[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 189 (Wednesday, September 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 52251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26105]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 2964-006]
City of Sturgis; Notice of Site Visit and Scoping Meetings
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
September 24, 1998.
On March 31, 1998, the City of Sturgis, Michigan (applicant) filed
an application for new license for the Sturgis Hydro Project, located
on the St. Joseph's River in St. Joseph County, near Centerville,
Michigan.
The purpose of this notice is to: (1) advise all parties as to the
proposed scope of the staff's environmental analysis, including
cumulative effects, and to seek additional information pertinent to
this analysis; and (2) advise all parties of their opportunity for
comment.
Scoping Process
The Commission's scoping objectives are to:
Identify significant environmental issues;
Determine the depth of analysis appropriate to each issue;
Identify the resource issues not requiring detailed
analysis; and
Identify reasonable project alternatives.
The purpose of the scoping process is to identify significant
issues related to the proposed action and to determine what issues
should be addressed in the environmental document to be prepared
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The
document entitled ``Scoping Document'' (SD) will be circulated shortly
to enable appropriate federal, state, and local resource agencies,
developers, Indian tribes, nongovernmental organizations (NGO'S), and
other interested parties to effectively participate in and contribute
to the scoping process. SD provides a brief description of the proposed
action, project alternatives, the geographic and temporal scope of a
cumulative effects analysis, and a list of preliminary issues
identified by staff.
Project Site Visit
The applicant and the Commission staff will conduct a site visit of
the Sturgis Hydro Project on October 13, 1998, at 1:30 p.m. They will
meet at the hydroelectric facility. All interested individuals, NGO's
and agencies are invited to attend. All participants are responsible
for their own transportation. For more details, interested parties
should contact Mr. John Griffith, Electric Department Superintendent,
at (616) 651-2321, prior to the site visit date.
Scoping Meetings
The Commission staff will hold scoping meetings on October 13 and
14, 1998, in preparation for completing an Environmental Assessment
(EA), under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for
relicensing the Sturgis Hydro Project.
Commission staff will hold the scoping meetings in the vicinity of
the Sturgis Hydro Project: one evening meeting and one morning meeting.
The evening will focus on receiving input from the public, whereas the
afternoon meeting will focus on resource agency concerns. We invite all
interested agencies, NGOs, and individuals to attend one or both of the
meetings, and to assist staff in identifying the scope of environmental
issues that should be analyzed in the EA. The times and locations of
these meetings are shown below.
Evening Scoping Meeting: October 13, 1998, 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.,
Sturges-Young Auditorium, 201 North Nottawa Rd., Sturgis, MI 49091,
(616) 651-2321
Morning Scoping Meeting: October 14, 1998, 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.,
Sturges-Young Auditorium, 201 North Nottawa Rd., Sturgis, MI 49091,
(616) 651-2321
To help focus discussions, we will distribute a Scoping Document
(SD) outlining the areas to be addressed at the meetings to the parties
on the Commission's mailing list. Copies of the SD also will be
available at the scoping meetings.
Objectives
At the scoping meetings, the staff will: (1) summarize the
environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis in the EA; (2)
solicit from the meeting participants all available information,
especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; (3) encourage
statements on environmental issues that should be analyzed in the EA,
including opinions in favor of, or in opposition to, the staff's
preliminary list of issues; (4) determine the depth of analysis for
issues addressed in the EA; and (5) identify resource issues that will
not require detailed analysis in the EA.
The Scoping meetings will be recorded by a court reporter, and all
statements (oral and written) will become part of the Commission's
public record for the project. Before each meeting starts, all
individuals who attend, especially those individuals that intend to
make statements during the meeting, will be asked to sign in and
clearly identify themselves for the record prior to speaking. Time
allotted for presentations will be determined by staff based on the
length of the meetings and the number of people wanting to speak. All
individuals wishing to speak will be provided at least five minutes to
present their views.
Interested parties who choose not to speak, or are unable to attend
the scoping meetings, may provide written comments and information to
the Commission until November 13, 1998. Written comments and
information should be submitted to the Secretary, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426.
The first page of all filings should indicate ``Sturgis Hydro
Project, FERC No. 2964-006'' at the top of the page. All findings sent
to the Secretary of the Commission should contain an original and eight
copies. Failure to file an original and eight copies may result in
appropriate staff not receiving the benefit of your comments in a
timely manner. Furthermore, participants in this proceeding are
reminded that if they file comments with the Commission, they must
serve a copy of their filing to the parties on the Commission's service
list.
For further information, please contact Patrick Murphy at (202)
219-2659.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-26105 Filed 9-29-98; 8:45 am]
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