Document ID: FERC-2013-1065-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Hydroelectric Applications: Rock River Beach, Inc.; Rock River Beach Hydroelectric Project
Posted Date: 2013-08-07T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 7, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48155-48156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18994]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14345-001]

Rock River Beach, Inc.; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing 
With the Commission; Intent To Waive Scoping; Soliciting Motions To 
Intervene and Protests; Ready for Environmental Analysis; and 
Soliciting Comments, Terms and Conditions, Recommendations, and 
Prescriptions

    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.: 14345-001.
    c. Date filed: November 23, 2012.
    d. Applicant: Rock River Beach, Inc.
    e. Name of Project: Rock River Beach Hydroelectric Project
    f. Location: On the Rock River, in the Town of Onota, Alger County, 
Michigan. The project would not occupy any federal lands.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: Mary C. Edgar, 2617 Rockwood, East Lansing, 
MI 48823; or by telephone at (906) 892-8112.
    i. FERC Contact: Aaron Liberty at (202) 502-6862 or by email at 
Aaron. Liberty@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, requests 
for cooperating agency status, comments, terms and conditions, 
recommendations, and prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of 
this notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of 
this notice.
    All documents may be filed electronically via the Internet. See 18 
CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web 
site 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 or toll free at 1-866-208-3676, 
or for TTY, (202) 502-8659. Although the Commission strongly encourages 
electronic filing, documents may also be paper-filed. To paper-file, 
mail an original and five copies to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426.
    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 Rock River Beach Project consists of the following existing 
facilities: (1) A 33.6-foot-long by 5.5-foot-high, L-shaped gravity dam 
with a crest elevation of 606.95 feet North American Vertical Datum of 
1988 (NAVD 88) that impounds a 5-acre reservoir with a total storage 
capacity of 25 acre-feet; (2) an 8-foot-wide spillway containing two 
steel sluice gates, a 24-inch-high bottom gate that remains fixed in 
place and a 36-inch-high slide gate that is raised and lowered 
manually; (3) a 30-foot-wide by 50-foot-long power canal; (4) an 18-
foot by 24-foot wood-framed powerhouse housing a 3-kilowatt (kW) 
generating unit run by a water wheel and a 5-kW generating unit run by 
a 24-inch vertical-shaft propeller turbine for a total installed 
capacity of 8 kW; and (5) two, 220-volt, 0.5-mile-long transmission 
lines. The powerhouse also contains a 6-kW antique Edison generator 
that operates via the water wheel and is operated once a year.
    The applicant operates the project in a run-of-river mode (i.e., at 
any point in time, the combined outflow from the project's dam and 
powerhouse approximates all inflows to the project's reservoir). The 
project operates from June 20 through September 15, and October 15 
through November 15. At all other times, the reservoir is drawn down 
approximately 4 feet with the fixed sluice gate maintaining an 18 to 
24-inch head to prevent the upstream migration of sea lamprey from Lake 
Superior. Diversion of river flow through the 50-foot-long power canal 
and to the powerhouse creates a 100-foot-long bypassed reach in the 
Rock River. Average annual generation at the project varies between 
9,000 and 18,000 kilowatt-hours.
    All of the existing project facilities are owned by the applicant. 
The applicant proposes no new facilities or changes to existing project 
operations.
    m. Due to the projects works already existing and the applicant's 
close coordination with federal and state agencies during the 
preparation of the application, we intend to waive scoping. Based on a 
review of the application and resource agency consultation letters, 
Commission staff intends to prepare a single environmental assessment 
(EA). Commission staff has determined that the issues that need to be 
addressed in its EA have been adequately identified during the pre-
filing period, which included a public meeting and site visit, and no 
new issues are likely to be identified through additional scoping. The 
EA will consider assessing the potential effects of project operation 
on geology and soils, aquatic, terrestrial, threatened and endangered 
species, recreation and land use, aesthetic, and cultural and historic 
resources.
    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.
    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. Any qualified applicant desiring to file a competing application 
must submit to the Commission, on or before the specified intervention 
deadline date, a competing development application, or a notice of 
intent to file such an application. Submission of a timely notice of 
intent allows an interested person to file the competing development 
application no later than 120 days after the specified intervention 
deadline date. Applications for preliminary permits will not be 
accepted in response to this notice.
    A notice of intent must specify the exact name, business address, 
and telephone number of the prospective applicant, and must include an 
unequivocal statement of intent to submit a development application. A

[[Page 48156]]

notice of intent must be served on the applicant(s) named in this 
public notice.
    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'', ``NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE 
COMPETING APPLICATION,'' ``COMPETING APPLICATION,'' ``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 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.
    p. Procedural schedule: The application will be processed according 
to the following procedural schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be 
made as appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Comments, recommendations, and terms     September 2013.
 and conditions due.
Reply comments due.....................  November 2013.
Notice of the availability of the EA...  February 2014.
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    Dated: July 31, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-18994 Filed 8-6-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P