[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 32654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15794]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project 2177, GA]
Georgia Power Company; Notice of Scoping Meeting Pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for an Applicant Prepared
Environmental Assessment and a Site Visit
June 9, 1998.
The Commission's regulations allow applicants to prepare their own
Environmental Assessment (EA) for hydropower projects and file it with
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) along with their
license application as part of the applicant-prepared EA (APEA)
process.\1\ On May 26, 1998, the Commission approved the use of the
APEA process in the preparation of license application for Georgia
Power Companies' (GPC) Middle Chattahoochee Project, No. 2177.
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\1\ 81 FERC para. 61,103 (1997)
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GPC will hold two public meetings, pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, to identify the scope of
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA. At the scoping
meetings, GPC will: (1) summarize the environmental issues tentatively
identified 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 GPC's intent is to prepare an EA, there is the possibility
that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be required.
Nevertheless, this meeting will satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements,
irrespective of whether an EA or EIS is issued by the Commission.
Scoping Meetings
The times and locations of the scoping meeting are:
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Agency scoping meeting Public scoping meeting
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July 9, 1998, 8:30 am to Noon, The July 9, 1998, 7:00 pm, Columbus
Columbus Hilton, Chattahoochee Room, State University, Elizabeth
800 Front Street, Columbus GA 31901, Bradley Turner Center, 4225
(706) 324-1800. University Avenue, Columbus,
GA 31907, (706) 568-2023.
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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.
To help focus discussions, GPC prepared and distributed a scoping
document on May 6, 1998. Copies of the Scoping Document can be obtained
by calling George Martin, Georgia Power Company, at (404) 506-1357.
Copies of the document will also be available at the scoping meetings.
Site Visit
GPC has also scheduled a site visit, for all interested
individuals, to the Middle Chattahoochee Project on Thursday, July 9,
1998. The site visit participants will depart from the Columbus Hilton
at 1:30 pm and will return to the Columbus Hilton at 5:00 pm.
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 the application and draft EA
are filed with the Commission. Instead, Commission staff will attend
the meetings on July 9, 1998.
All the scoping meetings will be recorded by a stenographer or tape
recorder, and will become part of the formal record of the proceedings
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 to: Mr. C.M. Hobson, Manager, Environmental Affairs, Georgia
Power Company, 241 Ralph McGill Boulevard NE, BIN 10221, Atlanta, GA
30308-3374, Attn: George Martin, by September 8, 1998. All
correspondence should show the following caption on the first page:
Scoping Comments, Middle Chattahoochee Project Hydroelectric Project
(2177).
For further information please contract George Martin at (404) 506-
1357 or Ronald McKitrick of the Commission at (404) 770-2363 ext. 44.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-15794 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M