Eagle Creek Hydro Power, LLC; Eagle Creek Water Resources, LLC; Eagle Creek Land Resources, LLC; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing, Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests, Ready for Environmental Analysis, and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Preliminary Terms and Conditions, and Preliminary Fishway Prescriptions

Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

a. Type of Application: New Major License.

b. Project No.: 10481-069.

c. Date Filed: March 31, 2020.

d. Applicants: Eagle Creek Hydro Power, LLC, Eagle Creek Water Resources, LLC, and Eagle Creek Land Resources, LLC (collectively referred to as Eagle Creek).

e. Name of Project: Mongaup Falls Hydroelectric Project (Mongaup Falls Project).

f. Location: The existing project is located on the Mongaup River and Black Brook in Sullivan County, New York. The project does not occupy federal lands.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).

h. Applicant Contact: Jody J. Smet, Vice President Regulatory Affairs, 116 N State Street, P.O. Box 167, Neshkoro, WI 54960; Telephone (804) 739-0654.

i. FERC Contact: Nicholas Ettema, (312) 596-4447 or nicholas.ettema@ferc.gov.

j. Deadline for filing motions to intervene and protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary terms and conditions, and preliminary prescriptions: 60 days from the issuance date of this notice; reply comments are due 105 days from the issuance date of this notice.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. Commenters can submit brief comments up to 6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx. 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, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first page of any filing should include docket number P-10481-069.

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. This application has been accepted for filing and is now ready for environmental analysis.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a final rule on July 15, 2020, revising the regulations under 40 CFR parts 1500-1518 that federal agencies use to implement NEPA (see Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 85 FR 43304). The Final Rule became effective on and applies to any NEPA process begun after September 14, 2020. An agency may also apply the regulations to ongoing activities and environmental documents begun before September 14, 2020, which includes the proposed Mongaup Falls Project. Commission staff intends to conduct its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.

l. The Mongaup Falls Project includes the Mongaup Falls Development and the Black Brook Development. The Black Brook Development has been permanently out of service since 1984, when portions of the penstock, stoplogs, and flashboards were removed.

The Mongaup Fall Development consists of: (1) A reservoir with a gross storage capacity of 1,782 acre-feet and a surface area of 133 acres; (2) a 155-foot-long by 40-foot-high, ungated, concrete gravity spillway with 4-foot, 10-inch-high flashboards; (3) an 83-foot-long, by 25-foot, 4-inch-high earth dam section with a concrete core wall along the right abutment; (4) a 125-foot-long, 127-foot-high concrete retaining wall along the left abutment; (5) a 250-foot-long by 4.5-foot-high earthen closure dike; (6) an 11-foot-high, 22-foot-square intake and gatehouse; (7) a 14-foot-wide by 32-foot-high inclined trashracks with 1.7-inch bar clear spacing that covers the intake; (8) a 6,650-foot-long bypassed reach; (9) a 2,650-foot-long, 8-foot-diameter wood-stave penstock; (10) a 26-foot-diameter, 106-foot-high steel surge tank; (11) a 9-foot-diameter steel manifold branching into four 5-foot-diameter steel penstocks; (12) a 90-foot-long by 25-foot, 2-inch-wide by 33-foot-high reinforced concrete powerhouse containing four 1-megawatt vertical-axis turbines; and (13) a 100-foot-long, 2.3-kilovolt underground transmission line. The project generates an average of 10,860 megawatt-hours annually. Eagle Creek proposes to continue to operate the project in a peaking mode.

The Black Brook Development consists of a 70-foot-long dam with a 34-foot-long concrete spillway section and 10-foot-long stoplog section. The stoplog section consists of a 2-foot-wide concrete pier that divides the 8-foot-long stoplog section from the spillway. The concrete spillway is approximately 10-foot-high from the base to the crest and is keyed into bedrock with a 3-foot by 3-foot keyway. Prior to removal of the penstock, pond control was accomplished with an 8-foot-wide stoplog section and 34-foot-wide flashboard section, each erected to a height of 5 feet above the dam crest. The failure of the penstock in 1984, resulted in the removal of the 8-foot-wide, 5-foot-high stoplog section on the right side of the dam and the 5-foot-high flashboards. Currently, the Black Brook Development is a run-of-river, uncontrolled spillway with a crest elevation of 943 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29) and a dam/spillway toe elevation of approximately 930-933 feet NGVD29 (including the 3-foot by 3-foot keyway). Eagle Creek proposes to decommission the Black Brook Development in place and remove it from the project boundary.

m. A copy of the application can be viewed on the Commission's website at https://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.

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. Anyone may submit comments, a protest, or a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, .211, and .214. In determining the appropriate action to take, the Commission will consider all protests or other comments filed, but only those who file a motion to intervene in accordance with the Commission's Rules may become a party to the proceeding. Any comments, protests, or motions to intervene must be received on or before the specified comment date for the particular application.

All filings must (1) bear in all capital letters the title “PROTEST”, “MOTION TO INTERVENE”, “COMMENTS,” “REPLY COMMENTS,” “RECOMMENDATIONS,” “PRELIMINARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS,” or “PRELIMINARY FISHWAY 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 protesting or intervening; 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. A copy of any protest or motion to intervene must be served upon each representative of the applicant specified in the particular application. A copy of all other filings in reference to this application must be accompanied by proof of service on all persons listed in the service list prepared by the Commission in this proceeding, in accordance with 18 CFR 4.34(b) and 385.2010.

o. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according to the following schedule. Revisions to the schedule may be made as appropriate.

p. Final amendments to the application must be filed with the Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of this notice.

q. A license applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date of issuance of the notice of acceptance and ready for environmental analysis provided for in § 5.22: (1) A copy of the water quality certification; (2) a copy of the request for certification, including proof of the date on which the certifying agency received the request; or (3) evidence of waiver of water quality certification. Please note that the certification request must be sent to the certifying authority and to the Commission concurrently.