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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 16 (Monday, January 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8206-8207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01738]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3255-016]

Lyonsdale Associates, LLC; Notice Soliciting Scoping Comments

    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.: 3255.
    c. Date Filed: May 29, 2024.
    d. Applicant: Lyonsdale Associates, LLC.
    e. Name of Project: Lyonsdale Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Moose River in Lewis County, New York.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: David H. Fox, Senior Director, Regulatory 
Affairs, Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, LLC, 7315 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 
1100W, Bethesda, MD 20814; telephone at (201) 306-5616; email at 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Kelly Wolcott, Project Coordinator, Great Lakes 
Branch, Division of Hydropower Licensing; telephone at (202) 502-6480; 
email at [email protected].
    j. Deadline for Filing Scoping Comments: February 16, 2025.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
scoping comments using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief 
comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the 
eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. You 
must include your name at the end of your comments. For assistance, 
please contact FERC Online Support at [email protected], (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: Debbie Anne A. Reese, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, 
Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be 
addressed to: Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852. All 
filings must clearly identify the project name and docket number on the 
first page: Lyonsdale Hydroelectric Project (P-3255-016).
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure 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. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. Project Description: The Lyonsdale Project includes a dam that 
consists of: (1) a 27.5-foot-long intake structure with two 10.5-foot-
long slide gates that are equipped with a trashrack with 2.6-inch clear 
bar spacing; (2) a 57-foot-long non-overflow section with a 5-foot-long 
debris sluice gate; (3) a 149-foot-long section that includes: (a) a 
21.5-foot-long spillway with 1.7-foot-high flashboards that have a 
crest elevation of 1,065.9 feet National Geodetic Vertical Dam of 1929 
(NGVD 29); (b) a 28.5-foot-long section with a 20.5-foot-long Pelican 
gate; and (c) an 85.3-foot-long spillway with 3-foot-high flashboards 
that have a crest elevation of 1,065.9 feet NGVD 29; (4) a 39.5-foot-
long overflow section that includes a 33.5-foot-long spillway with 3-
foot-high flashboards that have a crest elevation of 1,065.9 feet NGVD 
29; (5) a 185-foot-long earthen embankment; and (6) a 48-foot-long 
overflow section that includes a 38-foot-long spillway with 3-foot-high 
flashboards that have a crest elevation of 1,065.9 feet NGVD 29.
    The dam creates an impoundment that has a surface area of 9 acres 
at an elevation of 1,065.9 feet NGVD 29. The impoundment includes a 
100-foot-long forebay. From the forebay, water flows through the two 
sluice gates of the intake structure to a 52-foot-long penstock and a 
26-foot-long penstock that convey water to two 1.5-MW vertical Kaplan 
turbine-generators located in a 35-foot-wide, 58-foot-long powerhouse, 
for a total installed capacity of 3 MW. Water is discharged from the 
turbines to an approximately 450-foot-long tailrace that discharges to 
the Moose River.
    The project creates the following bypassed reach segments: (1) an 
approximately 200-foot-long southern segment; and (2) an approximately 
70-foot-long segment that bifurcates into an approximately 350-foot-
long middle segment and an approximately 580-foot-long northern 
segment.
    Electricity generated at the project is transmitted to the electric 
grid via two 400-foot-long, 4.16-kilovolt (kV) generator lead lines and 
a 4.16/115-kV step-up transformer.
    The minimum and maximum hydraulic capacities of the powerhouse are 
260 and 1,400 cubic feet per second (cfs), respectively. The average 
annual energy production of the project from 2016 through 2023, was 
10,745 megawatt-hours.
    Existing project recreation facilities include: (1) an access trail 
on the north shoreline of the impoundment that consists of an 
approximately 1,000-foot-long ``North Bank Recreation Trail'' and an 
approximately 1,000-foot-long portage trail; and (2) a parking area on 
the 185-foot-long earthen embankment.
    Lyonsdale Associates operates the project in a run-of-river mode by 
maintaining the surface elevation of the impoundment at the flashboard 
crest elevation of 1,065.9 feet NGVD 29.
    Lyonsdale Associates proposes to: (1) continue operating the 
project in a run-of-river mode; (2) release a minimum flow of 33 cfs or 
inflow, whichever is less, to the bypassed reach from April 1 through 
November 30; (3) implement an Invasive Species Management Plan and a 
Bat and Eagle Management Plan filed in Appendix C of the license 
application; (4) consult with the New York State Historic Preservation 
Office (SHPO) on the need for any measures prior to any ground-
disturbing activities; and (5) stop work and consult with the New York 
SHPO on the need for any measures if previously unidentified cultural 
resources are discovered during any future construction activities at 
the project.
    Lyonsdale Associates also proposes measures for providing 
recreation opportunities, including: (1) continue maintaining the 
access trail on the north shoreline of the impoundment, including the 
North Bank Recreation Trail and portage trail; (2) maintain an existing 
impoundment access site, portage put-in site, picnic area, and South 
Bank Recreation Area as project recreation facilities; (3) update and 
maintain project recreation signs; (4) install new directional signs 
for the

[[Page 8207]]

portage route and North Bank Recreation Trail; and (5) install barriers 
at the picnic area and portage trail to deter all-terrain vehicle 
access.
    m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's 
website at https://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the 
project's docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket 
number field to access the document (P-3255). For assistance, contact 
FERC Online Support.
    You may also register at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, please 
contact FERC Online Support.
    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 [email protected].
    n. Scoping Process:
    Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
Commission staff will prepare either an environmental assessment (EA) 
or an environmental impact statement (EIS) (collectively referred to as 
the ``NEPA document'') that describes and evaluates the probable 
effects, including an assessment of the site-specific and cumulative 
effects, if any, of the proposed action and alternatives. The 
Commission's scoping process will help determine the required level of 
analysis and satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of 
whether the Commission issues an EA or an EIS.
    At this time, we do not anticipate holding on-site scoping 
meetings. Instead, we are soliciting written comments and suggestions 
on the preliminary list of issues and alternatives to be addressed in 
the NEPA document, as described in scoping document 1 (SD1), issued 
January 16, 2025.
    Copies of the SD1 outlining the proposed project and subject areas 
to be addressed in the NEPA document were distributed to the parties on 
the Commission's mailing list and the applicant's distribution list. 
Copies of SD1 may be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov using the 
``eLibrary'' link (see item m above).

    Dated: January 17, 2025.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-01738 Filed 1-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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