Green Mountain Power Corporation, City of Somersworth, New Hampshire; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments, Recommendations, Terms and Conditions, and Prescriptions

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

a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.

b. Project No.: 4451-024.

c. Date filed: April 30, 2020.

d. Applicants: Green Mountain Power and the City of Somersworth, New Hampshire.

e. Name of Project: Lower Great Falls Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Salmon Falls River in Strafford County, New Hampshire, and York County, Maine. The project does not occupy federal land.

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

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. John Greenan, Green Mountain Power Corporation, 1252 Post Road, Rutland, VT 05701; Phone at (802) 770-2195, or email at john.greenan@greenmountainpower.com.

i. FERC Contact: Amanda Gill, (202) 502-6773 or amanda.gill@ferc.gov.

j. Deadline for filing comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and 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 comments, recommendations, terms and conditions, and prescriptions 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-4451-024.

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 and is ready for environmental analysis at this time.

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 the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (see Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 85 FR 43,304). 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 Lower Great Falls Hydroelectric Project relicensing. Commission staff intends to conduct its NEPA review in accordance with CEQ's new regulations.

l. Project Description: The existing Lower Great Falls Hydroelectric Project consists of: (1) A 297-foot-long, 32-foot-high stone masonry and concrete dam that includes the following sections: (a) a 176-foot-long spillway section with a crest elevation of 102.37 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD) and 4-foot-high flashboards at an elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD at the top of the flashboards; (b) a 50-foot-long left abutment section with two 8-foot-wide, 8-foot-high low-level outlet gates (only one of which is operational), that control flow into two 7-foot-diameter, 40-foot-long outlet pipes; and (c) a 71-foot-long right abutment section; (2) a 40-acre impoundment with a normal elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD; (3) a 40.5-foot-wide, 20-foot-high intake structure with four 5-foot-wide, 10.5-foot-high steel frame gates and a trashrack with 2-inch bar spacing; (4) an 8.5-foot-diameter, 120-foot-long steel penstock that bifurcates into a 5.3-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section and a 7.6-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section; (5) an 8.5-foot-diameter, 140-foot-long steel penstock that bifurcates into a 7-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section and a 7.6-foot-diameter, 85-foot-long section; (6) a 46-foot-long, 30-foot-wide concrete and brick powerhouse with two 260-kilowatt (kW) F-type Francis turbine-generator units and two 380-kW F-type Francis turbine-generator units, for a total installed capacity of 1.28 megawatts; (7) a 55-foot-long, 30-foot-wide tailrace; (8) a 260-foot-long underground transmission line that delivers power to a 4.16-kilovolt distribution line; and (9) appurtenant facilities. The project creates a 250-foot-long bypassed reach of the Salmon Falls River between the dam and the downstream end of the tailrace.

The project operates as a run-of-river (ROR) facility with no storage or flood control capacity. The project impoundment is maintained at a flashboard crest elevation of 106.37 feet NGVD. The current license requires the project to maintain a continuous minimum flow of 6.05 cubic feet per second (cfs) or inflow, whichever is less, to the bypassed reach for the purpose of protecting and enhancing aquatic resources in the Salmon Falls River. The average annual generation production of the project was 3,916,825 kilowatt-hours from 2005 through 2018.

The applicant proposes to: (1) Continue operating the project in a ROR mode; (2) provide a minimum flow of 30 cfs or inflow, whichever is less, to the bypassed reach; (3) install an eel ramp for upstream eel passage at the project; (4) implement targeted nighttime turbine shutdowns to protect eels during downstream passage; and (5) install a downstream fish passage structure for eels and other fish species.

m. A copy of the application can be viewed 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.

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. The applicant must file no later than 60 days following the date of issuance of this notice: (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.

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