LIHI Re-Certifies Black Bear Lake Hydroelectric Project FERC No. 10440

LIHI has determined that the Black Bear Lake Project, FERC No. 10440, meets the Low Impact Hydropower Certification Criteria.  An original Low Impact certificate will be forwarded to you once the Governing Board Chair and Secretary have executed it. The certification of the Black Bear Lake Project facility is valid for five years and will expire on May 19, 2016. 

LIHI’s program documents describe how a request for renewal of a previously-issued LIHI certification (“re-certification”) will be granted at the conclusion of the term of the existing certification if re-certification is desired by the certificate holder, and so long as:

(1) there have been no “material changes” at the facility that would affect the certification and,

(2) LIHI’s certification criteria have not been revised since the previous certification was issued by LIHI.

LIHI’s Re-Certification Standards also provide that if the Application Reviewer can definitively determine from the submitted application materials, a review of the LIHI file containing the past certification decision(s), any public comments received during the application process, and any limited reviewer-initiated questioning by LIHI of the applicant and/or third parties, that the answer to both questions in paragraph 3. above is “no,” the Application Reviewer will recommend re-certification approval to LIHI’s Executive Director, and there will be no further application review.

The Application Reviewer reviewed the materials submitted by Alaska Power & Telephone Company (“APT”) in support of its application for recertification of the Black Bear Lake Hydroelectric Project (the “Project”), and also reviewed the LIHI file containing the past certification decision and FERC’s public information file on the Project. As a result of that review, the reviewer requested additional information which was supplied by the Applicant. The public comment period for recertification of the Project expired on June 11, 2011. No public comments were received. In the reviewer’s opinion, these materials are sufficient to make a recertification recommendation and no further application review is recommended.  We have attached a copy of the Application Reviewer’s November 7, 2011 Report.

 In reaching our decision to certify the Black Bear Lake Project, we reviewed the application for certification, as well as the Application Reviewer’s report and concurred with the Application Reviewer’s  finding and recommendation that the answer to both questions is “no.” We also concur with the Reviewer’s recommended condition regarding flow deviations.

LIHI approves certification for the Black Bear Lake Hydroelectric Project for five-years with the following condition: 

By June 15, 2012, the Applicant submit to LIHI evidence that it has secured resource agency andFERC approval of a proposed operating protocol allowing for deviations from monthly minimum flowrequirements when inflows to the Project do not allow the minimum flow requirements to be met.If the Applicant fails to submit the evidence or if such approval is not secured, LIHI will reserve        the right to suspend or cancel the recertification.