Document ID: FERC-2014-1474-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Juneau Hydropower, Inc., Sweetheart Lake HydroelectricProject
Posted Date: 2014-11-21T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 225 (Friday, November 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69457-69458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27612]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 13563-003]

Juneau Hydropower, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
Environmental Impact Statement and Soliciting Comments, and Final 
Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions

November 17, 2014.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application and 
applicant-prepared environmental assessment has been filed with 
Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Original Major License.
    b. Project No.: 13563-003.
    c. Date filed: May 29, 2014.
    d. Applicant: Juneau Hydropower, Inc.
    e. Name of Project: Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On Lower Sweetheart Lake and Sweetheart Creek in the 
City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska. The project would occupy about 
2,058 acres of federal lands located in the Tongass

[[Page 69458]]

National Forest administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Duff W. Mitchell, Business Manager, Juneau 
Hydropower, Inc., P.O. Box 22775, Juneau, AK 99802; (907) 789-2775.
    i. FERC Contact: John Matkowski at (202) 502-8576, 
john.matkowski@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing comments, final recommendations, terms and 
conditions, and 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 
comments, and final recommendations, terms and conditions, and 
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 
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy to: 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include 
docket number P-13563-003.
    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. The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) on the project in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The EIS will consider both site-specific and 
cumulative environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed action.
    m. The proposed Sweetheart Lake Project would consist of the 
following new features: (1) A 280-foot-long, 111-foot-high roller 
compacted concrete gravity dam with a 125-foot-long spillway located at 
the outlet of Sweetheart Lake; (2) a 128,019 acre-foot impoundment at 
normal-maximum water level; (3) a 525-foot-long, 10-foot-high, 10-foot-
wide arched reservoir outlet tunnel at the right dam abutment; (4) a 
45-foot-long, 25-foot-wide, 16-foot-high rectangular concrete intake 
structure with six 7-foot-diameter, 10-foot-high cylindrical fish 
screens adjacent to the right dam abutment; (5) a 9,621-foot-long, 15-
foot-wide,15-foot-high arched, unlined power tunnel; (6) a 9-foot-
diameter, 896-foot-long saddle-supported steel penstock installed 
within the lower power tunnel; (7) three, 3- to 7-foot-diameter, 
approximately 160-foot-long buried steel penstocks connecting the lower 
portion of the power tunnel to the powerhouse; (8) a 160-foot-long, 60-
foot-wide, 30-foot-high powerhouse; (9) three 6.6-megawatt (MW) 
horizontal-axis Francis turbine/generator units having a total capacity 
of 19.8 MW; (10) a 541-foot-long, 30- to 90-foot-wide tailrace 
discharging into Sweetheart Creek; (11) a 4,400-foot-long coastal 
access road; (12) a dock/landing site for aerial and marine vehicle 
access located on the east shore of Gilbert Bay; (13) a 45,900-foot-
long, 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line traversing Gilbert Bay, the 
Snettisham Peninsula, and Port Snettisham, consisting of: (a) Two 
buried segments totaling 4,800 feet in length, (b) two submarine 
segments totaling 25,700 feet in length, and (c) one 15,400-foot-long 
overhead segment; (14) a 14,800-foot-long, 12.47-kV service 
transmission line and communication cable providing electricity and 
communications to Sweetheart Dam; (15) an approximately 22,000-square-
foot fenced switchyard; (16) a 25-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep 
smolt reentry pool adjacent to the powerhouse; (17) a 4,225-square-foot 
caretaker facility; (18) a 400-square-foot dam site shelter facility; 
and (19) appurtenant facilities. The project is estimated to generate 
an average of 116 gigawatt-hours annually.
    n. A copy of the application is available for review at the 
Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the 
Commission's Web site 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. A copy is also available for inspection and 
reproduction at the address in item h above.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``COMMENTS'', ``REPLY COMMENTS'', ``RECOMMENDATIONS,'' ``TERMS AND 
CONDITIONS,'' or ``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 submitting the filing; 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. Each filing must be 
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service 
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 
18 CFR 4.34(b), and 385.2010.
    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.
    o. Public notice of the filing of the initial development 
application, which has already been given, established the due date for 
filing competing applications or notices of intent. Under the 
Commission's regulations, any competing development application must be 
filed in response to and in compliance with public notice of the 
initial development application. No competing applications or notices 
of intent may be filed in response to this notice.
    p. Procedural Schedule:
    The application will be processed according to the following hydro 
licensing schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as 
appropriate.

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                 Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of final recommendations, terms and  January 2015.
 conditions, and prescriptions.
Commission issues Draft EIS...............  August 2015.
Comments on Draft EIS.....................  October 2015.
Commission Issues Final EIS...............  March 2016.
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    q. A license 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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-27612 Filed 11-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P