[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23432-23433]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11314]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2609-013]


Curtis/Palmer Hydroelectric Company and International Paper 
Company; Notice of Application and Applicant Prepared Environmental 
Assessment Accepted for Filing; Requesting Interventions and Protests; 
Establishing Procedural Schedule and Final Amendment Deadline; and 
Requesting Comments, Final Terms and Conditions, Recommendations and 
Prescriptions

April 23, 1998.
    Curtis/Palmer Hydroelectric Company and International Paper Company 
(International Paper) have filed with the Commission an Applicant 
Prepared Environmental Assessment and License Application for the 
Curtis-Palmer Project No. 2609, located on the Hudson River, New York.
    The Curtis/Palmer Project consists of two separate developments 
with a total installed capacity of 58.8 MW. The existing facilities at 
the Curtis Development include: (1) a 25 foot-high by 743 foot-long dam 
constructed of concrete; (2) a 714 foot long spillway section topped by 
46 inch-high wooden flash boards; (3) a 29 foot-long sluice gate 
structure housing a gate measuring 11 feet wide by 13 feet high; (4) a 
5.9 mile-long impoundment with a surface area of 390 acres at the 
normal high water elevation of 548.8 feet NGVD, and a storage capacity 
of 585 acre-feet at a drawdown of 1.5 feet; (5) a powerhouse intake 
structure containing ten gate openings, each equipped with a sliding 
headgate, plus three additional hydraulically operated gates located 35 
feet downstream; (6) a powerhouse containing five turbine generators, 
three with installed capacities of 2.8 MW each, and two with installed 
capacities of 1.2 MW each, with a total hydraulic capacity of 6,500 
cfs; and (7) a substation connected to a three-mile long, 13.8 kV 
transmission line.
    International Paper proposes to install an inflatable rubber 
flashboard system at Curtis. Impoundment elevation and total hydraulic 
capacity would remain unchanged.
    The existing facilities at the Palmer Development (located 2,700 
feet downstream of Curtis) include: (1) a 486 foot-long dam with 
maximum height of 37 feet, comprised of a 346 foot-long spillway 
section of two Ambursen type spillways topped with a 6 foot-high 
inflatable rubber dam; (2) a 7 foot by 7 foot steel sluice gate located 
within a concrete abutment forming the transition between the dam 
spillway section and the forebay spillway section; (3) an impoundment 
extending 2,700 feet upstream to the dam and powerhouse of the Curtis 
development, with a surface area of 28 acres at a normal pond elevation 
of 522.9 feet NGVD; (4) an intake structure constructed of reinforced 
concrete containing 22 foot by 22.5 foot headgates located adjacent and 
perpendicular to the forebay spillway; (5) two 20 foot diameter by 220 
and 260 feet long, concrete encased steel penstocks extending from the 
intake structure to the powerhouse; (6) a powerhouse containing two 
generating units of equal size with installed capacities of 24 MW each, 
with a total hydraulic capacity of 7,500 cfs; and (7) a substation 
which transfers power to a Niagara Mohawk Power Company bus maintained 
within.

Purpose of Notice

    The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Inform all interested parties 
that an applicant-prepared environmental assessment (APEA) and final 
license application for the Curtis/Palmer Project has been filed with 
the Commission on April 13, 1998, and are available for public 
inspection; (2) inform all parties that the applications and APEA are 
hereby accepted; (3) invite interventions and protests; (4) solicit 
comments, final recommendations, terms and conditions, or prescriptions 
on the final license application and APEA; and (5) identify an 
approximate schedule and procedures that will be followed in processing 
the application and APEA.
    International Paper has used a Cooperative Team (Team) approach to 
prepare the APEA for the Curtis/Palmer Project. The Team consists of 
federal, state, and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, and 
the public. The Team has been meeting since September 1995 to guide the 
study process and prepare the APEA.
    The Team has reached substantive agreement on most resource issues, 
and a comprehensive settlement agreement has been drafted and signed by 
most parties of the Team. Two Team members remain non-signatories to 
the Settlement Agreement. Due to a disagreement on measures to assess 
and protect downstream passage of resident fish, the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service and New York Rivers United do not concur with the 
encompassing settlement Agreement, and its presentation by the 
Applicant and Team as the preferred alternative. The Settlement 
Agreement is reflected in the APEA as the preferred alternative.

Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment Process and Processing 
Schedule

    The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EP Act) gives the Commission the 
authority to allow the filing of an APEA with a license application. 
The EP Act also directs the Commission to institute procedures, 
including pre-application consultations, to advise applicants of 
studies or other information foreseeably required by the Commission.
    On April 23, 1996, the Director, Office of Hydropower Licensing, 
waived or amended certain of the Commission's regulations to allow for 
coordinated processing of the license application and preparation of an 
APEA. Since then, the Commission has been working cooperatively in 
advising the Team on studies or other information foreseeably required 
by the Commission.
    National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping was conducted on 
the project through scoping documents issued December 7, 1995 and April 
19, 1996, and in public scoping meetings on January 12, 1996 and 
February 8, 1996. A draft license application and preliminary APEA were 
issued by the applicant for comment on October 3, 1997. The final 
license application and APEA were filed with the Commission on April 
13, 1998. The APEA includes

[[Page 23433]]

responses to all comments received on the preliminary APEA.
    Commission staff have reviewed the APEA and license application and 
have determined that the application is acceptable and no additional 
information or studies are needed to prepare the Commission's 
environmental assessment (EA). The deadline for the applicant to file 
any final amendments to the application is June 8, 1998. Comments, as 
indicated below, are now being requested from interested parties. Any 
comments received will be addressed in a draft EA issued by Commission 
by late summer, 1998. There will be a 30-day comment period on the 
draft EA. A final EA is scheduled for the fall of 1998, or earlier.

Interventions and Protests

    All intervention and protest filings must: (1) bear in all capital 
letters the title ``MOTION TO INTERVENE''; (2) set forth in the heading 
the name of the applicant and the project number of the application to 
which the filing responses; (3) furnish the name, address, and 
telephone number of the person intervening or protesting; and (4) 
otherwise comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 
385.2005. All motions to intervene or protest must be received June 22, 
1998. A copy of any motion to intervene or protest must be served on 
the applicant.

Comments, Final Terms and Conditions, Recommendations and 
Prescriptions

    Interested parties have until June 22, 1998, to file with the 
Commission, any comments, final terms and conditions, recommendations 
and prescriptions for the Curtis/Palmer Hydroelectric Project. The 
applicant will have 45 days following the notice period to respond. In 
view of the high level of early involvement of the Cooperative Team, we 
expect the majority of comments to reflect the agreement and preferred 
alternative in the preliminary APEA.

Copies of the Application and APEA

    A copy of the APEA and final license application is available for 
review by contacting Stuart Field, International Paper, Hudson River 
Mill, Pine Street, Corinth, New York 12822, or phone 518-654-3445. 
Copies of these documents are also available for review in the 
Commission's Public Reference Room.

Filing Requirements

    Any comments, final terms and conditions, recommendations and 
prescriptions should be filed by providing an original and 8 copies as 
required by the Commission's regulations to: Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426.
    In addition to the above copies, comments, interventions, final 
terms and conditions, recommendations may also be submitted on a 3\1/
2\-inch diskette formatted for Windows-95 based computers to: Tom Dean, 
Office of Hydropower Licensing, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
888 First St., NE, Room 61-47, Washington, D.C. 20426. For Macintosh 
users, it would be helpful to save the documents in Macintosh word 
processor format and then write them to files on a diskette formatted 
for MS-DOS or Windows-95 machines.
    Questions regarding this notice may be directed to Commission staff 
Tom Dean at 202-219-2778.
David P. Boergers,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-11314 Filed 4-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M