Document ID: FERC-2020-0468-0001
Agency: ferc
Document Type: Notice
Title: Settlement Agreement: Chittenden Falls Hydropower, Inc.
Posted Date: 2020-04-17T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 75 (Friday, April 17, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21425-21426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08185]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3273-024]

Chittenden Falls Hydropower, Inc.; Notice of Settlement 
Agreement, Soliciting Comments, and Modification of Procedural Schedule

    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 No.: 3273-024.
    c. Date filed: April 10, 2020.
    d. Applicant: Chittenden Falls Hydropower, Inc. (Chittenden Falls 
Hydro).
    e. Name of Project: Chittenden Falls Hydropower Project.
    f. Location: On Kinderhook Creek, near the Town of Stockport, 
Columbia County, New York. The project does not occupy federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Rule 602 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.602.
    h. Applicant Contact: Mark Boumansour, Chief Operating Officer, 
Gravity Renewables, Inc., 1401 Walnut Street, Suite 420, Boulder, CO 
80302; (303) 440-3378; mark@gravityrenewables.com and/or Celeste N. 
Fay, Regulatory Manager, Gravity Renewables, Inc., 5 Dartmouth Drive, 
Suite 104, Auburn, NH 03032; (413) 262-9466; 
celeste@gravityrenewables.com.
    i. FERC Contact: Monir Chowdhury at (202) 502-6736 or 
monir.chowdhury@ferc.gov.
    j. Deadline for filing comments: Comments on the Settlement 
Agreement, and comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and 
prescriptions in response to the Commission's February 21, 2020 Notice 
of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis (REA Notice) are due on 
Monday, May 4, 2020. Reply comments are due on Wednesday, June 17, 
2020.
    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).
    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. Chittenden Falls Hydro filed an Offer of Settlement (Settlement 
Agreement) on behalf of itself, the New York State Department of 
Environmental Conservation (New York DEC), and the United States 
Department of the Interior--Fish and Wildlife Service. The Settlement 
Agreement includes protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures 
addressing run-of-river operation and allowable impoundment 
fluctuations, a minimum bypassed reach flow, fish passage and 
protection for American eel, and by reference, management plans for 
northern long-eared bat and bald eagles (Appendix A), and invasive 
species (Appendix B). Chittenden Falls Hydro requests that the measures 
in the Settlement Agreement be incorporated as license conditions in 
any new license issued for the project. The signatories to the 
Settlement Agreement also request a 40-year license term for the 
project.
    l. A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available for review 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. For assistance, contact 
FERC Online Support.
    All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title 
``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 submitting the filing; 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. Each filing must be 
accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed on the service 
list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 
18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.
    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.
    m. Procedural Schedule: The Commission's February 21, 2020 REA 
Notice established April 21, 2020 as the deadline for filing comments, 
recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions regarding 
Chittenden Falls Hydro's license application. In order to allow 
adequate time for stakeholder comments regarding the license 
application and the Settlement Agreement, we have modified the comment 
period to allow

[[Page 21426]]

stakeholders to submit comments on the Settlement Agreement and 
comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 
regarding the license application on the same date, and allow 
Chittenden Falls Hydro sufficient time to submit reply comments. The 
application will be processed according to the following revised Hydro 
Licensing Schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as 
appropriate.

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               Milestone                           Target date
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Filing of comments, recommendations,     May 4, 2020.
 terms and conditions, and
 prescriptions (per the REA Notice) and
 comments on the Settlement Agreement.
Reply comments due.....................  June 17, 2020.
Commission Issues EA...................  October 2020.
Comments on EA.........................  November 2020.
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    Dated: April 13, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-08185 Filed 4-16-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P