Document ID: FERC-2012-0867-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Environmental Site Reviews: New York, NY; Scoping Meetings
Posted Date: 2012-05-18T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 97 (Friday, May 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29631-29633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-12070]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 13287-004]

City of New York; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Environmental 
Site Review and Soliciting Scoping Comments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been 
filed with Commission and is available for public inspection:
    a. Type of Application: Major project, existing dam.
    b. Project No.: 13287-004.
    c. Date filed: February 29, 2012.
    d. Applicant: City of New York.
    e. Name of Project: Cannonsville Hydroelectric Project.

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    f. Location: On the West Branch of the Delaware River, near the 
Township of Deposit, Delaware County, New York. 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: Anthony J. Fiore, Chief of Staff--Operations, 
New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 59-17 Junction 
Blvd., Flushing, NY 11373-5108, (718) 595-6529 or afiore@dep.nyc.gov.
    i. FERC Contact: John Mudre, (202) 502-8902 or john.mudre@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: July 13, 2012.
    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 seven copies to: 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.
    k. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this 
time.
    l. Project facilities would include: (1) An existing 2,800-foot-
long, 45-foot-wide earthen embankment dam with a crest elevation of 
1,175.0 feet above mean sea level; (2) an existing 800-foot-long stone 
masonry spillway; (3) an existing 12-mile-long, 4,670-acre impoundment 
(Cannonsville Reservoir); (4) four proposed penstocks branching from an 
existing 12-foot-diameter intake; (5) a proposed 168-foot-long by 54-
foot-wide powerhouse containing four horizontal shaft Francis 
generating units; (6) a proposed tailrace occupying approximately one 
acre; (7) a proposed transmission system consisting of a 150-foot-long 
underground and 1,200-foot-long overhead 12.47-kilovolt (kV) line, a 
substation, and a 460-foot-long overhead 46-kV line; and (8) 
appurtenant facilities. The project would have a total installed 
capacity of 14.08 megawatts and would generate approximately 42,281 
megawatt-hours of electricity annually.
    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. 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 email 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, June 13, 2012.
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Place: Homewood Suites Hotel.
Address: 3603 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY.

Public Scoping Meeting

Date: Wednesday June 13, 2012.
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Walton Veterans Club.
Address: 10 Park Street, Walton, NY.

    Copies of the Scoping Document (SD1) outlining the subject areas to 
be addressed in the EA are being distributed to the parties on the 
Commission's mailing list and the applicant's distribution 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).

Environmental Site Review

    The Applicant and FERC staff will conduct a project Environmental 
Site Review beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday June 13, 2012. All 
interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
attend. All participants should meet in the parking lot at the 
Cannonsville Dam at 10:00 a.m. The dam is located about 4 miles east of 
the town of Deposit, New York on State Highway 10. All participants are 
responsible for their own transportation to the site. Anyone with 
questions about the Environmental Site Review (or needing directions) 
should contact Ms. Zinnia Rodriguez at (718) 595-6553, or 
zinniar@dep.nyc.gov. Those individuals planning to participate in the 
Environmental Site Review should notify Ms. Zinnia of their intent no 
later than June 6, 2012.

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 meetings and to 
assist the staff in defining and clarifying the issues to be addressed 
in the EA.

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    Dated: May 14, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-12070 Filed 5-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P