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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 16-1780

Application for Permit for Use of Explosives; Lake Erie, Erie County

[46 Pa.B. 6588]
[Saturday, October 15, 2016]

 The Executive Director of the Fish and Boat Commission (Commission), acting under the authority of 30 Pa.C.S. § 2906 (relating to permits for use of explosives), may grant permits for the use of explosives in waters for engineering purposes. The Commission's regulations at 58 Pa. Code Chapter 51, Subchapter E (relating to permit procedures) establish the agency practices and procedures to be followed in consideration and disposition of applications for permits, the granting or denial of which is discretionary, including permits issued under section 2906. Under 58 Pa. Code § 51.43 (relating to staff review), Commission staff will administratively review all applications filed with the Commission, and if Commission staff find after the administrative review that the proposed permitted activity creates a substantial likelihood of significant adverse impacts on fish, fishing, fish habitat, boating or other matters within the cognizance of the Commission as a trustee of the Commonwealth's environment, Commission staff will defer action on the application until after publication of a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin under 1 Pa. Code § 35.105 (relating to notice of nonrulemaking proceedings).

 The Commission received an application for a permit for use of explosives from ITC Lake Erie Connector, LLC. ITC Lake Erie Connector, LLC proposes to construct the Lake Erie Connector Project, an approximately 72.4 miles of high-voltage direct current bidirectional electric transmission interconnection to transfer electricity between Canada and the United States through a submarine transmission cable across Lake Erie. Due to bedrock, approximately 1 mile of the trench for the cable installation across Lake Erie will be excavated by confined stemmed blasting. Blasting can cause mortality, physical injury, auditory tissue damage, permanent and temporary threshold shifts, behavioral changes, and decreased egg and larvae viability. Based on the setback calculation for this project, the extent for the potential for lethal impacts is limited to 63.3 feet from the blast location.

 Based on their administrative review of the permit application, Commission staff have found that the proposed permitted activity creates a substantial likelihood of significant adverse impacts on fish, fishing, fish habitat, boating or other matters within the cognizance of the Commission. Commission staff therefore invite the public to submit comments regarding the ITC Lake Erie Connector, LLC's application for permit for use of explosives in Commonwealth waters and the Lake Erie Connector Blasting Impact Analysis in United States Waters November 2015, which can be viewed at http://pfbc.pa.gov/LakeErieConnector-Permit.pdf and http://pfbc.pa.gov/LakeErieConnector-Blasting.pdf, respectively. Commen-tators should include their name, address and telephone number and a concise statement to inform the Commission of the exact basis of their comment and the relevant facts upon which it is based.

 Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, objections or suggestions about the proposed project to the Executive Director, Fish and Boat Commission, P.O. Box 67000, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000, within 30 days after publication of this notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Comments submitted by facsimile will not be accepted.

 Comments also may be submitted electronically by com- pleting the form at www.fishandboat.com/regcomments. If an acknowledgment of electronic comments is not received by the sender within 2 working days, the comments should be retransmitted to ensure receipt. Electronic comments submitted in any other manner will not be accepted.

JOHN A. ARWAY, 
Executive Director

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 16-1780. Filed for public inspection October 14, 2016, 9:00 a.m.]


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