

be issued within 1 year of the issuance date of 

this notice. 

Any questions regarding this notice 

may be directed to Michael Davis at 

Michael.davis@ferc.gov or call at 202– 

502–8339. 

Dated: November 9, 2023. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25398 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 2221–041] 

Empire District Electric Company; 

Notice of Application Accepted for 

Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene 

and Protests, Ready for Environmental 

Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, 

Recommendations, Preliminary Terms 

and Conditions, and Preliminary 

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: New Major 

License. 

b. Project No.: 2221–041. 

c. Date filed: February 28, 2020 and 

amended on August 28, 2020. 

d. Applicant: Empire District Electric 

Company (Empire District). 

e. Name of Project: Ozark Beach 

Hydroelectric Project (Ozark Beach 

Project). 

f. Location: On the White River near 

the Town of Forsyth, in Taney County, 

Missouri. The project occupies 5.1 acres 

of United States lands administered by 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

(Corps). 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Randy 

Richardson, Plant Manager, Empire 

District Electric Company, 2537 Fir 

Road, Sarcoxie, MO 64862, (417) 625– 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES