Document ID: FERC-2009-0437-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Assessments, etc.: South Carolina Electric and Gas Co.
Posted Date: 2009-03-24T04:00Z

[Federal Register: March 24, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 55)]
[Notices]               
[Page 12351-12352]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24mr09-55]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[P-516-459]

 
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment and Notice of Scoping Meetings and 
Site Visit and Soliciting Scoping Comments

March 17, 2009.
    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with the Commission and are available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: New Major License.
    b. Project No.: 516-459.
    c. Date Filed: August 28, 2008.
    d. Applicant: South Carolina Electric & Gas Company.
    e. Name of Project: Saluda Project.
    f. Location: On the Saluda River in Richland, Lexington, Saluda, 
and Newberry counties, South Carolina. The project does not occupy any 
Federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: William R. Argentieri, Manager--Civil 
Engineering, South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, 111 Research Drive, 
Columbia, South Carolina 29203, (803) 217-9162.
    i. FERC Contact: Lee Emery, at lee.emery@ferc.gov, or (202) 502-
8379.
    j. Deadline for Filing Scoping Comments: May 8, 2009.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all 
interveners 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 intervener 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.
    Scoping comments may be filed electronically via the Internet in 
lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. 
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's 
Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ferconline.asp) under the 
``e-filing'' link. For a simpler method of submitting text only 
comments, click on ``Quick Comment.''
    k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. The existing 207.3-megawatt Saluda Project consists of a single 
development with the following features: (1) A 7,800-foot-long, 213-
foot-high earth-fill dam (Saluda dam), with South Carolina State 
Highway 6 (Highway 6) running along the top of the dam; (2) a dike that 
extends 2,550 feet from the north end of the dam, running parallel with 
Highway 6; (3) a 2,900-foot-long emergency spillway, with six steel 
Taintor gates, that is located 500 feet from the south end of Saluda 
dam, and a spillway channel that reconnects with the Saluda River about 
0.75 miles downstream from the Saluda powerhouse; (4) a 2,300-foot-
long, 213-foot-high roller compacted concrete backup dam located along 
the downstream toe of the Saluda dam, with (i) a crest elevation of 
372.0 feet North American Vertical Datum of 1988

[[Page 12352]]

(NAVD88),\1\ and (ii) rock fill embankment sections on the north and 
south ends of the backup dam, having a combined length of 5,700 feet; 
(5) a 41-mile-long, 50,900-acre reservoir (Lake Murray) at a full pool 
elevation of 358.5 feet NAVD88, with a total usable storage of 
approximately 635,000 acre-feet; (6) five 223-foot-high intake towers 
and associated penstocks; (7) a concrete and brick powerhouse 
containing four vertical Francis turbine generating units (three at 
32.5 MW and one at 42.3 MW), and a fifth vertical Francis turbine 
generating unit (67.5 MW), which is enclosed in a weather-tight housing 
located on a concrete deck attached to the south end of the main 
powerhouse; (8) a 150-foot-long tailrace; and (9) appurtenant 
facilities. There is no transmission line or bypassed reach associated 
with the project.
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    \1\ The license application contains documents that provide 
elevations based on NAVD88 datum or based on Plant Datum. To convert 
from Plant Datum to NAVD88 datum, subtract 1.5 feet.
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    m. 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 at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll-free at 1-
866-208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. A copy is also available for 
inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.
    You may also register Online at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/
esubscription.asp to be notified via e-mail of new filings and 
issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, 
contact FERC Online Support.
    n. Scoping Process.
    The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) 
on the project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy 
Act. The EA will consider both site-specific and cumulative 
environmental impacts and reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
action.

Scoping Meetings

    FERC staff will conduct one agency scoping meeting and one public 
meeting. The agency scoping meeting will focus on resource agency and 
non-governmental organization (NGO) concerns, while the public scoping 
meeting is primarily for public input. All interested individuals, 
organizations, and agencies are invited to attend one or both of the 
meetings, and to assist the staff in identifying the scope of the 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and 
locations of these meetings are as follows:

Agency Scoping Meeting

    Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2009.
    Time: 9 a.m. (EST)
    Place: Saluda Shoals Park Auditorium.
    Address: 5605 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC.

Public Scoping Meeting

    Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2009.
    Time: 6:30 p.m. (EST)
    Place: Saluda Shoals Park Auditorium.
    Address: 5065 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC.
    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA were distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD1 will be available at the 
scoping meeting or may be viewed on the Web at http://www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link (see item m above).

Site Visit

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project site visit 
beginning at 9 a.m. (EST) on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. All interested 
individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to attend. All 
participants should meet at the Saluda Project powerhouse, 6428 Bush 
River Road, Columbia, SC 29212. Those individuals wishing to 
participate in the site visit should notify William Argentieri of their 
intent and provide their name, address, and social security number no 
later than Tuesday, March 31, 2009. All participants are responsible 
for their own transportation to the site and lunch. Anyone with 
questions about the site visit (or needing directions) should contact 
William Argentieri at (803) 217-9162 or by e-mail at 
bargentieri@scana.com.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) Summarize the 
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2) 
solicit from the meeting participants all available information, 
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage 
statements from experts and the public on issues that should be 
analyzed in the EA, including viewpoints in opposition to, or in 
support of, the staff's preliminary views; (4) determine the resource 
issues to be addressed in the EA; and (5) identify those issues that 
require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that do not 
require a detailed analysis.

Procedures

    The meetings are recorded by a stenographer and become part of the 
formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meeting and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the EA.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-6287 Filed 3-23-09; 8:45 am]