Petersburg Municipal Power and Light; Notice of Scoping Meetings and Project Facilities Tour Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 201]

Petersburg Municipal Power and Light; Notice of Scoping Meetings

and Project Facilities Tour Pursuant to the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969 for an Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment

November 3, 1999.

The Commission's regulations allow applicants the option of

preparing their own Environmental Assessment (EA) for hydropower

projects, and filing the EA with their application as part of an

alternative licensing procedure.\1\ On September 8, 1999, the

Commission approved the use of an alternative licensing procedure in

the preparation of a new license application for Petersburg Municipal

Power and Light's (Petersburg), Blind Slough Project, No. 201.

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\1\ 81 FERC para. 61,103 (1997)

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The alternative procedures include provisions for the distribution

of an initial information package, and for the cooperative scoping of

environmental issues and needed studies. During the week of November 1,

1999, Petersburg will distribute a Scoping Document (SD1) and initial

information package.\2\ Two public meetings will be held to discuss

these documents.

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\2\ Copies of these documents can be obtained by calling Nan

Nalder at 206-281-7079 or e-mail [email protected]

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Combined Scoping and Initial Information Meetings

Petersburg will hold public scoping meetings on December 13, 1999,

pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. At

the scoping meetings, Petersburg will: (1) Summarize the material

presented in the initial information package and the environmental

issues tentatively identified in the scoping document for analysis in

the EA; (2) outline any resources they believe would not require a

detailed analysis; (3) identify reasonable alternatives to be addressed

in the EA; (4) solicit from the meeting participants all available

information, especially quantitative data, on the resources at issue;

and (5) encourage statements from experts and the public on issues that

should be analyzed in the EA.

Although Petersburg's intent is to prepare an EA, there is the

possibility that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be

required. Nevertheless, this

[[Page 61109]]

meeting will satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective of

whether an EA or EIS is issued by the Commission.

The times and locations of the scoping meetings are:

Agency Scoping Meeting

December 13, 1999, 9:00 am to 11:30 pm, Alaska division of

Governmental Coordination, 240 Main Street, 3rd Floor conference Room,

Juneau, AK 99811

Public Scoping Meeting

December 13, 1999, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, City Council Chambers, 12

South Nordic, Petersburg, AK 00883

All interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited

and encouraged to attend any or all of the meetings to assist in

identifying and clarifying the scope of environmental issues that

should be analyzed in the EA.

Project Tour

A visit to the project facilities (powerhouse, tailrace area, lower

penstock) is tentatively scheduled for December 14, 1999, weather

permitting. Access to the project dam requires air transport which will

very likely be unavailable due to low visibility, but can be arranged

for a later date. Those interested in visiting the project on December

14, should contact Dennis Lewis of Petersburg at 907-772-4203.

Scoping Meeting Procedures

The meetings will be conducted according to the procedures used at

Commission scoping meetings. Because this meeting will be a NEPA

scoping meeting under the APEA process, the Commission does not intend

to conduct a NEPA scoping meeting after Petersburg's application and EA

are filed with the Commission. Instead, Commission staff will attend

the meetings on December 13, 1999.

Both scoping meetings will be recorded by a court reporter, and the

transcripts will become part of the formal record for this project.

Those who choose not to speak during the scoping meetings may instead

submit written comments on the project. Written comments should be

mailed or e-mailed to: Nan A. Nalder, Relicensing Manager, Acres

International, 3254-11th Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119,

[email protected].

Commenting Deadline

All correspondence should be postmarked no later than February 15,

2000. Comments should show the following caption on the first page:

Scoping Comments, Blind Slough Hydroelectric Project, Project No. 201.

For further information please contact Vince Yearick of the

Commission at (202) 219-3073.

David P. Boergers,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 99-29273 Filed 11-8-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M