The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has accepted Erie Boulevard Hydropower’s application for a new Beebee Island hydropower license and declared it ready for environmental analysis. The procedural step matters because it opens the formal period for public, agency and other stakeholder filings.
Key Facts
- The proceeding concerns FERC Project No. P-2538-102 on the Black River in Jefferson County, New York.
- Final amendments to the application are due September 3, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
- Interventions, protests, comments and specified agency submissions are due October 5, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
- Reply comments are due November 17, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
- FERC has not granted or denied the requested license.
What FERC’s notice does
The August 7 notice accepts the application for filing and moves it into environmental analysis. It also invites motions to intervene, protests, comments, recommendations, preliminary license conditions and preliminary fishway prescriptions.
A motion to intervene is a formal request to become a party in the proceeding. Anyone may submit comments or a protest, but only an eligible intervenor becomes a party under FERC’s rules.
The notice does not approve the project’s proposed operating measures or complete the environmental review. It also does not resolve water-quality certification, fishway requirements or the final terms of any license.
What Erie proposes
Erie filed the new-major-license application on August 30, 2024. The application concerns the existing Beebee Island Hydroelectric Project on the Black River.
According to FERC’s summary, Erie proposes to continue run-of-river operation and maintain specified downstream and bypassed-reach minimum flows. Run-of-river operation generally keeps project outflow close to the water flowing into the impoundment.
Erie also proposes to continue fish-conveyance measures, seasonal veiling flows, monitoring and hand-carry boat access. Other proposals include a historic-properties management plan and replacing wooden flashboards with inflatable rubber crest gates.
These measures remain proposals summarized in the agency notice. FERC has not adopted them as final license conditions or determined that they adequately address environmental effects.
How the proceeding reached this stage
FERC’s September 2024 notice said the application had been tendered but was not ready for environmental analysis. The new notice marks a later procedural stage by accepting the filing and opening the formal participation period.
The earlier notice identified a preliminary schedule that was subject to revision. Its projected February 2025 acceptance date was not a final deadline or licensing decision.
What happens next
Erie may file final amendments through September 3 at 5 p.m. Eastern. The principal deadline for interventions, protests, comments, recommendations and preliminary agency conditions is October 5 at 5 p.m. Eastern.
By the October deadline, Erie must also submit a water-quality certification, document its request for certification or provide evidence of waiver. Reply comments are due November 17 at 5 p.m. Eastern.
FERC will consider the filed record as it conducts environmental review and decides what further action to take. The notice does not set a date for a final licensing decision.
