Subject: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; National Park
[Federal Register: July 5, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 129)]
[Notices]
[Page 44826-44827]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05jy02-56]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; National Park Service,
Department of the Interior
[Project No. 11659-002 Alask]
Gustavus Electric Company; Notice of Intent to Prepare
Environmental Impact Statement
June 28, 2002.
Summary: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the
National Park Service (NPS) are jointly preparing an environmental
impact statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, and consistent with the Council on
Environmental Quality's guidelines, 40 CFR part 1500, on a proposal to
construct the Falls Creek Hydroelectric Project (FERC No 11659-002).
The Glacier Bay National Park Boundary Adjustment Act of 1998 [105
Public Law 317; 112 Stat. 3002 (1998)]
(Act) specifies the NPS shall
participate as a joint lead agency (with FERC) in the development of
this environmental document.
The Act authorizes FERC to accept a hydropower license application
from Gustavus Electric Company (GEC) for the construction, operation
and maintenance of the proposed 800 kW Falls Creek Hydroelectric
Project located within Glacier Bay National Park. GEC filed their
application with FERC on October 23, 2001.
The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to exchange
designated wilderness land located in Glacier Bay National Park to the
State of Alaska (State), for this project. This exchange is authorized
if the Secretary of the Interior concludes that the Falls Creek
Hydroelectric Project can be constructed and operated without adversely
impacting the purposes and values of the park, as constituted after the
land exchange. The exchange is predicated upon the State conveying to
the United States lands worthy of being included in the National Park
System. To ensure this transaction maintains approximately the same
amount of designated wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation
System as currently exists, other land in Glacier Bay National Park and
Preserve shall be designated wilderness upon consummation of the land
exchange. This land shall be administered according to the laws
governing national wilderness areas in Alaska.
The federal actions under consideration in this EIS are whether to
issue a license for construction, operation and maintenance of the
Falls Creek Hydroelectric Project; the exchange of federal land with
state land; and the removal of land from wilderness designation and
designation of other land as wilderness.
To prepare the license application, GEC followed the FERC
alternative licensing procedures. In accordance with the FERC
Regulations for Licensing Hydroelectric Projects at 18 CFR 4.34 this
included conducting a scoping process and preparing a preliminary draft
environmental assessment (PDEA). The PDEA describes GEC's scoping
process and includes copies of comments received by GEC.
The information and analysis from the PDEA will be used, in
conjunction with other information, to prepare the EIS. A copy of the
PDEA and license application is on file with FERC and is available for
public inspection. This filing may be viewed on the web at http://
www.ferc.gov using the ``RIMS'' link--select ``Docket '' and
follow the instructions (call 202-208-2222 for assistance). The PDEA
and application are also available from GEC, P.O. Box 102, Gustavus,
Alaska 99826, 907-697-2299.
The EIS will consider a reasonable range of alternatives developed
in response to issues raised through public involvement and comment
from the GEC pre-application scoping process and any additional scoping
occurring under this Notice of Intent. The potential range of
alternatives will include the proposed action as described in the PDEA,
a no action, a modified proposed action and alternative means of power
generation that may be economically and environmentally viable.
The potential alternatives will consider the issues previously
identified through GEC's scoping and other issues identified in scoping
for the EIS. The major issues are: (1) The impact of reduced water flow
on the hydrologic regime, resident Dolly Varden, associated Falls Creek
habitats, and aesthetics; (2) impacts to the Falls Creek uplands and
wetlands from the access and penstock routes; (3) impacts of the
proposal on surrounding Glacier Bay National Park lands and waters; (4)
effect of the proposal on the purposes and values of Glacier Bay
National Park; (5) impacts on resources and recreation in the project
area and surrounding lands resulting from a change in land management
from NPS to State administration; and (6) impacts of the land exchange,
including the removal of wilderness lands from Glacier Bay National
Park wilderness and designation of wilderness lands elsewhere.
Scoping: The scoping conducted to date by GEC under the FERC
Alternative Licensing Process and comments filed with FERC on the
application apply and will be taken into account in the EIS. No
additional scoping meetings will be held. FERC and NPS are soliciting
written comments from federal and state agencies, local government,
private organizations, recreational users, and the public. Notice of
this comment period will be announced in local and regional newspapers,
including Gustavus, Juneau and Anchorage.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this project should be filed
within 60 days of the issuance of this notice. The draft EIS is
projected to be available in late 2002 or early 2003.
Filing Information: FERC's Rules of Practice require all
intervenors filing documents with FERC 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 FERC relating to the
merits of an issue that may affect the responsibilities of a particular
resource agency, they must also serve a copy of
[[Page 44827]]
the document on that resource agency. All documents (original and eight
copies) should be filed with Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC
20426.
Comments may also be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu
of paper. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the
Commission's web site (http://www.ferc.gov) under the ``e-Filing''
link.
If individuals submitting comments request that their name and/or
address be withheld from public disclosure, the request will be honored
to the extent allowable by law. Such requests must comply with
Commission regulations (see 18 CFR 388.112). In particular, individuals
requesting their name and/or address be withheld from public disclosure
must submit two versions of each filing: one with their name and/or
address redacted from the document, and one unredacted version of the
document that includes the information to be withheld and boldly
indicating on the front page ``Contains Privileged Information--Do Not
Release.'' There also may be circumstances wherein the FERC and NPS
will withhold a respondent's identity to the extent allowable by law.
All submissions from organizations, businesses, or persons identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations and
businesses will be made available for public inspection. Anonymous
comments will not be considered.
Any questions regarding this notice may be directed to Bob Easton
(FERC representative) at (202) 219-2782 or Bruce Greenwood (NPS
representative) at (907) 257-2623.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-16841 Filed 7-3-02; 8:45 am]
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