Document ID: FERC-2023-0449-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Settlement Agreement: FirstLight MA Hydro, LLC; Northfield Mountain, LLC
Posted Date: 2023-04-13T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 71 (Thursday, April 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22446-22447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07806]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 1889-085; Project No. 2485-071]

Notice of Settlement Agreement and Soliciting Comments; 
FirstLight MA Hydro LLC; Northfield Mountain LLC

    Take notice that the following settlement agreement has been filed 
with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Settlement Agreement.
    b. Project Nos.: 1889-085 and 2485-071.
    c. Date Filed: March 31, 2023.
    d. Applicant: FirstLight MA Hydro LLC and Northfield Mountain LLC 
(collectively FirstLight).
    e. Name of Projects: Turners Falls Hydroelectric Project and 
Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Project (collectively, projects).
    f. Location: The existing projects are located on the Connecticut 
River in the counties of Windham, Vermont; Cheshire, New Hampshire; and 
Franklin, Massachusetts. There are approximately 20 acres of federal 
land within the current Turners Falls Project boundary, associated with 
the U.S. Geological Survey's Silvio Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory. 
There are no federal lands within the Northfield Mountain Project 
boundary.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Rule 602 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.602.
    h. Applicant Contact: Alan Douglass, Regulatory Compliance Manager, 
FirstLight MA Hydro LLC and Northfield Mountain LLC, 99 Millers Falls 
Road, Northfield, MA 01360; (413) 659-4416 or 
[email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Steve Kartalia, (202) 502-6131, 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing comments: May 7, 2023. Reply comments due 
May 22, 2023.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file 
comments 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, Room 1A, 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 
numbers P-1889-085 and P-2485-071.
    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. FirstLight filed the Settlement Agreement for the projects' 
relicense proceedings, on behalf of itself, the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Massachusetts 
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Nature Conservancy, American 
Whitewater, Appalachian Mountain Club, Crabapple Whitewater, Inc., New 
England FLOW, and Zoar Outdoor. The purpose of the Settlement Agreement 
is to resolve, among the signatories, relicensing issues related to 
fish passage, flows for the fishery, ecological conservation, 
recreation, and protected, threatened, and endangered species. The 
Settlement Agreement includes proposed license articles that reflect 
agreement among the parties concerning the recommendations, terms, 
conditions, and fishway prescriptions to be submitted to the Commission 
pursuant to sections 10(a), 10(j), and 18 of the Federal Power 
regarding these topics. FirstLight requests, and the Settlement 
Agreement includes a proposed term of 50 years for any new licenses 
issued for the projects. FirstLight requests that the Commission accept 
and incorporate all of the proposed license articles in any new 
licenses for the projects, and issue new licenses for terms of 50 
years.
    l. A copy of the Settlement Agreement 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 (i.e., P-1889 and P-2485). 
At this time, the Commission has suspended access to the Commission's 
Public Reference Room, due to the

[[Page 22447]]

proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning the Novel 
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued by the President on March 13, 
2020. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.
    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.

    Dated: April 7, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-07806 Filed 4-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P