HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.21.21 Board Correspondence - FW_ General Correspondence issued in FERC P-10021-000,et al.
From:Paulsen, Shaina
To:Alpert, Bruce;Bennett, Robin;Clerk of the Board;Connelly, Bill;Cook, Holly;Cook, Robin;Kimmelshue, Tod;Lucero, Debra;Paulsen, Shaina;Pickett, Andy;Ring,
Brian;Ritter, Tami;Rodas, Amalia;Sweeney, Kathleen;Teeter, Doug
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: General Correspondence issued in FERC P-10021-000,et al.
Date:Wednesday, April 21, 2021 8:29:39 AM
Good Morning,
Please see board correspondence below from FERC.
Shaina Paulsen
Administrative Assistant, Senior
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200
Oroville, CA 95969
T: 530.552.3304 | F: 530.538.7120
-----Original Message-----
From: 'FERC eSubscription' <eSubscription@ferc.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2021 3:03 PM
Subject: General Correspondence issued in FERC P-10021-000,et al.
.ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening attachments, clicking on links, or replying..
On 4/20/2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington D.C., issued this document:
Docket(s): P-10021-000
P-1005-000
P-10085-000
P-10102-000
P-10263-000
P-10264-000
P-10265-000
P-10441-000
P-10484-000
P-10502-000
P-10505-000
P-1061-000
P-10742-000
P-10804-000
P-10821-000
P-10833-000
P-10882-000
P-10947-000
P-10973-000
P-11068-000
P-11094-000
P-11197-000
P-1121-000
P-11218-000
P-11315-000
P-11322-000
P-11441-000
P-11531-000
P-11563-000
P-11610-000
P-11867-000
P-120-000
P-12147-000
P-12374-000
P-12459-000
P-12473-000
P-12475-000
P-12476-000
P-12477-000
P-12496-000
P-1250-000
P-12572-000
P-12589-000
P-12624-000
P-1273-000
P-12841-000
P-13123-000
P-13163-000
P-13322-000
P-1333-000
P-13357-000
P-1354-000
P-13569-000
P-137-000
P-13714-000
P-13797-000
P-13799-000
P-13802-000
P-13820-000
P-13871-000
P-1388-000
P-1389-000
P-1390-000
P-1394-000
P-1398-000
P-1403-000
P-14220-000
P-14230-000
P-14297-000
P-14326-000
P-14327-000
P-14342-000
P-14343-000
P-14377-000
P-14428-000
P-14441-000
P-14444-000
P-14463-000
P-14501-000
P-14579-000
P-14580-000
P-14581-000
P-1517-000
P-1715-000
P-175-000
P-176-000
P-1773-000
P-178-000
P-184-000
P-1858-000
P-190-000
P-1930-000
P-1932-000
P-1933-000
P-1934-000
P-1962-000
P-1988-000
P-1994-000
P-2005-000
P-2017-000
P-2019-000
P-2031-000
P-2035-000
P-2067-000
P-2079-000
P-2085-000
P-2086-000
P-2088-000
P-2100-000
P-2101-000
P-2105-000
P-2106-000
P-2107-000
P-2118-000
P-2130-000
P-2153-000
P-2155-000
P-2174-000
P-2175-000
P-2179-000
P-2187-000
P-2204-000
P-2219-000
P-2246-000
P-2266-000
P-2275-000
P-2281-000
P-2290-000
P-2299-000
P-2310-000
P-233-000
P-2351-000
P-2409-000
P-2426-000
P-2467-000
P-2479-000
P-2661-000
P-2678-000
P-2687-000
P-2699-000
P-2735-000
P-2741-000
P-2780-000
P-2781-000
P-2782-000
P-2784-000
P-2796-000
P-2829-000
P-2841-000
P-2871-000
P-2876-000
P-2878-000
P-2888-000
P-2892-000
P-2896-000
P-2903-000
P-2916-000
P-2958-000
P-2975-000
P-298-000
P-2981-000
P-2987-000
P-2997-000
P-3038-000
P-3055-000
P-3056-000
P-3075-000
P-3113-000
P-3114-000
P-3116-000
P-3136-000
P-3174-000
P-3189-000
P-3190-000
P-3193-000
P-3247-000
P-3351-000
P-3410-000
P-3430-000
P-344-000
P-3496-000
P-3525-000
P-3580-000
P-3590-000
P-3603-000
P-372-000
P-3730-000
P-3755-000
P-382-000
P-3863-000
P-3908-000
P-3947-000
P-3948-000
P-400-000
P-4009-000
P-4049-000
P-4058-000
P-4063-000
P-4066-000
P-4129-000
P-4283-000
P-4285-000
P-4294-000
P-4303-000
P-4597-000
P-4610-000
P-4611-000
P-4627-000
P-4658-000
P-4714-000
P-4720-000
P-4794-000
P-4826-000
P-4851-000
P-5128-000
P-5129-000
P-5130-000
P-5197-000
P-5218-000
P-5226-000
P-5295-000
P-5306-000
P-5388-000
P-5397-000
P-5536-000
P-5593-000
P-5646-000
P-5648-000
P-5670-000
P-5697-000
P-5737-000
P-5765-000
P-5766-000
P-5771-000
P-5828-000
P-5902-000
P-5929-000
P-5930-000
P-5931-000
P-5938-000
P-6010-000
P-6028-000
P-6056-000
P-606-000
P-6061-000
P-6093-000
P-6117-000
P-6120-000
P-6147-000
P-6154-000
P-6155-000
P-6168-000
P-6174-000
P-619-000
P-6227-000
P-6253-000
P-6281-000
P-6282-000
P-632-000
P-6330-000
P-6352-000
P-6378-000
P-6418-000
P-6454-000
P-6467-000
P-6548-000
P-6550-000
P-6594-000
P-6623-000
P-6634-000
P-6643-000
P-67-000
P-6764-000
P-6773-000
P-6780-000
P-6819-000
P-6868-000
P-6885-000
P-6896-000
P-6905-000
P-6916-000
P-6942-000
P-6952-000
P-6959-000
P-6964-000
P-7006-000
P-7009-000
P-7010-000
P-7055-000
P-7057-000
P-7059-000
P-7120-000
P-7147-000
P-7178-000
P-7192-000
P-7242-000
P-7252-000
P-7279-000
P-7282-000
P-7283-000
P-733-000
P-7342-000
P-7345-000
P-7396-000
P-7401-000
P-7506-000
P-7510-000
P-7564-000
P-7580-000
P-768-000
P-77-000
P-7731-000
P-7828-000
P-7893-000
P-7908-000
P-7919-000
P-7981-000
P-803-000
P-814-000
P-8153-000
P-8210-000
P-8239-000
P-8296-000
P-8319-000
P-8357-000
P-8361-000
P-8377-000
P-848-000
P-8533-000
P-8552-000
P-8671-000
P-8726-000
P-8764-000
P-8811-000
P-8828-000
P-8914-000
P-8936-000
P-8962-000
P-8975-000
P-9029-000
P-9032-000
P-9071-000
P-9078-000
P-9087-000
P-9195-000
P-9202-000
P-9310-000
P-9334-000
P-9399-000
P-9437-000
P-946-000
P-9545-000
P-96-000
P-9647-000
P-9735-000
P-9879-000
P-9888-000
P-9903-000
P-9922-000
P-9994-000
Lead Applicant: BEAVER CITY
CORPORATION
Filing Type: General Correspondence
Description: 2021 Annual Letter - Reminder of Responsibilities from San Francisco Regional Office under P-10021 et al. (This document was served to
parties on 04/14/2021)
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FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Energy Projects
Division of Dam Safety and Inspections – San Francisco Regional Office
100 First Street, Suite 2300
San Francisco, CA 94105-3084
(415) 369-3300 Office – (415) 369-3322 Facsimile
April 14, 2021
Dear Licensee/Exemptee:
Subject: Annual Letter – Reminder of Responsibilities
This letter is intended to remind you of your obligations and responsibilities as the
holder of a license or exemption from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) for a hydropower facility. This letter contains new information that may impact
your project although we acknowledge that it also contains many of the same reminders
each year. These reminders focus on some of the most important aspects of our dam
safety program that require your attention. We strongly encourage you to read it
carefully in its entirety, including the enclosures and the referenced FERC website links,
in order to understand your dam safety, public safety, and security responsibilities.
This letter will be sent to you each year primarily by email. Please reply to me by
email (and copy the FERC project engineer(s) assigned to your project(s), if possible)
with a signed copy of the “Annual Letter Acknowledgment” to acknowledge you have
received and read this letter. Please do not formally file the acknowledgement letter with
the Commission.
We provide this letter to all who have been issued licenses or exemptions for
hydropower facilities, regardless of project size. Not all aspects of this letter are equally
applicable to all recipients and therefore, this letter should be shared with your Chief
Dam Safety Engineer or Chief Dam Safety Coordinator, if different from the addressee.
This letter should also be shared with everyone involved in your dam safety program,
including senior management. It is your responsibility, and the responsibility of your
dam safety group, to be familiar with the terms and conditions of your license or
exemption and to operate your project in compliance with those requirements. This will
enable you to apply this letter, as appropriate, to your projects. Please contact our office
if you have any questions about the applicability of a specific requirement to your
projects.
2
Highlighted Items for 2021
COVID 19 Response. We were unable to perform all of our normal dam safety
inspections in 2020 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. During this time, we asked many of
our licensees to respond to questionnaires and/or we relied upon licensees and exemptees
to perform their own dam safety inspections. For 2021, we are evaluating which projects
will be inspected by each Regional Office once Commission staff can resume normal
travel. As of the date of this letter, we do not have a schedule for returning to normal
operations. Please continue to reach out to your Regional Engineer with any questions
about dam safety inspections and/or other dam safety matters. Below, we provide
information on how to submit documents and filings with the Commission and with the
Regional Offices during this time (See How to Transmit Dam Safety and Public Safety
Documents to the Commission). We wish to thank all of our licensees and exemptees for
working with us during this difficult time.
Part 12 Regulation Update. On July 16, 2020, the Commission issued a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to amend 18 CFR Part 12 governing the safety
of hydropower projects licensed by the Commission under the Federal Power Act. These
regulations are intended to promote the safe operation, effective maintenance, and
efficient repair of licensed hydropower projects and project works to ensure the
protection of life, health, and property in surrounding communities. In general, the
NOPR proposes to revise the regulations to: incorporate two tiers of project safety
inspections by independent consultants, define the requirements of an independent
consultant team, codify existing guidance requiring certain licensees to develop an
Owner’s Dam Safety Program and a Public Safety Plan, update existing regulations
related to public safety incident reporting, and make various minor revisions. In addition
to the proposed regulation changes, the Commission also issued four proposed draft
chapters to our Engineering Guidelines. The chapters include:
Chapter 15 – Supporting Technical Information Document
Chapter 16 – Part 12D Program
Chapter 17 – Potential Failure Mode Analysis
Chapter 18 - Level 2 Risk Analysis
A 60-day public comment period was opened to receive comments on the
proposed regulation changes and proposed new Engineering Guideline chapters. The
public comment period closed in late September 2020.
The proposed regulation revisions are included in the NOPR as a rulemaking
(RM) docket (RM20-9) and are available on FERC’s eLibrary system at www.ferc.gov
.
Each of the draft chapters of the Engineering Guidelines are also available on eLibrary
under separate Advisory Docket (AD) notices (AD20-20 through AD20-23). The NOPR
and four AD notices have also been published in the Federal Register. The proposed
3
regulation is not currently in effect. A final rulemaking will need to occur before the
proposed regulation can be finalized.
Security Branch. The Security Branch will continue to evaluate physical and cyber
security at FERC licensed and exempted projects, in remote and on-site
capacities. While the Security Branch has several team members, the Branch utilizes
D2SISecurityBranch@ferc.gov for the majority of its correspondence. The Security
Branch asks that all inbound and outbound correspondence is encrypted and/or
attachments are password protected (with the password provided via telephone call,
separate email, or alternate communication) with the subject line referencing the project
number(s). As a reminder, security documents must not be submitted to eLibrary –
those documents required as part of FERC’s Security Program for Hydropower Projects,
will be reviewed in the field or in an agreed-upon remote capacity. While not an
exception to this filing rule, the Annual Security Compliance Certification (required for
st
Security Group 1s & 2s and due December 31 each year) should be emailed to the
Security Branch with the appropriate Regional Engineer copied on the email. When
submitting dam safety and other licensing/compliance correspondence to the
Commission, do not mix security related information including, but not limited to,
security features (e.g., cameras), security procedures (e.g., guards and response), cyber
network connectivity, and law enforcement response times.
Annual Emergency Action Plan (EAP) Requirements. There are several annual
requirements for EAPs discussed in Enclosure 2 of this letter. Several of these items
have historically been handled in face-to-face meetings (i.e., annual seminars, training
sessions for drills, and distributing updates/EAP reprints). If face-to-face meetings are
not possible due to the pandemic, these items should be handled through virtual meetings
to the extent possible.
There may be issues with providing hard copies of documents (e.g., updates,
reprints) to certain parties during the pandemic. For EAP submissions to the
Commission, see the How to Transmit Dam Safety and Public Safety Documents to the
Commission section below. At a minimum, documents provided to plan holders should
be provided as searchable PDF files and hard copies should be distributed when possible.
You should ensure the PDF files are of such quality that the documents are legible,
especially the inundation maps. You may also want to confirm the preference for all
parties to receive hard copies in addition to the electronic versions. We highlight that
hard copies still serve a purpose during emergencies when there is a loss of power.
We note that some licensees use automated notification systems in their EAPs.
These systems are also being used to perform the call-down tests during annual drills.
The use of these systems during drills should include a procedure for all parties to
acknowledge receipt of the message to determine the system’s effectiveness. We also
recommend that all EAPs, that rely on automated notification systems, include a
4
procedure to ensure responders can confirm the message is accurate; can receive more
detailed information if needed; and can ask for additional information soon after
receiving the initial notification. This can be done by holding a virtual meeting or phone
conference with all parties soon after the initial notifications go out. You should consider
testing this procedure during the annual drill.
Employees and Incident Reporting. This is a reminder that Part 12.10(b) requires you
to report, for your employees and contractors under your employ, any serious injuries and
deaths in the same manner those injuries/deaths are reported for the general public. Most
such employee incidents, that happen at the project, would be considered project-related
and would require a written report describing the cause, location, and any remedial
actions taken or proposed to avoid or reduce the chance of similar accidents pursuant to
12.10(b)(1)-(4). This requirement is separate from any reporting obligations to the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Change of Ownership. This is a reminder that the new owner of a FERC-regulated
hydropower project (or of a Corporation that owns a project) assumes all dam safety
responsibilities and liabilities and all non-compliance liabilities from the previous owner.
Before acquiring a project and/or seeking a license or exemption transfer, we advise the
prospective buyer to perform all needed due diligence to identify any outstanding dam
safety and compliance issues from the current owner. In general, scheduled and required
dam safety work must be completed on time with few exceptions made due to a change in
ownership. Should you decide to sell and/or transfer one of your projects, please inform
the prospective buyer of the above information.
Prior Commission Authorization. Modifications and changes to your projects require
prior coordination with the Regional Engineer. Any activities that require engineering
analyses, modifications to existing structures, or ground-disturbing activities of any kind
(e.g., clearing, grubbing, excavation, or repeated off-road travel) are subject to review for
potential dam safety and environmental impacts. Therefore, you are required to
coordinate these activities with us prior to performing the work. This does not include
replacement in-kind of motors, pumps, or similar items that are considered routine
operation and maintenance, unless you are removing or altering potentially historic or
culturally significant items. We require a minimum of 60 days to review final plans and
specifications for the proposed work, although initial communication with this office will
provide a better understanding of what’s involved for us to perform our review. See
additional information in items No. 11 and 12 in Enclosure 2.
Natural Disasters. Floods, fires, major storm events, and earthquakes often impact
projects. If one of your projects is damaged by a natural disaster, we ask you to notify
the Regional Engineer immediately, similar to any significant dam safety incident
covered under item No. 5 in Enclosure 2.
5
How to Transmit Dam Safety and Public Safety Documents to the Commission
Electronic Submittal of Documents. All dam safety and public safety documents you
submit to the Commission should be filed electronically using the Commission’s eFiling
system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. The one exception is Security
related documents which are addressed in the Security Branch section of this letter.
Documents should be in a searchable format with a linked Table of Contents to enable
navigation to each section of the document. The cover letter or first page of the filing
should indicate “Electronically Filed.” When eFiling dam safety and public safety
documents, including items addressed to the Director of Dam Safety in Washington, DC,
always choose Hydro: Regional Office and the regional office that corresponds to your
project from the eFiling menu. See No. 15 of Enclosure 2 for additional information
regarding document labeling and uploading documents under the correct security
classification tab during eFiling. Please refer to our
Hydropower Filing Guide for
additional information on filing hydropower documents. For assistance with any of our
online systems please contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov,
(866) 208-3676 (toll free), or (202) 502-8659 (TTY).
There are some cases where your submission cannot be eFiled because the file
types are not accepted by eFiling, the files cannot be divided into 50 mb or less, or the
data package is too large. In these cases, anything that can be eFiled must be eFiled and
the remaining parts of the submission can be transmitted using one of four methods: 1)
email, 2) file transfer site provided by you, 3) file transfer site (using SharePoint)
provided by FERC, or 4) mailing a CD, DVD, or external drive to the Office of Energy
Projects in Washington DC. Any transmittal of files that does not occur through eFiling
must be coordinated with the project engineer.
What if I cannot Submit Documents Electronically? If you cannot submit documents
electronically because you do not have access to the internet, you must notify the project
engineer of your submission and send one copy of all dam safety and public safety
documents to the Secretary of the Commission’s Office to be posted to eLibrary at the
appropriate address. NOTE: Address blocks on the letters to the appropriate Commission
staff may remain as is.
Packages sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Packages sent via any other carrier must be addressed to:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
6
Hard Copies Are Not Required During 100% Telework. The Commission remains on
100% telework status due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic. Requirements for sending
hard copies are suspended during this time.
This guidance for submitting documents to the Commission is valid until FERC
reconstitutes and staff returns to offices. We do not have a timeline for when that will
occur. When the Commission reconstitutes, we will issue further guidance regarding: 1)
any need for hard copies of documents submitted during 100% telework and; 2) any need
for hard copies going forward after reconstitution.
Reminder of Responsibilities
In addition to the above, to assist you in ensuring compliance with FERC dam
safety regulations, Enclosure 2 includes a summary of common requirements, primarily
from Title 18, Parts 8 and 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as well as a number of
administrative requirements that are often overlooked. Please review Enclosure 2 along
with your license or exemption to ensure that your operations comply with all
requirements.
Throughout the year, we host workshops and training courses that may be of interest
to you. A schedule and description of upcoming workshops and courses can be accessed
at the following website:
https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/hydropower/dam-safety-and-
inspections/meetings-workshop-and-conferences
Thank you for your attention to this letter. Please call me at (415) 369-3318 if you
have any questions about the enclosed information or about your projects in general.
Sincerely,
Frank L. Blackett, P.E.
Regional Engineer
Enclosures:
1. Annual Letter Acknowledgement
2. Reminder of Responsibilities
Enclosure 1
ANNUAL LETTER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Please acknowledge your receipt of this annual letter by email. Reply to the sender
and if possible, copy the FERC project engineers assigned to your projects. Please
do not eFile this form.
(Please Print)
I, ,
(name) (title)
of
(organization)
acknowledge receipt of this annual letter dated April 14, 2021, outlining this
organization’s responsibilities under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC). This letter has been provided to all those responsible for
implementing the dam safety program within our organization. They have acknowledged
that they have read and understand the contents of this letter and/or will contact FERC
with any questions.
(Signature)
(Date)
Enclosure 2
REMINDER OF RESPONSIBILITIES
ANNUAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Spillway Gate Operation. See 18 CFR §§ 12.44(b) and (c), and 12.13 for
periodic requirements and verification. If any of your projects include spillway gates,
please ensure that you are correctly measuring and documenting the current and voltage
for each electric motor during load testing and provide a time plot of the yearly readings.
You must submit a notarized “Annual Spillway Gate Operation Certificate” by December
31 of each year or as arranged with the Regional Engineer. Please ensure that you are
using our latest form, which may be downloaded from the following website:
Annual Spillway Gate Operation Certificate (Word)
Annual Spillway Gate Operation Certificate (PDF)
Testing and Reporting on Spillway Gate Operations
Please note that we will not provide a formal response to future annual spillway gate
operation certificates unless we have comments or find that the submittal does not satisfy
the requirements of 18 CFR Section 12.44.
2. Emergency Action Plans (EAPs). There are a number of annual requirements
regarding EAPs, including performing exercises. Please note our comments in the main
body of this letter regarding the use of automatic dialers during your annual exercise. By
December 31 of each year, you must submit an EAP Status Report regarding these
requirements for each of your projects that require an EAP. Chapter 6 of our Engineering
Guidelines explains what should be included in the Status Report. Please note that the
Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Chief Dam Safety Coordinator must always be included in
the sequence on the notification flow chart. For your convenience, the items to be
included in the EAP Status Report are listed below:
The dates you performed an annual comprehensive review of the EAP.
The dates annual updates to the EAP, and if applicable, the Radiological
Emergency Response Plan, were sent to plan holders. You may submit
any updates to your EAP along with the EAP Status Report. Updates must
include documentation of consultation between your staff and the
Emergency Management Agencies (EMAs) which occurred during the
year.
A list of EAP recipients. Please note that a list along with your EAP Status
Report is sufficient. Updated acknowledgement forms from each EMA do
not need to be submitted.
The date of the last full reprint of the EAP for all plan holders.
The dates of your last annual seminar and a brief description of what was
discussed.
Page 1 of 9
Enclosure 2
The dates of your last drill/training/call-down test, including any lessons
learned.
A brief description of the project’s emergency equipment and the dates
tested.
The date and results of the most current Sudden Failure Assessment. This
must include an explanation of any response time enhancements
implemented or changes in downstream population that would affect the
Sudden Failure Assessment results.
The dates and descriptions of any public education outreach provided
during the year and who received this outreach. This includes public
education that was provided by local EMAs.
A table indicating all parties who: (1) received EAP revisions and/or
annual updates, (2) participated in the annual seminar, and (3) participated
in the annual drill and/or were contacted during the call-down test.
If the EMAs involved with your project have Geographical Information System
(GIS) capabilities, your EAP inundation maps should be based on GIS data. Guidance on
GIS inundation map files can be obtained at:
https://www.ferc.gov/tips-developing-and-submitting-gis-inundation-map-files
Training for EAP exercises is available from FERC each year. Please contact the
regional office to find the date and location of the next training session.
For a project previously exempted by this office from filing an EAP, you are
still required to:
perform a field reconnaissance to determine if there have been any changes
to upstream or downstream conditions affecting the determination that no
reasonably foreseeable project emergency would endanger life, health, or
property;
develop, maintain, post, and annually verify a contact list of people and
organizations such as local EMAs and upstream and downstream dam
owners who would be called during flood events, if the dam is in danger of
failing, or has failed; and
submit an annual report documenting your field reconnaissance along with
a request to continue your EAP exemption.
Your emergency contact list and a statement that you have verified the accuracy of
the information on the list should be submitted with your annual report.
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Enclosure 2
Please note that we will not respond to future annual EAP exemption requests
unless we have comments or find that your submittal does not satisfy the requirements of
18 CFR Section 12.21(c).
3. Dam Safety Surveillance and Monitoring Plan (DSSMP) and annual Dam
Safety Surveillance and Monitoring Report (DSSMR). Reference 18 CFR § 12.41 and
Chapters 9 and 14 of our Engineering Guidelines. Please see this website:
https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/hydropower/dam-safety-and-inspections/eng-
guidelines
DSSMPs must include all instrumentation and monitoring activities for features
located within the FERC project boundary of each project. This includes conveyance
structures such as flumes, penstocks, canals, and any other conveyance features. For
some projects, visual observation may be the only monitoring possible, which may be
appropriate and sufficient for the project.
The DSSMR, together with any update to the DSSMP, should be submitted
annually on a schedule previously arranged with the Regional Engineer. If possible, data
tables and plots should be accompanied by a searchable electronic version using
Microsoft Excel.
As a reminder, a table must be included in your annual DSSMR submittals relating
all instrumentation to applicable Potential Failure Modes. Review Appendices J and K of
Chapter 14 of our Engineering Guidelines for more information. These documents are
located at:
https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/chap14.pdf
Note: Your DSSMR submittals must include a statement from your Chief Dam
Safety Engineer or Chief Dam Safety Coordinator stating that your dams are safe for
continued operation. If the Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Coordinator cannot make a
clear statement that the dam is safe for continued operation, then a Justification for
Continued Operation plan and schedule is required. This plan should include interim
measures to reduce risk until remediation is complete and the dam is judged to be safe for
continued operation.
4. Hydropower Security Program. All licensees/exemptees with developments
designated as a Security Group 1 or 2 must file an Annual Security Compliance
Certification (ASCC) with the Security Branch and include a courtesy copy to the
appropriate Regional Engineer. Guidance on content of the ASCC and its filing, as well
as templates, were presented in a November 4, 2020 Webinar and are available here:
https://www.ferc.gov/media/2020-annual-security-compliance-certification-new-
template-and-cyber-asset-designation
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Enclosure 2
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
5. Project Safety and Public Safety Related Incidents. See 18 CFR
§§ 12.10(a), 12.10(b), and 12.3(b)(4). When a project safety condition or public safety
incident is discovered, you must:
Call the Regional Engineer as soon as practicable;
Follow up with a summary email to the Regional Engineer; and
Submit a written report within 10 days of the incident or as directed by the
Regional Engineer.
It is imperative that you notify the Regional Engineer immediately of any
condition, event, or action at a project that compromises the safety, stability, or integrity
of any project works or that otherwise affects life, health, property, or public safety. This
includes, for example, any damage to the project as a result of fires, floods, or
earthquakes including any damage that requires action to prevent additional damage
and/or that requires action to restore the project to an operational status. In addition to
significant events such as the above, you should report any other abnormal incidents that
could impact the safety of the project if left unaddressed, for example, gate mis-
operation, mechanical failures that impact water releases or retention, abnormal trends in
instrumentation, and any other event that requires your action to prevent a deteriorating
condition that could impact your project. Your Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Chief Dam
Safety Coordinator should be proactive in instrumentation review and evaluation. If you
are uncertain whether an emerging, ongoing, or completed event constitutes a reportable
incident, you should contact the Regional Engineer.
Any deaths or serious injuries within your FERC project boundary should also be
reported immediately to the Regional Engineer, who will work with you regarding the
specific reporting requirements based upon the occurrence. This applies to the general
public as well as your staff and contractors hired to perform work on your project.
Any activation of the EAP, including activation of the Non-Failure or High
Flow Conditions, is considered a safety-related incident (see Chapter 6 of our
Engineering Guidelines) and requires filing a 12.10(a) report. Your incident report or
subsequent correspondence should include your analysis of the incident and your specific
plans for any necessary project improvements or additional prevention measures.
6. Project Conditions. Aberrant conditions, including those mentioned above,
encountered during new construction, project modifications, or geotechnical work should
be reported immediately after discovery or while attempting to control the situation in
accordance with 18 CFR § 12.10(a).
7. Emergency Modifications. See 18 CFR, § 12.11(b)(1). You must report any
project modifications taken to respond to emergency conditions as soon as practicable.
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Enclosure 2
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES
8. Instrument Readings during unusual or extreme loading events. Acquiring
instrumentation readings during unusual loading events, like a flood or post-earthquake,
is important to help evaluate the performance of your dams. However, personnel safety
should not be compromised and should always be considered when surveilling and
monitoring structures and instrumentations during and after these events. These readings
should be immediately reported to this office if they are found to be reaching or
exceeding threshold and/or action levels.
9. Excavations and Investigations. Your plans for any proposed ground-
disturbing activities within your FERC project boundary must be submitted for our
review at least 60 days prior to commencement. Ground-disturbing activities include
anything that could have dam safety implications and/or that could impact any cultural,
biological, or historic features. This could include clearing and grubbing, excavations, or
repeated off-road travel.
10. Drilling Guidelines. Our drilling guidelines entitled, Guidelines for Drilling in
and Near Embankment Dams and their Foundations, provide guidance for drilling in or
near any dam as well as for trenching, test pits, and similar activities. The guidelines
should be referenced when performing any type of exploration activities near any FERC-
licensed project. These guidelines are available on our website at:
https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/guidelines.pdf
If you have any questions about whether a proposed activity requires our review
and authorization, please contact the FERC staff engineer assigned to your project.
11. Drawdowns and Dewatering. See 18 CFR § 12.4(b). All non-emergency
drawdowns of a reservoir, canal, or forebay that would be inconsistent with the
operational requirements and/or terms and conditions in your license or exemption
require prior authorization. Documentation of consultation with appropriate federal,
state, and local resource agencies must be included in your drawdown request. The
request for an extended drawdown (exceeding four weeks) should be made through the
Commission’s Division of Hydropower Administration and Compliance (DHAC) with a
courtesy copy emailed to the Regional Engineer. Emergency drawdowns to protect life
or property must be reported to our office in accordance with 18 CFR § 12.10(a).
Conveyance Feature Draining/Dewatering. Requests to dewater tunnels,
conduits, or penstocks as part of normal operation and maintenance activities must also
be submitted for review and comment at least 60 days prior to initiation. If
emergency conditions exist (e.g., mechanical failures, storm damage, etc) that result in
the immediate need to drain a conveyance feature, you must notify this office in
accordance with 18 CFR § 12.10(a).
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Enclosure 2
12. Plan Review. See 18 CFR, § 12.11(b)(2). Your plans for any proposed
modifications to, or major maintenance of, any of your projects must be submitted for
review and acceptance at least 60 days prior to initiation. Larger and more complex
projects can require substantially more than 60 days for us to review and provide
comments. Therefore, you are encouraged to contact this office as soon as possible to
discuss upcoming projects to minimize any delays. You are also responsible for
obtaining all necessary permits from other federal, state, and local agencies to perform
proposed work, as well as consulting with DHAC, as needed.
13. Review and Submittal of Consultant Reports. Each cover letter transmitting a
consultant’s report must include a statement that the report has been reviewed by you,
your Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Chief Dam Safety Coordinator, and/or your staff.
The cover letter must also provide either your concurrence or disagreement with the
consultant’s findings and/or recommendations. When you agree that urgent actions are
necessary, you must include your proposed plan and schedule for these actions in the
cover letter. Any dissenting opinion should be fully justified. All reports submitted on
behalf of your consultants should be signed by the individuals who performed the work
discussed in the reports.
14. Extension of Time Requests. If you are unable to meet a due date, you must
submit a written request for an extension of time that includes an explanation of why the
due date could not be met and your plan and schedule for completing the required action.
Your extension of time request should be submitted sufficiently far in advance of the due
date (typically 30 days) for us to review and make a decision on your request.
15. Critical Energy Infrastructure and Privileged Information. Documents
containing Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII), per 18 CFR
§ 388.113 and https://www.ferc.gov/legal/ceii-foia/ceii.asp, should include the label
CUI//CEII centered in the top header of each page of the document. Documents
containing information that 18 CFR § 388.112 recognizes as privileged should include
CUI//PRIV centered in the top header of each page of the document. Documents
containing both CEII and privileged information should contain CUI//CEII/PRIV
centered in the top header of each page of the document. Any document containing CUI
must be uploaded under the corresponding security tabs during eFiling. If a document
contains both CUI and PRIV material, it should be uploaded under the Privileged tab.
In accordance with the Commission’s Information Governance Policy, please
designate all security documentation as CUI//CEII/PRIV centered in the top header and
Security Sensitive Material Do Not Release centered in the footer of each page of the
document. Security documents must not be submitted to eLibrary – those documents
required as part of FERC’s Security Program for Hydropower Projects, will be reviewed
in the field or in an agreed-upon remote capacity. While not an exception to this filing
rule, the Annual Security Compliance Certification (required for Security Group 1s & 2s
st
and due December 31 each year) should be emailed to the Security Branch with the
appropriate Regional Engineer copied on the email. When submitting dam safety and
Page 6 of 9
Enclosure 2
other licensing/compliance correspondence to the Commission, do not mix security
related information including, but not limited to, security features (e.g., cameras),
security procedures (e.g., guards and response), cyber network connectivity, and law
enforcement response times.
16. Contact Information. Any changes to your dam safety point of contact (e.g.,
Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Chief Dam Safety Coordinator), including contact names,
addresses, phone numbers, and/or email addresses should be promptly reported to our
office so that we can contact your staff in the event of an emergency. If the primary
contact for your organization changes, you must also file a change of contact form
located at the following web address:
https://www.ferc.gov/how-submit-andor-update-contact-information
17. Owner’s Dam Safety Program (ODSP) and Chief Dam Safety Engineer. If
you have filed an ODSP, please remember that your ODSP is a living document that
should be updated when organizational and project personnel changes occur. You are
reminded that your ODSP should undergo an external audit every 5 years. Prior to
conducting an audit of your ODSP, please submit a statement of qualifications of the
proposed auditor for our review and acceptance. A copy of the final audit report should
be submitted for our review and comment. In addition, please notify this office
immediately upon the designation of a new Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Chief Dam
Safety Coordinator. The Chief Dam Safety Engineer or Coordinator should be well-
versed in dam safety and should have received regular training, for example, attendance
at dam safety training courses and involvement in professional dam safety organizations
such as the United States Society on Dams (USSD) and the Association of State Dam
Safety Officials (ASDSO). Qualifications and training should be well documented on the
individual’s resume.
18. Risk-Informed Decision Making (RIDM). FERC continues to advance RIDM
measures. Draft RIDM guidelines have been posted on our website at:
https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/hydropower/dam-safety-and-inspections/risk-
informed-decision-making-ridm-3
A number of pilot projects have been initiated and are in various stages of
completion. There are still opportunities to request participation in the pilot project
studies. If you are interested in participating in a risk pilot project study, please reference
our draft guidelines and contact the Regional Engineer for more information.
RIDM training opportunities are available by ASDSO, USSD, and other
professional organizations. We encourage you to attend risk training courses offered by
the dam safety profession.
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Enclosure 2
19. Supporting Technical Information Document (STID). Documents should be
in a searchable format with a linked Table of Contents to enable navigation to each
section of the document. The STID summary report should be eFiled by selecting Hydro:
Regional Office and the Regional Office that corresponds to the project. As indicated in
our Engineering Guidelines, all reference documents referred to in the STID, and
sometimes in the PFMA report, should be included with the STID. This can include
large documents such as construction records and photographs. Researching your files
and including this information will provide critical support for your current analyses and
evaluations, and may eliminate the need for, or reduce the scope of, any additional
investigations and/or analyses to confirm the safety and adequacy of your water-retaining
structures. If the reference materials cannot be eFiled, please contact the project engineer
to discuss options for transmitting the STID reference materials to the Commission.
The pages of the STID should be numbered and the STID should have a usable
table of contents to find any related document. Ideally, the printed copy has page tabs
delineating each section as noted in the table of contents. The electronic PDF table of
contents must contain hot links to each section.
20. Inoperative Projects. You must report a project or project feature that is
inoperable or in poor condition. Your report must contain a plan and schedule for
restoring the project or project feature to a safe operational condition. See Federal Power
Act, Section 10(c).
Also, 18 CFR § 6.4 states that if generation from the project is discontinued for a
period of three years, the Commission will deem it to be the intent of the licensee or
exemptee to surrender the license or exemption, and not less than 90 days after public
notice, may at its discretion terminate the license or exemption.
21. Public Safety. Most projects are required to install and maintain public safety
devices and develop and submit a Public Safety Plan (PSP). Periodic internal review of
your PSP should be performed due to possible changes in project operations or public
use. You must notify this office of any plans to remove a safety device at least 10 days in
advance, unless the device’s removal is a periodic occurrence that has been previously
accepted by the Regional Engineer. Also, the Regional Engineer should be expeditiously
notified of any damage to, or loss of, any public safety device and provided with a
schedule for the device’s return to service. See 18 CFR, § 12.42.
Please review your current public safety measures for all project operations,
including the operation of spillway gates. Downstream conditions should be reviewed,
and adequate public safety measures should be implemented in order to warn anyone who
could be in danger due to project operations. Any PSP that has not been updated within
the past 10 years must be reviewed for any changes and resubmitted in its entirety with
any changes that may have occurred. See our public safety guidelines located at:
http://www.ferc.gov/industries/hydropower/safety/guidelines/public-safety.pdf
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Enclosure 2
22. Records. You must maintain permanent project records. Design drawings such
as Exhibits F or L, instrumentation data, and your operational history records must be
maintained at your projects. See 18 CFR § 12.12.
23. Erosion and Pollution. You are required to prevent or minimize soil erosion,
sedimentation, or any form of water or air pollution. An Erosion and Sediment Control
Plan is typically required by a license article. Any construction activity involving ground
disturbance should have an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan.
Project operators must also be aware of state requirements regarding hazardous
liquids or other materials, as well as those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
You should assist owners of public marinas and private docks in minimizing pollution
and should advise them to report any incidents to the appropriate local, state, and federal
agencies, as well as to FERC. A Spill Prevention and Pollution Control Plan may also be
required, by letter from this office, or as a license article, for construction or major
maintenance activity.
24. Personal Safety. We will continue to reach out to you before conducting
inspections to discuss site-specific hazards that may be encountered as well as safety
equipment requirements necessary to observe all project features and important operating
equipment. This could include mandated training or Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE). FERC provides its employees with PPE and would prefer that only FERC-issued
PPE be used by FERC employees to conduct inspections. At the beginning of each
inspection day, all parties should participate in an on-site safety meeting to review any
safety issues or processes as part of the day’s inspection activities.
Page 9 of 9