[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 80 (Monday, April 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17563-17564]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07207]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Rural Utilities Service
[Docket No. RUS-24-AGENCY-0036]
Notice of Intent To Adopt a Final Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: Rural Development (RD), a mission area within the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces its intent to adopt
the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) titled ``Hydropower
License, Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project--FERC Project No. 13563-
003 Alaska,'' under the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) adoption
provisions of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
DATES: Comment Date: RD will accept comments that are received or
postmarked by May 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments concerning the adoption of the FEIS
titled ``Hydropower License, Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project--
FERC Project No. 13563-003 Alaska,'' or submit comments on actions
being proposed by RD regarding this matter to the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at
[[Page 17564]]
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
The FEIS can be accessed here: https://www.ferc.gov/final-environmental-impact-statement-sweetheart-lake-hydroelectric-project-p-13563-003-issued-may.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Russell Japuntich, Environmental
Protection Specialist, Environmental and Historic Preservation
Division, Rural Utilities Service, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mail
Stop 1548--Room 4004, Phone (970) 566-1575; Email
russell.japuntich@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: RD announces its intent to adopt the FEIS
titled ``Hydropower License, Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project--
FERC Project No. 13563-003 Alaska'' prepared by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's (FERC) under the EIS adoption provisions of the
CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1506.3 (2024)). The FEIS was filed by FERC with
an Order Issuing Original License on September 8, 2016. RD is deciding
whether to provide funding for the same project. RD is proposing this
adoption because it has conducted an independent review of the EIS and
determined that it meets the standards for an adequate statement
according to RD regulations at 7 CFR 1970, Subpart D. RD further
determined that its action is substantially the same as that of FERC
given that the agencies are both taking action on the same project,
thus RD is adopting the EIS as final, consistent with 40 CFR 1506.3
(2024). The FEIS adequately assessed the environmental impacts
associated with the hydroelectric project in which RD is deciding
whether or not to fund.
Prior to proposing adoption, RD reviewed the FEIS and determined
that the analysis performed by FERC in 2016 was still current and
sufficient for the actions. RD conducted consultation under Section 106
of the National Historic Preservation Act. RD requested concurrence
that the informal consultation conducted by FERC under Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National
Marine Fisheries Service was still current and valid. USFWS and NMFS
responded that the informal consultation was still current and valid
and no new species were added since the initial consultation.
The project would be located on Lower Sweetheart Lake and
Sweetheart Creek, within the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska. The
project would occupy 2,058.24 acres of Federal lands within Tongrass
National Forest, administered by the USDA, Forest Service. The Forest
Service adopted the FEIS with a Record of Decision in September of 2017
and issued the applicant a special use authorization. The project would
also occupy 131.18 acres of tideland and submerged lands of the State
of Alaska. The proposed project would generate an average of about
116,000 megawatt-hours of energy annually.
The Sweetheart Lake Hydroelectric Project may be funded under the
Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program. Under the
Rural Electrification Act (RE Act) of 1936, as amended, the Secretary
of Agriculture is authorized and empowered to make loans to nonprofit
cooperatives and others for rural electrification for the purpose of
financing the construction and operation of generating plants, electric
transmission and distribution lines, or systems for the furnishing and
improving of electric service to persons in rural areas (7 U.S.C. 904).
A primary function or mission of RUS is to carry out the electric loan
program (7 U.S.C. 6942). The project would occupy Federal lands and
non-Federal lands. Project features include:
(a) A 280-foot-long, 111-foot-high concrete dam at the existing
natural outlet of Lower Sweetheart Lake, with a 125-foot-long ungated
overflow spillway;
(b) A 525-foot-long, 10-foot-high, 10-foot-wide arched reservoir
outlet tunnel;
(c) A 45-foot-long, 25-foot-wide, 16-foot-high rectangular intake
structure, with six 7-foot-diameter, 10-foot-high cylindrical fish
screens adjacent to the right dam abutment;
(d) A 9,612-foot-long, 15-foot-wide, 15-foot-high underground power
tunnel;
(e) An 896-foot-long, 9-foot diameter steel penstock installed
within the lower portion of the power tunnel;
(f) Three 160-foot-long, 7- to 9-foot-diameter buried steel
penstocks connecting the lower portion of the power tunnel to the
powerhouse;
(g) A 160-foot-long, 60-foot-wide, 30-foot-high concrete and steel
powerhouse;
(h) Three 7.1-megawatt (MW) turbines and three 6.6-MW generators;
(i) A 541-foot-long, 30- to 90-foot-wide rock tailrace with a fish
exclusion structure;
(j) A 4,400-foot-long coastal road from the powerhouse to a dock/
landing site for vehicle access is located on the east shore of Gilbert
Bay;
(k) An 8.69-mile-long, 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line
traversing Gilbert Bay, the Snettisham Peninsula, and Port Snettisham,
consisting of: (1) two buried segments, totaling 4,800 feet in length
(2) two submarine segments, totaling 25,700 feet in length; and (3) one
15,400-foot-long overhead segment;
(l) A 22,000-square-foot fenced switchyard adjacent to the
powerhouse;
(m) A 60-foot by 60-foot switchyard at the end of the transmission
line on the north shore of Port Snettisham;
(n) A 25-foot-long, 5-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep salmon smolt re-entry
pool adjacent to the powerhouse and tailrace;
(o) A 4,225-square-foot caretaker's facility near the dock;
(p) A 4,400-foot-long, 12.47-kV service buried transmission line
and communication cable from the powerhouse to the dock and caretaker's
facility;
(q) A 10,000-foot-long, 12.47-kV service transmission line and
communication cable extending from the powerhouse to the dam site, in
conduit inside the power tunnel;
(r) A 400-square-foot shelter at the dam site for employee use
during smolt transport facility Operations; and
(s) Appurtenant facilities.
RD requests comments from the public, other agencies, Tribes, and
other interested parties on the proposal to adopt the FERC FEIS, and
any other associated issues or concerns that RD may need to consider
before adopting this action.
Christoper A. McLean,
Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, USDA Rural Development.
[FR Doc. 2025-07207 Filed 4-25-25; 8:45 am]
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