Document ID: FERC-2014-1470-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Assessments; Availability, etc.: Minnesota Leased Housing Associates Ltd. Partnership; Meetings
Posted Date: 2014-11-21T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 225 (Friday, November 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69453-69454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-27554]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 14628-000]

Minnesota Leased Housing Associates IV, Limited Partnership; 
Notice of Scoping Meeting, Initial Information Meeting, and Soliciting 
Scoping Comments for an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment 
Using the Alternative Licensing Process

    a. Type of Filing: Notice of Intent to File License Application and 
Pre-Application Document for an Original License.
    b. Project No.: 14628-000.
    c. Applicant: Minnesota Leased Housing Associates IV, Limited 
Partnership (Minnesota Housing Associates).
    d. Name of Project: A-Mill Artists Loft Hydroelectric Project (A-
Mill Project).
    e. Location: On the Mississippi River, in the city of Minneapolis, 
Hennepin County, Minnesota.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).
    g. Applicant Contact: Owen Metz, 2905 Northwest Blvd., Suite 150, 
Plymouth, MN 55441; (763) 354-5618; email ometz@dominiuminc.com.
    h. FERC Contact: Janet Hutzel at (202) 502-8675; or email at 
janet.hutzel@ferc.gov.
    i. Deadline for filing scoping comments: January 3, 2015.
    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 
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-14628-000.
    j. The proposed project would consist of: (1) Removal of the 
existing concrete bulkhead blocking the existing intake structure and 
installation of a new trash rack at the intake; (2) an existing 
headrace tunnel that would be rehabilitated and sleeved with a new 
horizontal 600-foot-long, 5-foot-diameter steel penstock; (3) a new 
vertical 50-foot-long, 5-foot diameter steel pipe installed in an 
existing downstream drop-shaft; (4) a new sluice gate; (5) a new 650-
kilowatt turbine/generator set and related control system; (6) a new 
outlet structure consisting of a 4-foot-high by 6-foot-wide concrete 
box culvert installed on the invert of the existing downstream 
tailrace; and (7) appurtenant facilities.
    k. Scoping Process: Minnesota Housing Associates intends to utilize 
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission) alternative 
licensing process (ALP). Under the ALP, Minnesota Housing Associates 
will prepare an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment (APEA) and 
license application for the A-Mill Project.
    Minnesota Housing Associates expects to file with the Commission, 
the APEA and the license application for the A-Mill Project by January 
2015. Although the Commission's intent is to prepare an environmental 
assessment (EA), there is the possibility that an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) will be required. Nevertheless, this meeting will 
satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of whether an EA or 
EIS is issued by the Commission.
    The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the opportunity to 
participate in the upcoming scoping meetings and environmental site 
review identified

[[Page 69454]]

below, and to solicit your scoping comments.

Scoping Meetings, Initial Information Meeting (also known as a Joint 
Meeting), and Environmental Site Review \1\
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    \1\ With this notice, 18 CFR 4.38(b)(3)(ii), the requirement to 
hold an initial information meeting, also known as a joint meeting, 
no earlier than 30 days and no later than 60 days after the 
Alternative Licensing Process is approved, is waived. Holding the 
initial information meeting outside the required timeframe will 
result in greater participation from the licensing participants.
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    Minnesota Housing Associates will hold two scoping meetings, one in 
the daytime and one in the evening, to help us identify the scope of 
issues to be addressed in the APEA. The initial information meeting 
will be held at the same time as the daytime scoping meeting.
    The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, 
while the evening 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 environmental issues that should be analyzed in the 
APEA. The times and locations of these meetings and environmental site 
review are as follows:

Daytime Meeting

Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 12 p.m. (CST), 1000 LaSalle Avenue, Room 
202 of the Terrence Murphy Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55403.

Evening Meeting

    Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 5 p.m. (CST), 1000 LaSalle Avenue, 
Room 202 of the Terrence Murphy Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55403.

Environmental Site Review

Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 2 p.m. (CST), Xcel Energy Water Power 
Park, 206 Main Street SE., Minneapolis, MN 55414.
    Please notify Neal Route at (763) 354-5500, or email: 
nroute@dominiuminc.com if you plan to attend the environmental site 
review.
    To help focus discussions, Minnesota Housing Associates will mail 
the Scoping Document 1 (SD1), outlining the subject areas to be 
addressed in the APEA, to the parties on the mailing and distribution 
list. Copies of the SD1 also will be available at the scoping meetings. 
Minnesota Housing Associates will file SD1 with the Commission and the 
document will be 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 (P-14628) in the docket number field to 
access the document.
    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 
FERCONlineSupport@ferc.gov.
    Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document 2 (SD2) 
may be issued. SD2 will include a revised list of issues, based on the 
scoping sessions.

Meeting Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, Minnesota Housing Associates will: (1) 
Summarize the environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis 
in the APEA; (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 APEA, including viewpoints in opposition to, 
or in support of, Minnesota Housing Associates' preliminary views; (4) 
determine the resource issues to be addressed in the APEA; and (5) 
identify those issues that require a detailed analysis, as well as 
those issues that do not require a detailed analysis.

Meeting Procedures

    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become 
part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.

    Dated: November 14, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-27554 Filed 11-20-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P