[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41578-41579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14906]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[FFP Project 101, LLC; Project No. 14861-002]
Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and
Soliciting Additional Study Requests
Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
a. Type of Filing: Original major license.
b. Project No.: 14861-002.
c. Date Filed: June 23, 2020.
d. Submitted By: Rye Development on behalf of FFP Project 101, LLC
(FFP).
e. Name of Project: Goldendale Pumped Storage Project.
f. Location: Off-stream (north side) of the Columbia River at River
Mile 215.6 in Klickitat County, Washington and Sherman County, Oregon,
approximately 8 miles southeast of the City of Goldendale. The project
would occupy 18.1 acres of lands owned by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Erik Steimle, Rye Development, 220 Northwest
8th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209; (503) 998-0230; email_
[email protected].
i. FERC Contact: Michael Tust at (202) 502-6522; or email at
[email protected].
j. Cooperating Agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such
requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note
the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation
of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See, 94 FERC ]
61,076 (2001).
k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of
the request on the applicant.
l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for
cooperating agency status: August 22, 2020.
The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status
using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support
at [email protected], (866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202)
502-8659 (TTY).
m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
n. The proposed project would consist of the following new
facilities: (1) A 61-acre upper reservoir formed by a 175-foot high,
8,000 foot-long rockfill embankment dam at an elevation of 2,950 feet
mean sea level (MSL) with a vertical concrete intake-outlet structure;
(2) a 63-acre lower reservoir formed by a 205-foot high, 6,100-foot
long embankment at an elevation of 590 feet MSL with a horizontal
concrete intake-outlet structure and vertical steel slide gates; (3) an
underground conveyance tunnel system connecting the two reservoirs
consisting of a 2,200-foot-long, 29-foot diameter concrete-lined
vertical shaft, a 3,300-foot-long, 29-foot diameter concrete-lined high
pressure tunnel, a 200-foot-long, 22-foot diameter high pressure
manifold tunnel, three 600-foot-long, 15-foot diameter steel/concrete
penstocks, a 200-foot-long, 20-foot diameter steel-lined draft tube
tunnel, a 200-foot-long, 26-foot diameter concrete-lined low pressure
tunnel, and a 3,200-foot-long, 30-foot diameter concrete-lined tailrace
tunnel; (4) an underground powerhouse located between the upper and
lower reservoir in a 0.83-acre powerhouse cavern containing three, 400-
megawatt (MW) Francis-type pump-turbine units for a total installed
capacity of 1,200 MW; (5) a 0.48-acre underground transformer cavern
adjacent to the powerhouse containing intermediate step-up transformers
that will step up the voltage to 115 kilovolts; (6) two 30-foot
diameter tunnels for accessing the powerhouse and transformer caverns;
(7) an approximate 1.0-mile-long, 115-kilovolt transmission line routed
from the transformer gallery through the combined access/transmission
tunnel to a new outdoor 7.3-acre substation/switchyard that will step
up the voltage to 500 kilovolts; (8) a 4-mile-long, 500-kilovolt
transmission line routed from the substation/switchyard south over the
Columbia River and connecting to Bonneville Power Administration's
existing John Day Substation; (9) a buried 2.5-foot diameter water fill
line leading from a shut-off and throttling valve within a non-project
water supply vault owned by Klickitat Public Utility District (KPUD) to
an outlet structure within the lower reservoir to convey water for
reservoir filling; and (10) appurtenant facilities. The project would
also include an existing 0.7-mile road for accessing the lower
reservoir site and an existing 8.6-mile road for accessing the upper
reservoir site both of which may be modified to provide for
construction vehicle access.
The water supply used to initially fill the lower reservoir as well
as to provide make-up water would be purchased from KPUD and would be
sourced from
[[Page 41579]]
KPUD's existing intake pond on the Columbia River. The new project
water fill line would connect to a new KPUD-owned flanged water supply
service connection in a water supply vault located near the lower
reservoir. Within the vault, and just downstream of the service
connection, there would be a project shut-off and throttling valve to
allow control of the initial fill and make-up water flow rate into the
lower reservoir. The initial volume of water necessary to fill the
lower reservoir is estimated to be 7,640 acre-feet and would be filled
over about six months at an average flow rate of approximately 21 cubic
feet per second (maximum flow rate available is 35 cubic feet per
second). It is estimated that the project would need 260 acre-feet of
water each year to replenish water lost through evaporation. The
estimated annual generation for operating 8 hours a day, 7 days a week
is 3,500 gigawatt-hours per year.
o. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents via the internet through
the Commission's Home Page (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. At this time, the
Commission has suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference
Room, due to the proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning
the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), issued by the President on
March 13, 2020. For assistance, contact FERC at
[email protected] or call toll-free, (866) 208-3676 or TYY,
(202) 502-8659.
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.
p. Procedural Schedule: The application will be processed according
to the following preliminary Hydro Licensing Schedule. In its
application, FFP requested expedited processing pursuant to section 35
of the Federal Power Act for qualifying closed-loop pumped storage
projects. The Commission has not yet acted on this request; however,
the preliminary schedule below reflects an expedited licensing process
in accordance with 18 CFR part 7 of the Commission's Regulations which
will be followed while the Commission conducts its review of the
application. The Commission will act on FFP's request to use the
expedited licensing process no later than 180 days after receipt of the
request in accordance with 18 CFR part 7.5. If the request is denied,
the application will be processed pursuant to a standard processing
schedule under 18 CFR part 4. Revisions to the schedule will be made as
appropriate.
Issue deficiency/additional information letter--July 2020
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--September 2020
Comments on Scoping Document 1--November 2020
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)--December 2020
Issue notice of acceptance, ready for environmental analysis, approving
request for expedited processing--December 2020
Commission issues draft EA or draft EIS--August 2021
Comments on draft EA or draft EIS--September 2021
Commission issues final EA or final EIS--January 2022
Dated: July 6, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-14906 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P