FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Washington, DC 20426 December 4, 2020 OFFICE OF ENERGY PROJECTS Project No. 553-235-Washington Skagit River Hydroelectric Project Seattle City Light VIA FERC Service Subject: Scoping Document 2 for the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, P-553-235 To the Party Addressed: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is currently reviewing the Pre-Application Document submitted by Seattle City Light (City Light) for relicensing the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 553 (Skagit Project or project). The project is located on the Skagit River, in Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish Counties, Washington. The project includes three hydroelectric developments: Ross, Diablo, and Gorge. Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, Commission staff intends to prepare an environmental document (NEPA document) which will be used by the Commission to determine whether, and under what conditions, to issue a new license for the project. To support and assist our environmental review, we are conducting scoping to ensure that all pertinent issues are identified and analyzed, and that the environmental document is thorough and balanced. Our preliminary review of the scope of environmental issues associated with the proposed licensing of this project was described in Scoping Document 1 (SD1), issued on June 26, 2020. We requested written comments on SD1 to hear the views of interested parties on the scope of issues that should be addressed in the NEPA document. Based on the comments filed, we have updated SD1 to reflect our current view of the issues and alternatives to be considered in the NEPA document. Key changes from SD1 to SD2 are identified in bold and italicized type. SD2 is being distributed to the Commission’s official mailing list (see section 8.0 of the attached SD2). If you wish to be added to, or removed from, the Commission’s official mailing list, please send your request by email to [email protected]. In lieu of an email request, you may submit a paper request. Submissions sent via the U.S. Project No. 553-235 Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. All written or emailed requests must specify your wish to be removed from or added to the mailing list and must clearly identify the following on the first page: Skagit River Hydroelectric Project No. 553-235. You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/eRegistration.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [email protected]. SD2 is issued for informational use by all interested entities; no response is required. If you have any questions about SD2, the scoping process, or how Commission staff will develop the environmental analysis for this project, please contact Matt Cutlip at (503) 552-2762 or [email protected]. Additional information about the Commission’s licensing process and the Skagit Project may be obtained from our website, www.ferc.gov, or Seattle City Light’s licensing website, http://www.seattle.gov/light/skagit/Relicensing/default.htm. Enclosure: Scoping Document 2 2 SCOPING DOCUMENT 2 SKAGIT RIVER HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT WASHINGTON PROJECT NO. 553-235 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Energy Projects Division of Hydropower Licensing Washington, DC December 2020 Project No. 553-235 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 1 2.0 SCOPING...................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 PURPOSES OF SCOPING .................................................................................... 4 2.2 SCOPING COMMENTS ........................................................................................ 4 3.0 PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES.................................................... 26 3.1 NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE ........................................................................... 26 3.1.1 Existing Project Facilities ............................................................................... 26 3.1.2 Existing Project Operation ............................................................................. 29 3.2 APPLICANT’S PROPOSAL ............................................................................... 31 3.2.1 Proposed Project Facilities and Operations ................................................. 32 3.2.2 Proposed Environmental Measures............................................................... 33 3.3 PROJECT SAFETY............................................................................................. 34 3.4 ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED ACTION ......................................... 35 3.5 ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED BUT ELIMINATED FROM DETAILED STUDY ............................................................................................................................ 35 3.5.1 Non-power License .......................................................................................... 35 3.5.2 Project Decommissioning................................................................................ 35 4.0 SCOPE OF RESOURCE ISSUES ........................................................................... 37 4.1 RESOURCE ISSUES ............................................................................................ 37 4.1.1 Geologic and Soils Resources ........................................................................ 37 4.1.2 Water Quality.................................................................................................. 37 4.1.3 Water Quantity ............................................................................................... 38 4.1.4 Fisheries and Aquatic Resources .................................................................. 38 4.1.5 Terrestrial Resources ..................................................................................... 39 4.1.6 Threatened and Endangered Species ........................................................... 40 4.1.7 Recreation and Land Use ............................................................................... 40 4.1.8 Aesthetic Resources ........................................................................................ 41 4.1.9 Cultural Resources ......................................................................................... 42 4.1.10 Socioeconomic Resources ............................................................................... 42 4.1.11 Developmental Resources .............................................................................. 42 5.0 PROPOSED STUDIES ............................................................................................ 43 6.0 CURRENT PROCESSING SCHEDULE ............................................................... 48 ii Project No. 553-235 7.0 COMPREHENSIVE PLANS .................................................................................... 49 8.0 MAILING LIST .......................................................................................................... 53 APPENDIX A—PROCESS PLAN AND SCHEDULE LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of the Skagit Project.......................................................................... 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. City Light’s initial study proposals for the Skagit Project .......................... 43 iii Project No. 553-235 SCOPING DOCUMENT 2 Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, No. 553-235 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC), under the authority of the Federal Power Act (FPA),1 may issue licenses for terms ranging from 30 to 50 years for the construction, operation, and maintenance of non-federal hydroelectric projects. On April 27, 2020, Seattle City Light (City Light) filed a Pre- Application Document (PAD) and Notice of Intent to seek a new license for the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, FERC No. 553 (Skagit Project or project).2 The Skagit Project is located on the Skagit River, in Whatcom, Snohomish, and Skagit Counties, Washington. The project includes three hydroelectric developments: Ross Development, Diablo Development, and Gorge Development and has a total installed capacity of 650.25 megawatts (MW).3 The average annual generation of the Skagit Project from 2014 to 2018 was 2,503,955 megawatt-hours (MWh). A detailed description of the project is provided in section 3.0. The location of the project is shown on figure 1. The Skagit Project occupies 19,281.93 acres of federal lands administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Forest Service (Forest Service). Portions of the project, including all the generating facilities, are located within the Ross Lake National Recreation Area (Ross 1 16 U.S.C. §§ 791(a)-825(r). 2 The current license for the Skagit Project was issued with an effective date of May 1, 1995, for a term of 30 years and expires on April 30, 2025. 3 On April 1, 2020, City Light requested to amend Exhibit M of its license to increase the project’s capacity to 700.27 MW. Because there are discrepancies between the existing