[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 21, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25477-25478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-12661]



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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 99 / Tuesday, May 21, 1996 / 
Notices  

[[Page 25477]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement on a proposal to construct, operate, and maintain a petroleum 
pipeline across National Forest System lands.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
in writing by June 21, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Michael Sieg, District Ranger, 6944 
South 3000 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84121.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nancy Krebs, Project Leader, (801) 943-2763.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Anschutz Ranch East Pipeline, Inc. (AREPI) 
has proposed construction of a 10-inch petroleum pipeline form Kimball 
Junction in Summit County, Utah to North Salt Lake in Davis County, 
Utah. The proposed buried pipeline would be approximately 27 miles long 
with about nine miles of the pipeline on National Forest System lands 
in Salt Lake County, Utah. The purpose of the pipeline is to provide 
additional crude oil transportation capacity to five Salt Lake area oil 
refineries. This new crude pipeline would transport Canadian crude that 
would arrive at Kimball Junction through a series of existing and 
proposed interstate and intrastate pipelines. It is also AREPI's intent 
to install fiber optic cable in the pipeline trench both for pipeline 
communication purposes and for future commercial sale of excess fiber 
optic capacity.
    Pipe corrosion protection, a communication system, pig launchers 
and receivers, test leads, mainline sectionalizing valves and various 
check valves are incorporated into the initial pipeline design for 
pipeline protection, systems and pipe monitoring, and emergency 
control. The pipeline would operate at a maximum pressure of 1,440 psi 
and has a minimum operating life of 25 years. No pump stations are 
proposed to be built within this pipeline segment. Initial pipeline 
capacity is proposed to be 55,000 barrels per day with the capability 
of increasing capacity to 70,000 barrels per day by adding a future 
pump to an existing line near Coalville, Utah. The pipeline parallels 
existing utility rights-of-way for most of its length. AREPI has 
proposed initiation of construction in late summer of 1997.
    Most of the proposed pipeline right-of-way lies within municipal 
watersheds of northern Utah's Wasatch Mountains and within the 
boundaries of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. In addition to Forest 
Service approvals, a number of local and state governmental agencies 
would be involved in permitting or regulating pipeline construction and 
right-of-way reclamation and maintenance.
    The Forest Service's decisions are whether or not to issue Special 
Use Permits for the long-term operations and short-term construction 
rights-of-way on National Forest System lands as proposed, with 
modifications, or not at all taking into consideration the cumulative 
environmental effects of the pipeline over its entire 27 miles.
    The public scoping process will close June 24. Scoping Notices 
describing the proposal, preliminarily identified issues, the Forest 
Service decision to be made, interests of other local and state 
government agencies, and opportunities for public participation was 
mailed on May 20 to over 600 individuals, organizations, and agencies. 
Public scoping meetings will be held May 30 at the Burns Fire Hall, 700 
West Bitner Road, at Kimball Junction in Summit County and on June 12 
at the Read Auditorium in Orson Spencer Hall, Central Campus Driver, 
the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Both meetings begin at 
6:30 p.m.
    Preliminarily identified issues include potential effects to the 
watershed, surface water quality, and culinary water supplies; 
terrestrial and aquatic plant and animal species and their habitats; 
cultural and historic resources; open space and visual quality; public 
use areas and parks; existing and proposed hiking and biking trails; 
public safety; anticipated future adjacent resident, commercial, and 
business developments; and others. Alternatives may include adjustments 
to the proposed right-of-way, various approaches to construction and 
reclamation, exploring other transportation means such as increasing 
capacity in existing lines, and no action. No action would preclude 
construction of the proposed pipeline across National Forest System 
lands.
    In order to construct and operate the line, other permits, rights-
of-way, or regulatory approvals would have to be obtained by the 
proponent from private and public landowners, and local governments 
including the State of Utah, Summit County, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake 
City, and the City of North Salt Lake. Public agencies with regulatory 
authority over pipeline construction and approval have specifically 
been invited by the Forest Service to participate in the NEPA process.
    The public is invited to submit comments or suggestions to the 
address above. The responsible official is Bernie Weingardt, Forest 
Supervisor. A draft EIS is anticipated to be filed in December 1996 and 
the final EIS filed in May 1997.
    The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will 
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency's notice 
of availability appears in the Federal Register. It is very important 
that those interested in the proposed action participate at that time. 
To be the most helpful, comments on the draft environmental impact 
statement should be as specific as possible and may address the 
adequacy of the statement or the merits of the alternatives discussed 
(see the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing 
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 40 
CFR 1503.3).
    In addition, Federal court decisions have established that reviews 
of the draft environmental impact statements must structure their 
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviews' position and 
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 
553 (1978). Environmental objections that

[[Page 25478]]

could have been raised at the draft stage may be waived if not raised 
until after completion of the final environmental impact statement. 
City of Angoon v. Hodel, (9th Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, 
Inc. v. Harris, 490 F.Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). The reason for 
this is to ensure that substantive comments and objections are made 
available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully 
consider them and respond to them in the final.

    Dated: May 14, 1996.
Robert Cruz,
Environmental Coordinator.
[FR Doc. 96-12661 Filed 5-20-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M