20150579 Ver 1_USFWS Comments_20141017

SSM "T aF rti�United States Department of the Interior
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
Asheville Field Office
Y
a ' 160 Zillicoa Street
q�+cH s �Asheville, North Carolina 28801
October 17, 2014
Ms. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Mail Code HL -20
888 First Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20426
Dear Ms. Bose:
Re: Comments -and Recommendations on Notice Of Application Tendered For Filing With
The Commission And Soliciting Additional Study Requests And Establishing
Procedural Schedule For Relicensing And A Deadline For Submission Of Final
Amendments, Ward Mill Dam Hydropower Project, FERC Project No. 9842-006
Dear Ms. Bose:
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has reviewed the License Application for the Ward Mill Dam
Hydropower Project, FERC Project No. 9842-006 submitted by the licensee on August 28, 2014.
We submit the following comments in accordance with the provisions of the Fish and Wildlife
Coordination Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.§§ 661-667e); Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act
of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. §§1531-1543); the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C.§ 791 et seq.);
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. §§1536, 1538); the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C.§ 4321 et seq.); the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.); the Electric
Consumers Protection Act of 1986 (Pub. L. No. 99-495, 100 Stat. 1243); and the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (Pub. L. No 109-58).
The Project. Mr. Ray F. Ward has filed an application for relicensing of the Ward Mill Dam
Project designated FERC Project #9842. This project is currently operated under a 30 -year
FERC license granted by FERC in September 1986 that expires at the end of August 2016.
Under the FERC regulations (18 C.F.R. § 5.6), Mr. Ward filed his intent to relicense the project
by letter on August 31, 2011, and filed, 1) the Notice of Intent to relicense the project (NOI); 2)
the Pre -Application Document (PAD), and 3) a request to use the Traditional Licensing Process
(TLP). By Order on October 21, 2011, FERC approved the request to use the TLP relicensing
process. Ward Mill Dam is located on the Watauga River in Watauga County, approximately 10
miles from the town of Boone, North Carolina.
Cooperator Status. In the Notice you requested Federal, state, local and tribal agencies with
jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with you
in the preparation of the environmental document. As described in the Federal Register (49 Fed.
Reg. 49754 - 49778), the Department of Interior bureaus have jurisdiction and special expertise

USFWS Comments Ward Mill Dam (FERC No. 9842-006)
Watauga River, Watauga County, North Carolina
in the effects of power development and water resources development, and would like to
cooperate with the preparation of your environmental document. However, since FERC's policy
restricts agencies that cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document from also
intervening (94 FERC T 61,076); therefore, we respectfully decline to participate as a cooperator.
We will plan to provide comments and suggestions for an adequate NEPA document and process
during the public comment period.
Scope of Environmental Document. In general, we believe the proposed relicensing for a
period of up to 50 years is a significant undertaking for which preparation of an environmental
impact statement (EIS) is appropriate. Albeit our concerns for adequate consideration of
environmental effects, since this project is minor, already built, and operated as run -of -river, we
believe an abbreviated Environmental Assessment (EA) will be adequate to consider the best
balance of the power and non -power uses of the watershed. The geographic scope of the
environmental document should include not only the Project Boundary, but also the area of
affect by the Project. We recognize the small size of the Project, the proximity of the
powerhouse to the Ward home, and the family -run operation. We do not envision a future
license for this Project that does not involve the Ward family directly. If the Project is no longer
operated in the interest of the Ward family, we would support surrender of the Project and
removal of the dam, so we recommend any environmental document include an alternative(s)
that evaluates project surrender and removal.
Adequate Mitigation Measures. We recommend the development of adequate measures to
compensate for the continuing impacts of this Project and its operation on the natural resources
of the area. These measures should include mitigation for continuing Project impacts on fish and
wildlife populations and their habitats, as well as the provision of facilities for fish and wildlife
based recreation.
We have reviewed the draft License Application. We do not have significant concerns with the
Project due to its small size and long history. We worked with the Applicant to address our
study needs, and believe these are adequate:
Flow -operation Study. In particular, we recommended development of a study, in
consultation with the resource agencies, to perform a demonstration of the run -of -river
operations during a typical low -inflow period (30 - 80 efs), to look more closely at pond -
vs- tailwater elevations across a range of operational scenarios during low flows in
summer 2012. We cooperated on the flow -operation study (Appendix 2) and agree it
provided important information to define the project operations.
2. Aquatic Community Survey. The license application is required to discuss fish,
wildlife, and botanical resources in the vicinity of the project and the impact of the
project on those resources §4.51 (t)(3). Information is provided in Appendix 1 on the fish
and aquatic populations at the Project. Surveys for freshwater mussels were conducted in
Pa

USFWS Comments
Ward Mill Dam (FERC No. 9842-006)
Watauga River, Watauga County, North Carolina
the Project Boundary including the pond and tailwater, and the report was included in the
License Application.
Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species. Since the license application requires an
analysis of the effects of the project on any federally listed threatened and endangered
species, we recommended surveys be for rare species in the Project area. Based on the
information in the License Application, we could agree that this project will not affect
listed species in and adjacent to the Project Boundary.
We have no additional study requests at this time.
In summary, we look forward to reviewing a draft environmental document for this Project under
the proposed schedule. If you have any questions about these comments, please contact me at
828/258-3939 (Extension 227) or by email at markrtc!flitrell(y 1"NSAYM.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Cantrell
Fish & Wildlife Biologist
cc:
Mr. Chris Goodreau, NCWRC
Mr. Fred Tarver, NC DWR
U.S. Department of the Interior, OEPC, (Attention: Dr. Shawn Alam, ER 14/0588)
USFWS, R4 Laney
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