[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 90 (Monday, May 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25851-25852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12362]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 77-110]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Site Visit and 
Scoping Meetings Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969

May 5, 1998.
    On April 17, 1998, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) issued notice of an application for amendment of the 
license for the Potter Valley Project (FERC No. 77-110) and of our 
intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in support of 
the Commission's decision in this matter. The proposed amendment 
involves changes in the minimum flow requirements at the project, 
located on the Eel and East Fork Russian River, in Lake and Mendocino 
Counties, California.
    The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Advise all parties of 
upcoming site visits to the project area; (2) announce the dates, 
times, and locations of public and agency meetings to be held to assist 
staff in determining the appropriate scope of staff's environmental 
analysis; (3) seek additional information pertinent to this analysis; 
and (4) advise all parties of their opportunity for comment.

Project Site Visits

    The licensee and the Commission staff will conduct site visits of 
the Potter Valley Project and other relevant areas on June 1-2, 1998. 
On June 1, downstream areas of the East Fork Russian River will be 
visited. On June 2, the Potter Valley Project and downstream areas of 
the Eel River will be visited. Times and meeting places are as follows.

Date: June 1, 1998.
Time: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Place: Sonoma County Water Agency, 2150 West College Avenue, Santa 
Rosa, CA 95401.
Date: June 2, 1998.
Time: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Place: Hoppers Corner, Main Street and Eel River Road, Potter Valley, 
CA 95469.

    All interested individuals, nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), 
and agencies are invited to attend. All participants are responsible 
for their own transportation. For more details, interested parties 
should contact the Project Manager identified at the end of this notice 
prior to May 28, 1998.

[[Page 25852]]

Scoping Process

    The purpose of the scoping process is to identify significant 
issues related to the proposed action and to determine what issues 
should be addressed in the environmental document to be prepared 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). A 
document entitled ``Scoping Document'' (SD) will be circulated shortly 
to enable appropriate federal, state, and local resource agencies, 
developers, Indian tribes, NGO's and other interested parties to 
effectively participate in and contribute to the scoping process. The 
SD provides a brief description of the proposed action, project 
alternatives, the geographic and temporal scope of the analysis, and a 
list of preliminary issues identified by staff.

Scoping Meetings

    The Commission staff will hold scoping meetings on June 3 and June 
4, 1998, to facilitate its preparation of an EIS for the proposed 
amendment. The scoping meetings will be held in two locations in the 
general vicinity of the Potter Valley Project. On each date there will 
be two scoping meetings: One afternoon meeting and one evening meeting. 
The afternoon meetings will focus on resource agency concerns, whereas 
the evening meeting will focus on receiving input from the public. 
However, we invite all interested agencies, NGOs, and individuals to 
attend one or both of the meetings, and to assist staff in identifying 
the scope of environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EIS. 
The times and locations of these meetings are shown below.
    Ukiah Scoping Meetings:

Date: June 3, 1998.
Time: 1:00-3:00 p.m.; 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Place: Ukiah Valley Conference Center, 200 S. School Street, Ukiah, CA 
95482, (707) 686-4571.

    Eureka Scoping Meetings:

Date: June 4, 1998.
Time: 1:00-3:00 p.m.; 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Place: Doubletree Inn Eureka, 1929 Fourth Street, Eureka, CA 95501, 
(707) 445-0844.

    As mentioned previously a scoping document will be distributed to 
the parties on the Commission's mailing list. The SD should help focus 
discussions, by outlining the issues to be addressed at the meetings. 
Copies of the SD can also be obtained by contacting the Project Manager 
identified at the end of this notice.

Meeting Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EIS; 
(2) solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements on environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EIS, 
including opinions in favor of, or in opposition to, the staff's 
preliminary list of issues; (4) determine the depth of analysis for 
issues addressed in the EIS; and (5) identify resource issues that will 
not require detailed analysis in the EIS.
    The scoping meetings will be recorded by a court reporter, and all 
statements (oral and written) will become part of the Commission's 
public record for this proceeding. Before each meeting starts, all 
individuals who attend, especially those individuals that intend to 
make statements during the meeting, will be asked to sign in and 
clearly identify themselves for the record prior to speaking. Time 
allotted for presentations will be determined by staff based on the 
length of the meetings and the number of people wanting to speak. All 
individuals wishing to speak will be provided at least five minutes to 
present their views.
    Interested parties who choose not to speak, or are unable to attend 
the scoping meetings, may provide written comments and information to 
the Commission until June 15, 1998. Written comments and information 
should be submitted to: The Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The first page of all filings should indicate ``Potter Valley 
Project, FERC No. 77-110'' at the top of the page. All filings sent to 
the Secretary of the Commission should contain an original and eight 
copies. Failure to file an original and eight copies may result in 
appropriate staff not receiving the benefit of your comments in a 
timely manner. Furthermore, participants in this proceeding are 
reminded that if they file comments with the Commission, they must 
serve a copy of their filing to the parties on the Commission's service 
list.
    For further information, please contact the Project Manager, Dr. 
John M. Mudre at (202) 219-1208.
David P. Boergers,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-12362 Filed 5-8-98; 8:45 am]
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