Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 11, 2025 / Notices 9323 

landowners, local 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. 

Dated: February 4, 2025. 

Carlos D. Clay, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2025–02440 Filed 2–10–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 14634–008] 

New England Hydropower Company, 

LLC; Notice of Application Tendered 

for Filing With the Commission and 

Soliciting Additional Study Requests 

and Establishing Procedural Schedule 

for Licensing 

Take notice that the following 

hydroelectric application has been filed 

with the Commission and is available 

for public inspection. 

a. Type of Application: Original 

Minor License. 

b. Project No.: 14634–008. 

c. Date Filed: January 21, 2025. 

d. Applicant: New England 

Hydropower Company, LLC (NEHC). 

e. Name of Project: Ashton Dam 

Hydroelectric Project (project). 

f. Location: On the Blackstone River 

in Providence County, Rhode Island. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)–825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Michael 

Kerr, New England Hydropower 

Company, LLC, 100 Cummings Center, 

Suite 451C, Beverly, MA 01915; Phone 

at (978) 360–2547, or email at michael@

nehydropower.com; or Carol 

Wasserman, New England Hydropower 

Company, LLC, 100 Cummings Center, 

Suite 451C, Beverly, MA 01915; Phone 

at (339) 293–3157, or email carol@

nehydropwer.com. 

i. FERC Contact: John Baummer at 

(202) 502–6837, or john.baummer@

ferc.gov. 

j. Cooperating Agencies: Federal, 

State, local, and Tribal agencies with 

jurisdiction and/or special expertise 

with respect to environmental issues 

that wish to cooperate in the 

preparation of the environmental 

document should follow the 

instructions for filing such requests 

described in item l below. Cooperating 

agencies should note the Commission’s 

policy that agencies that cooperate in 

the preparation of the environmental 

document cannot also intervene. See, 94 

FERC ¶ 61,076 (2001). 

k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 

CFR of the Commission’s regulations, if 

any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or 

person believes that an additional 

scientific study should be conducted in 

order to form an adequate factual basis 

for a complete analysis of the 

application on its merit, the resource 

agency, Indian Tribe, or person must file 

a request for a study with the 

Commission not later than 60 days from 

the date of filing of the application, and 

serve a copy of the request on the 

applicant. 

l. Deadline for filing additional study 

requests and requests for cooperating 

agency status: March 22, 2025. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filing. Please file additional 

study requests and requests for 

cooperating agency status using the 

Commission’s eFiling system at https:// 

www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 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, 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: Ashton 

Dam Hydroelectric Project (P–14634– 

008). 

m. The application is not ready for 

environmental analysis at this time. 

n. The proposed Ashton Dam 

Hydroelectric Project would consist of: 

(1) an existing stone masonry gravity 

dam that includes: (a) a western 

abutment section; (b) a 203-foot-long 

western spillway section with a crest 

elevation of 73.6 feet North American 

Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88); (c) 

an 18-foot-long stone masonry pier that 

includes two 4-foot-wide, 8-foot-high 

existing openings that would be 

modified to close the openings; (d) an 

existing 54-foot-long eastern spillway 

section that would be replaced with a 

new 54-foot-long concrete section that 

includes: (i) two new 19.8-foot-wide, 

horizontal steel trashracks sloped at 8 

degrees to inflow with 0.5-inch clear bar 

spacing; (ii) two new 19.7-foot-wide, 

60.8-foot-long concrete penstocks, and 

(iii) four new hinged, adjustable 

Obermeyer metal crest gates installed on 

top of the new concrete structure with 

a crest elevation of 73.6 feet NAVD 88; 

and (e) an eastern abutment section; (2) 

an existing impoundment with a surface 

area of 35 acres at an elevation of 73.6 

feet NAVD 88; (3) four new submersible 

StreamDiver Kaplan turbine-generator 

units (three 224-kilowatt [kW] and one 

121-kW generators) located in the 

openings of the new concrete structure, 

with a total installed capacity of 793 

kW; (4) a new 15.4-foot-long, 8.6-foothigh draft tube and a new 16.9-footlong, 6.7-foot-high draft tube; (5) a new 

60-foot-long, 41-foot-wide concrete 

tailrace and an approximately 30- to 45- 

foot-long, 44.3-foot-wide concrete 

apron; (6) a new 35-foot-long, 16-footwide control building located on the 

eastern shoreline of the Blackstone 

River; (7) a new 1,000 kilo-volt-amperes 

step-up transformer located on a new 6- 

foot-long, 5.3-foot-wide concrete pad; 

(8) a new 1,410-foot-long transmission 

line consisting of an 820-foot-long 

underground segment and a 590-footlong overhead segment connecting the 

project to the distribution system owned 

by the Rhode Island Energy; (9) a new 

access road and parking area; and (10) 

appurtenant facilities. 

In addition to the new facilities listed 

above, NEHC proposes to: (1) operate 

the project in a run-of-river mode with 

an estimated annual energy production 

of approximately 3,100 megawatt-hours; 

(2) release a continuous minimum flow 

of 100 cubic feet per second or inflow 

whichever is less, over the western 

spillway; (3) install a downstream fish 

passage facility between the crest gates 

on top of the new concrete structure; (4) 

install an upstream eel passage facility 

at the project dam; (5) develop an 

erosion control plan; (6) implement Best 

Management Practices to control erosion 

and sedimentation during construction; 

(7) develop a contaminated sediment 

management and disposal plan; (8) 

monitor water quality post construction; 

(9) restore and improve an existing 

canoe portage upstream and 

downstream of the dam; (10) develop an 

invasive species management plan; (11) 

develop an historic properties 

management plan; (12) install 

interpretive historic signage for 

educational purposes at the project; and 

(13) develop a project operation and 

maintenance plan. 

o. Copies of the application may be 

viewed on the Commission’s website at 

https://www.ferc.gov using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Enter the docket 

number excluding the last three digits in 

the docket number field to access the 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES
9324 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 11, 2025 / Notices 

document (P–14634). For assistance, 

contact FERC Online Support at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call 

tollfree, (866) 208–3676 or (202) 502– 

8659 (TTY). 

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. 

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, 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. 

p. Procedural Schedule: The 

application will be processed according 

to the following preliminary schedule. 

Revisions to the schedule will be made 

as appropriate. 

Milestone—Target Date 

Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)— 

March 2025 

Request Additional Information—March 

2025 

Issue Acceptance Letter—July 2025 

Issue Scoping Document 1 for 

comments—July 2025 

Request Additional Information (if 

necessary)—August 2025 

Issue Scoping Document 2—October 

2025 

Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental 

Analysis—October 2025 

Dated: February 4, 2025. 

Debbie Anne A. Reese, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2025–02429 Filed 2–10–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP25–29–000] 

Notice of Scoping Period Requesting 

Comments on Environmental Issues 

for the Eastern Gas Transmission and 

Storage Proposed Capital Area Project 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) will prepare an 

environmental document, that will 

discuss the environmental impacts of 

the Capital Area Project involving 

construction and operation of facilities 

by Eastern Gas Transmission and 

Storage (EGTS), in Clinton, Centre and 

Franklin Counties, Pennsylvania, and 

Loudoun County, Virginia. The 

Commission will use this environmental 

document in its decision-making 

process to determine whether the 

project is in the public convenience and 

necessity. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies regarding the 

project. As part of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

review process, the Commission takes 

into account concerns the public may 

have about proposals and the 

environmental impacts that could result 

from its action whenever it considers 

the issuance of a Certificate of Public 

Convenience and Necessity. This 

gathering of public input is referred to 

as ‘‘scoping.’’ The main goal of the 

scoping process is to focus the analysis 

in the environmental document on the 

important environmental issues. 

Additional information about the 

Commission’s NEPA process is 

described below in the NEPA Process 

and Environmental Document section of 

this notice. 

By this notice, the Commission 

requests public comments on the scope 

of issues to address in the 

environmental document. To ensure 

that your comments are timely and 

properly recorded, please submit your 

comments so that the Commission 

receives them in Washington, DC on or 

before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on March 

6, 2025. Comments may be submitted in 

written form. Further details on how to 

submit comments are provided in the 

Public Participation section of this 

notice. 

Your comments should focus on the 

potential environmental effects, 

reasonable alternatives, and measures to 

avoid or lessen environmental impacts. 

Your input will help the Commission 

staff determine what issues they need to 

evaluate in the environmental 

document. Commission staff will 

consider all written comments during 

the preparation of the environment 

document. 

If you submitted comments on this 

project to the Commission before the 

opening of this docket on December 23, 

2024, you would need to file those 

comments in Docket No. CP25–29–000 

to ensure they are considered as part of 

this proceeding. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this project. State and 

local government representatives should 

notify their constituents of this 

proposed project and encourage them to 

comment on their areas of concern. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, a pipeline company 

representative may contact you about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

proposed facilities. The company would 

seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 

easement agreement. You are not 

required to enter into an agreement. 

However, if the Commission approves 

the project, the Natural Gas Act conveys 

the right of eminent domain to the 

company. Therefore, if you and the 

company do not reach an easement 

agreement, the pipeline company could 

initiate condemnation proceedings in 

court. In such instances, compensation 

would be determined by a judge in 

accordance with state law. The 

Commission does not subsequently 

grant, exercise, or oversee the exercise 

of that eminent domain authority. The 

courts have exclusive authority to 

handle eminent domain cases; the 

Commission has no jurisdiction over 

these matters. 

EGTS provided landowners with a 

fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled 

‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On 

My Land? What Do I Need To Know?’’ 

which addresses typically asked 

questions, including the use of eminent 

domain and how to participate in the 

Commission’s proceedings. This fact 

sheet along with other landowner topics 

of interest are available for viewing on 

the FERC website (www.ferc.gov) under 

the Natural Gas, Landowner Topics link. 

Public Participation 

There are three methods you can use 

to submit your comments to the 

Commission. Please carefully follow 

these instructions so that your 

comments are properly recorded. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) 

under the link to FERC Online. Using 

eComment is an easy method for 

submitting brief, text-only comments on 

a project; 

(2) You can file your comments 

electronically by using the eFiling 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) 

under the link to FERC Online. With 

eFiling, you can provide comments in a 

variety of formats by attaching them as 

a file with your submission. New 


KHAMMOND on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES