22508 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 77 / Wednesday, April 22, 2015 / Notices 

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. 

Persons who wish to comment only 

on the environmental review of this 

project should submit an original and 

two copies of their comments to the 

Secretary of the Commission. 

Environmental commenters will be 

placed on the Commission’s 

environmental mailing list, will receive 

copies of the environmental documents, 

and will be notified of meetings 

associated with the Commission’s 

environmental review process. 

Environmental commenters will not be 

required to serve copies of filed 

documents on all other parties. 

However, the non-party commenters 

will not receive copies of all documents 

filed by other parties or issued by the 

Commission (except for the mailing of 

environmental documents issued by the 

Commission) and will not have the right 

to seek court review of the 

Commission’s final order. 

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 five copies of the protest or 

intervention to the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street 

NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

Comment Date: May 6, 2015. 

Dated: April 15, 2015. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–09220 Filed 4–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CD15–22–000] 

East Valley Water District; Notice of 

Preliminary Determination of a 

Qualifying Conduit Hydropower 

Facility and Soliciting Comments and 

Motions To Intervene 

On April 2, 2015, East Valley Water 

District filed a notice of intent to 

construct a qualifying conduit 

hydropower facility, pursuant to section 

30 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), as 

amended by section 4 of the 

Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act 

of 2013 (HREA). The proposed Plant 134 

Hydroelectric Project would have an 

installed capacity of 242 kilowatts (kW), 

and would be located at East Valley 

Water District’s existing Water 

Treatment Plant 134. The project would 

be located in the city of Highland in San 

Bernardino County, California. 

Applicant Contact: Mr. Eliseo Ochoa, 

31111 Greenspot Road, Highland, CA 

92346, Phone No. (909) 888–8986. 

FERC Contact: Christopher Chaney, 

Phone No. (202) 502–6778, email: 

christopher.chaney@ferc.gov. 

Qualifying Conduit Hydropower 

Facility Description: The proposed 

project would consist of: (1) A proposed 

870-square-foot powerhouse; (2) an 18- 

inch-diameter intake pipe branching off 

the 300-foot-long, 24-inch-diameter 

pipeline coming from the existing 

Inflow Control Structure; (3) two pumpas-turbine units connected to two 

generators with installed capacities of 

56 kW and 186 kW, for a total installed 

capacity of 242 kW; (4) an 18-inchdiameter discharge pipe returning water 

to a 24-inch-diameter, 130-foot-long 

pipeline to the existing Filtration Plant; 

and (5) appurtenant facilities. The 

proposed project would have an 

estimated annual generating capacity of 

1,035 megawatt-hours. 

A qualifying conduit hydropower 

facility is one that is determined or 

deemed to meet all of the criteria shown 

in the table below. 

TABLE 1—CRITERIA FOR QUALIFYING CONDUIT HYDROPOWER FACILITY

Statutory provision Description Satisfies 

(Y/N) 

FPA 30(a)(3)(A), as amended by HREA ..... The conduit the facility uses is a tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or 

similar manmade water conveyance that is operated for the distribution of water for 

agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation 

of electricity.

Y 

FPA 30(a)(3)(C)(i), as amended by HREA .. The facility is constructed, operated, or maintained for the generation of electric power 

and uses for such generation only the hydroelectric potential of a non-federally 

owned conduit.

Y 

FPA 30(a)(3)(C)(ii), as amended by HREA The facility has an installed capacity that does not exceed 5 megawatts ....................... Y 

FPA 30(a)(3)(C)(iii), as amended by HREA On or before August 9, 2013, the facility is not licensed, or exempted from the licensing requirements of Part I of the FPA.Y 

Preliminary Determination: Based 

upon the above criteria, Commission 

staff preliminarily determines that the 

proposal satisfies the requirements for a 

qualifying conduit hydropower facility, 

which is not required to be licensed or 

exempted from licensing. 

Comments and Motions to Intervene: 

Deadline for filing comments contesting 

whether the facility meets the qualifying 

criteria is 45 days from the issuance 

date of this notice. 

Deadline for filing motions to 

intervene is 30 days from the issuance 

date of this notice. 

Anyone may submit comments or a 

motion to intervene in accordance with 

the requirements of Rules of Practice 

and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210 and 

385.214. Any motions to intervene must 

be received on or before the specified 

deadline date for the particular 

proceeding. 

Filing and Service of Responsive 

Documents: All filings must (1) bear in 

all capital letters the ‘‘COMMENTS 

CONTESTING QUALIFICATION FOR A 

CONDUIT HYDROPOWER FACILITY’’ 

or ‘‘MOTION TO INTERVENE,’’ as 

applicable; (2) state in the heading the 

name of the applicant and the project 

number of the application to which the 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 77 / Wednesday, April 22, 2015 / Notices 22509 

1 18 CFR 385.2001–2005 (2014). 

filing responds; (3) state the name, 

address, and telephone number of the 

person filing; and (4) otherwise comply 

with the requirements of sections 

385.2001 through 385.2005 of the 

Commission’s regulations.1 All 

comments contesting Commission staff’s 

preliminary determination that the 

facility meets the qualifying criteria 

must set forth their evidentiary basis. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filing. Please file motions to 

intervene and comments 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, please 

send a paper copy to: Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426. 

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. 

Locations of Notice of Intent: Copies 

of the notice of intent can be obtained 

directly from the applicant or such 

copies can be viewed and reproduced at 

the Commission in its Public Reference 

Room, Room 2A, 888 First Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. The filing may 

also be viewed on the Web at http://

www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp 

using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Enter the 

docket number (e.g., CD15–22) in the 

docket number field to access the 

document. For assistance, call toll-free 

1–866–208–3676 or email 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. For TTY, 

call (202) 502–8659. 

Dated: April 15, 2015. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–09224 Filed 4–21–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 2179–043—California; Project 

No. 2467–020—California] 

Merced Irrigation District, Pacific Gas 

and Electric Company; Notice of 

Availability of the Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement for the Merced River 

and Merced Falls Hydroelectric 

Projects and Intention To Hold Public 

Meetings 

In accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and 

the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission or FERC) 

regulations contained in the Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) (18 CFR Part 

380 [FERC Order No. 486, 52 FR 

47897]), the Office of Energy Projects 

has reviewed the applications for 

license for the Merced River 

Hydroelectric Project (FERC No. 2179), 

and the Merced Falls Hydroelectric 

Project (FERC No. 2467) and prepared a 

draft multi-project environmental 

impact statement (EIS) for the projects. 

Both projects are located on the 

Merced River. The Merced River Project 

consists of the New Exchequer and 

McSwain developments, which are 

located at river miles (RM) 62.5 and 

56.3, respectively, about 23 miles 

northeast of the city of Merced in 

Mariposa County, California. The 

Merced River Project occupies 3,154.9 

acres of federal land administered by 

the U.S. Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

The Merced Falls Project is located at 

RM 55 on the border of Merced and 

Mariposa Counties, California. The 

Merced Falls Project occupies 1.0 acre 

of federal land administered by BLM. 

The draft EIS contains staff’s analysis 

of the applicants’ proposals and the 

alternatives for relicensing the Merced 

River and Merced Falls Projects. The 

draft EIS documents the views of 

governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, affected 

Indian tribes, the public, the license 

applicants, and Commission staff. 

A copy of the draft EIS is available for 

review at the Commission 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, to access 

the document. For assistance, contact 

FERC Online Support at 

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

contact (202) 502–8659. 

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. 

All comments must be filed by Friday, 

May 29, 2015, and should reference 

Project Nos. 2179–043 and 2467–020. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filing. Please file comments 

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. In 

lieu of electronic filing, please send a 

paper copy to: Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. 

Anyone may intervene in this 

proceeding based on this draft EIS (18 

CFR 380.10). You must file your request 

to intervene as specified above. You do 

not need intervenor status to have your 

comments considered. 

In addition to or in lieu of sending 

written comments, you are invited to 

attend public meetings that will be held 

to receive comments on the draft EIS. 

The agency scoping meeting will focus 

on resource agency and nongovernmental organization input, while 

the public scoping meeting is primarily 

for public input. All interested 

individuals, organizations, and agencies 

are invited to attend one or both of the 

meetings. The time and locations of the 

meetings are as follows: 

Agency Meeting 

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2015. 

Time: 10:00 a.m. 

Place: El Capitan Lodge at the Merced 

County Fairgrounds. 

Address: 900 Martin Luther King Jr. 

Way, Merced, CA 95341. 

Public Meeting 

Date: Thursday, April 30, 2015. 

Time: 6:00 p.m. 

Place: San Joaquin Hall at the Merced 

County Fairgrounds. 

Address: 900 Martin Luther King Jr. 

Way, Merced, CA 95341. 

At these meetings, resource agency 

personnel and other interested persons 

will have the opportunity to provide 

oral and written comments and 

recommendations regarding the draft 

EIS. The meetings will be recorded by 

a court reporter, and all statements 

(verbal and written) will become part of 


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