Document ID: FERC-2022-0671-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Application: Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP
Posted Date: 2022-06-02T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 106 (Thursday, June 2, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33478-33480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11779]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3509-042]

Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP; Notice of Application 
Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, 
Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, 
Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary 
Fishway Prescriptions

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

[[Page 33479]]

    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 3509-042.
    c. Date Filed: August 31, 2021.
    d. Applicant: Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP (Little 
Falls Associates).
    e. Name of Project: Little Falls Hydroelectric Project (Little 
Falls Project).
    f. Location: The existing project is located on the Mohawk River, 
in the City of Little Falls, Herkimer County, New York. The project 
does not occupy federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: David H. Fox, Director, Licensing and 
Compliance, Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP, Eagle Creek 
Renewable Energy, 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1100W, Bethesda, MD 
20814, [email protected]; Jody J. Smet, Vice President, 
Regulatory Affairs, Little Falls Hydroelectric Associates, LP, Eagle 
Creek Renewable Energy, 7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1100W, Bethesda, 
MD 20814, [email protected]
    i. FERC Contact: Monir Chowdhury at (202) 502-6736 or email at 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, 
recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary 
prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply 
comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary 
terms and conditions, and preliminary fishway prescriptions 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 
[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: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other 
carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 
20852. The first page of any filing should include docket number P-
3509-042.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice 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. This application has been accepted for filing and is now ready 
for environmental analysis.
    l. Project Description: The Little Falls Project consists of: (1) 
Two state-owned spillway dams (i.e., North State Dam and South State 
Dam) joined by an island, and equipped with 1-foot-high flashboards and 
flow control gates, with a total length of 530 feet and a height of 
about 6 feet; (2) a reservoir with a storage capacity of 800 acre-feet 
at a normal surface elevation of 363.8 feet; \1\ (3) a 45-foot-wide, 
330-foot-long navigation lock (Lock 17); (4) a 55-foot-wide, 73-foot-
long concrete intake structure with two roller head gates to control 
flow through the intake; (5) two 14.7-foot-diameter, 90-foot-long 
underground concrete penstocks; (6) a 65-foot-wide by 99-foot-long 
concrete powerhouse containing two-turbine-generator units each with a 
capacity of 6.65 megawatts; (7) two 74-foot-wide, 25-foot-high flood 
control gates; (8) two sets of 4.16-kilovolt (kV), 60-foot-long 
generator leads that run from the powerhouse to a 36-foot-wide by 46-
foot-long switchyard containing a 4.16/46-kV transformer; and (9) 
appurtenant facilities.
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    \1\ All elevations refer to the Barge Canal Datum which is 0.8 
foot higher than elevations in the National Geodetic Vertical Datum 
of 1929.
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    There are structures inside the project boundary that are not 
considered part of the project: The Middle Dam, with sixty percent of 
the dam currently breached, located in the bypassed reach of the Mohawk 
River, and built as part of a hydropower plant that was decommissioned 
in 1962; and the Gilbert Dam located also in the bypassed reach 
approximately 700 feet upstream of the powerhouse to measure flow 
through the Mohawk River and to ensure minimum flow conditions are met 
in the river.
    Little Falls Associates proposes to continue to operate the project 
in a run-of-river mode and continue to provide a minimum flow of 300 
cubic feet per second, or inflow if less, into the project's bypassed 
reach. The project generated an annual average of 55,355 megawatt-hours 
between 2013-2020.
    m. A copy of the application may be viewed on the Commission's 
website at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the 
docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number 
field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online 
Support.
    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.
    n. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene 
in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 
18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action 
to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments 
filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with 
the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any 
comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or 
before the specified comment date for the particular application.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``PROTEST,'' ``MOTION TO INTERVENE,'' ``COMMENTS,'' ``REPLY COMMENTS,'' 
``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,'' or 
``PRELIMINARY FISHWAY PRESCRIPTIONS;'' (2) set forth in the heading the 
name of the applicant and the project number of the application to 
which the filing responds; (3) furnish the name, address, and telephone 
number of the person protesting or intervening; and (4) otherwise 
comply with the requirements of 18 CFR 385.2001 through 385.2005. All 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions or prescriptions must 
set forth their evidentiary basis and otherwise comply with the 
requirements of 18 CFR 4.34(b). Agencies may obtain copies of the 
application directly from the applicant. A copy of any protest or 
motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the 
applicant specified in the particular application. 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.
    o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according

[[Page 33480]]

to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as 
appropriate.

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                 Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of comments, recommendations,         July 2022.
 preliminary terms and conditions, and
 preliminary fishway prescriptions.
Filing of Reply Comments...................  September 2022.
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    p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the 
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.
    q. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date 
of issuance of this notice: (1) A copy of the water quality 
certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including 
proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; 
or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note 
that the certification request must comply with 40 CFR 121.5(b), 
including documentation that a pre-filing meeting request was submitted 
to the certifying authority at least 30 days prior to submitting the 
certification request. Please also note that the certification request 
must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission 
concurrently.

    Dated: May 25, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-11779 Filed 6-1-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P