Docket No. P-2628-066
Commission staff prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental effects of relicensing the 135-megawatt (MW) R.L. Harris Hydroelectric Project No. 2628 (Harris Project). on the Tallapoosa River near the City of Lineville in Randolph, Clay, and Cleburne Counties, Alabama. The Harris Project also includes land within the James D. Martin-Skyline Wildlife Management Area (Skyline WMA) located approximately 110 miles north of Harris Lake in Jackson County, Alabama. The project occupies 4.9 acres of federal land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
On November 23, 2021, Alabama Power Company (Alabama Power) filed an application for a new license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) to continue to operate and maintain the R.L. Harris Hydroelectric Project (Harris Project) (FERC No. 2628). Alabama Power supplemented the application on March 23, 2022, June 15, 2022, and December 27, 2022.
This is the first relicensing process for the Harris Project, which was originally licensed in 1973. The primary issues identified during the relicensing process are effects of peaking operations on: (1) erosion of private property along the Tallapoosa River downstream from Harris Dam; (2) water quality, including (cold) temperatures and low dissolved oxygen on aquatic species (i.e., diversity and abundance) and their habitats in the Tallapoosa River downstream from Harris Dam; (3) water quantity, including the volume, velocity, and frequency, of peaking flows on flooding during wet years, and, more generally, on public safety during recreation activities in the Tallapoosa River downstream from Harris Dam.
In the Draft EIS, Commission staff recommends relicensing the Harris Project under the Staff Alternative, which includes most of Alabama Power’s proposed measures, as well as certain mandatory conditions and recommendations made by state and federal agencies and some staff-recommended modifications to further minimize project-related effects on aquatic and terrestrial resources, threatened and endangered species, recreation, and cultural resources.
The deadline to comment on the Draft EIS is January 20, 2025.