dditionally, the members near the Project benefit by having the Project in their
community.
1.1

Background
The Project is located on Lake Creek in Lincoln County, Montana (Figure 1.1-1).
The Project works consist of (1) a 268-foot-long, 44-foot-high concrete gravity dam
creating; (2) a 30-acre reservoir with a storage capacity of 150 acre-feet (af); (3) a
reinforced concrete intake structure; (4) a 1,694-foot-long, 10-foot diameter flowline
leading to; (5) a forebay created by a reinforced concrete structure with wood
superstructure; (6) a 297-foot-long, 5-foot diameter penstock leading to; (7) Powerhouse
No. 1 containing a Francis-type, turbine-generating unit with a rated capacity of 1 MW;
(8) a second penstock 441-feet-long with a diameter of 8.5 feet leading to: (9)
Powerhouse No. 2 containing a Francis-type, turbine-generating unit with a rated
capacity of 3.5 MW; (10) a 2.4-7.97/13.8 kilovolt (kV) step-up transformer at
Powerhouse No. 2, and (11) appurtenant facilities. NLI is not proposing to add capacity
or to make any major modifications to the Project or its operation under the new license.
The current license expires November 30, 2011.
NLI is using FERCs Integrated Licensing Process (ILP) as established in
regulations issued by FERC July 23, 2003 (Final Rule, Order No. 2002) and found at
Title 18 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 5. This PAD accompanies

1-2
NLIs Notice of Intent (NOI) to seek a new license for the Project. NLI distributed this
PAD and NOI simultaneously to Federal and state resource agencies, local governments,
Native American tribes, members of the public, and others interested in the relicensing
proceeding. Appendix A details the distribution list for the NOI and PAD. The PAD
provides FERC and the entities listed above with summaries of existing, relevant, and
reasonably available information related to the Project that is in the Licensees possession
or was obtained through due diligence. The information required in the PAD is specified
in 18 CFR § 5.6 (c) and (d).
NLI exercised due diligence in preparation of this PAD by contacting appropriate
governmental agencies, Native American tribes and others potentially having relevant
information; by conducting extensive searches of publicly available databases and its
own records; and by broadly distributing a comprehensive PAD Questionnaire designed
specifically to identify existing, relevant, and reasonably available information related to
the Project. Beginning in July 2005, NLI also conducted a series of three public outreach
meetings to familiarize interested parties with the Project, NLI's relicensing plans, and
the ILP, and to solicit information regarding the Project, its operations and any effects the
Project may have on the natural or social environment. Appendix B provides a summary
of contacts made by NLI in preparing this PAD.
The existing, relevant, and reasonably available information provided in this PAD
provides participants in this relicensing proceeding the information necessary to identify
issues and related information needs; develop study requests and study plans; and to
prepare documents analyzing NLIs Application for New License (License Application)
that will be filed with FERC on or before November 30, 2009. The PAD is also a
precursor to the environmental analysis section of the License Application and to FERCs
Scoping documents and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or Environmental
Assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Filing the PAD
concurrently with the NOI enables those who plan to participate in the relicensing to
familiarize themselves with the Project at the start of the proceeding. This familiarity will
lead to enhanced success of FERCs Scoping process. Figure 1.1-1. Lake Creek and Kootenai Basin
1-3

1-4
1.2

Agents for Northern Lights
The following persons are authorized to act as agent for the applicant pursuant to
18 CFR § 5.6(d)(2)(i):
Jon Shelby
General Manager
P.O. Box 269
421 Chevy Street
Sagle, ID 83860
Telephone: (800) 326-9594 x124
Mark Contor
Operations Manager
P.O. Box 269
421 Chevy Street
Sagle, ID 83860
Telephone: (800) 326-9594 x134
1.3

PAD Content
This PAD follows the content and form requirements of 18 CFR § 5.6 (c) and (d),
with minor changes in form for enhanced readability. This PAD is organized into two
volumes. Volume 1 contains all of the information required by 18 CFR § 5.6 (c) and (d)
for distribution to Federal and state resource agencies, local governments, Native
American tribes, members of the public, and others likely to be interested in the
relicensing proceeding. Volume 2 contains drawings of Project works (Exhibit F
drawings) that meet the definition of Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII)
pursuant to FERCs June 23, 2003 Order No. 630-A. Volume 2 also contains drawings
depicting project location that meet the definition of Non-Internet Public. Consistent with
that order, NLI is distributing Volume 2 only to FERC.
Volume 1 is organized as follows:
Section 1.0 Introduction; Table of Contents; List of Appendices; List of Figures;
List of Tables; List of Photos; and Definitions of Terms, Acronyms, and Abbreviations.
Section 2.0 Proposed Communication Protocols and ILP Flow Chart

1-5
Section 3.0 General Description of the Lake Creek basin, per 18 CFR §
5.6(d)(3)(xiii)
Section 4.0 Description of Project Location, Facilities, and Operation, per 18
CFR § 5.6(d)(2)
Section 5.0 Description of the Existing Environment by Resource Area, per 18
CFR § 5.6(d)(3)(ii)-(xii)
Section 6.0 Description of Impacts, Issues, Study and Information Needs,
Resource Measures, and Existing Plans, per 18 CFR § 5.6(d)(3) and (4)
Appendices
Appendix A Distribution List
Appendix B - Summary of Contacts and Consultation
Appendix C - Process Plan and Schedule
Appendix D - Current License and WQC Requirements
Appendix E - Safety Plan
Appendix F - Flow Duration Curves
Appendix G - Study Plans
NLI has established a publicly accessible internet website
(http://www.norlight.org/LCRelicensing/
) as a means of providing Project relicensing
information.
As set forth in the ILP regulations, FERC will issue Scoping Document 1 (SD1)
within 60 days of the filing date of the NOI and PAD, and will hold a site visit and public
Scoping meeting within 30 days of issuing SD1. The Process Plan (Appendix C) for the
relicensing provides preliminary dates for various aspects of the Lake Creek ILP. FERC
has indicated that the Scoping Meetings and associated site visit for the Project are
tentatively scheduled for early August 2006. FERC will notice the final dates, times and

1-6
locations of the FERC Scoping Meetings and publish that information in local papers
shortly after the filing of the NOI and PAD. NLI will post the Scoping Meeting
information on the relicensing website as soon as it is available.
1.4

Definitions of Terms, Acronyms and Abbreviations
af
Acre-foot, the amount of water needed to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.
APE
Area of Potential Effect as pertaining to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
BIA
Bureau of Indian Affairs
BLM
Bureau of Land Management
CADD
computer aided drafting and design
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations
cfs
cubic feet per second
Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
CSKT
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes
CWA
Clean Water Act
DLA Draft
License
Application
DO dissolved
oxygen
DOE
U.S. Department of Energy
DOI
U.S. Department of Interior
EA Environmental
Assessment
EAP
Emergency Action Plan
EFH Essential
Fish
Habitat
EIS
Environmental Impact Statement
EL elevation
ESA Endangered
Species
Act
FERC
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Flowline
Enclosed pipeline with low slope leading from dam to penstocks
Francis
Turbine
A radial-inflow reaction turbine, where flow through the runner is radial to the turbine shaft
FPA Federal
Power
Act
FWCA
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
GIS
Geographic Information Systems
GWh
Gigawatt-hour (equals one million kilowatt-hours)
Hp Horsepower
Hz
hertz (cycles per second)
HPMP
Historic Properties Management Plan
ILP
Integrated Licensing Process
Installed
Capacity
The nameplate MW rating of a generator or group of generators
Interested
Parties
The broad group of individuals and entities that have an interest in a proceeding
kW kilowatt
kWh kilowatt-hour
KTI
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
kV kilovolts
Lake Creek
Dam
The Project Dam located on Lake Creek at approximately RM 1.0. Also known as Troy Dam
Lake Creek
Reservoir
The Project reservoir formed by Lake Creek Dam. also known as Troy Reservoir.

1-7
License
Application
Application for New License submitted to FERC no less than two years in advance of expiration of an
existing license. See DLA.
Licensee
Northern Lights, Inc.
MTDEQ
Montana Department of Environmental Quality
MTFWP
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
MTPSC
Montana Public Service Commission
MW megawatt
MWh megawatt-hour
NEPA
National Environmental Policy Act
NGO Non-governmental
organization
NLI
Northern Lights, Inc.
NMFS
National Marine Fisheries Services, same as NOAA Fisheries
NOAA
Fisheries
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, same as NMFS
NPDES
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
NPS
National Park Service
NOI Notice
of
Intent
Normal
Operating
Capacity
The maximum MW output of a generator or group of generators under normal maximum head and flow
cond