[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3889-3890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1829]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. CP97-156-000]


Hopkinton LNG Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Hopkinton LNG Project and 
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

January 21, 1997.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of the operation of facilities at the 
Hopkinton, Massachusetts LNG Plant. This EA will be used by the 
Commission in its decision-making process to determine whether an 
environmental impact statement is necessary and whether to approve the 
project.\1\
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    \1\ Hopkinton LNG Corporation's application was filed under 
Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the Commission's 
regulations.
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Summary of the Proposed Project

    Hopkinton LNG Corporation (Hopkinton) is seeking approval to 
operate in interstate commerce an existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) 
peak-shaving facility located in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The facility 
is owned by Hopkinton and operated and maintained by Air Products and 
Chemicals, Inc. (APCI). The LNG facility is currently operated to 
provide LNG storage, liquefaction, and vaporization services to 
Commonwealth Gas Company (Commonwealth), Hopkinton's affiliated local 
distribution company. Commonwealth no longer needs as much of 
Hopkinton's capacity to support its local distribution operations as it 
has in the past. Therefore, Hopkinton requests authorization to lease 
to COM/Energy Resources, Inc. (Resources), its affiliated marketing 
company, the capacity in the Hopkinton LNG facility that is not 
required by Hopkinton to serve Commonwealth on a firm basis. Resources 
would use the leased capacity to support its own natural gas marketing 
activities and would not provide any LNG storage, liquefaction, or 
vaporization services to third parties.

Existing Facilities

    The Hopkinton LNG Plant was constructed in 1967 and consists of 
natural gas liquefaction, LNG storage, and LNG revaporization 
facilities. The plant was designed to supply Commonwealth's gas utility 
needs by liquefying and storing natural gas in the summer for 
revaporization during peak periods in the winter heating season. The 
Hopkinton LNG Plant has a design liquefaction rate of 17 million cubic 
feet per day (MMCFD) and a sendout capacity of 240 MMCFD. The LNG is 
stored in three 290,000-barrel LNG storage tanks.
    The Hopkinton LNG Plant receives gas for liquefaction and storage 
through the facilities of Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Although not used to 
date, the plant is also able to receive gas through the facilities of 
Algonquin Gas Transmission. Additionally, the plant can receive LNG by 
tanker truck.

Proposed Facilities

    Hopkinton does not propose any new facilities or any modifications 
to existing facilities. The Hopkinton LNG Plant would continue to be 
operated and maintained by APCI on behalf of Hopkinton.
    The location of the Hopkinton LNG Plant is shown in appendix 1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available from the 
Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 
First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 208-1371. 
Copies of the appendices were sent to all those receiving this 
notice in the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    No additional land is required since Hopkinton does not propose any 
additions or modifications to the existing facility.

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the 
Commission to take into account the environmental impacts that could 
result from an action whenever it considers the issuance of a 
certificate of public convenience and necessity. NEPA also requires us 
to discover and address concerns the public may have about proposals. 
We call this ``scoping''. The main goal of the scoping process is to 
focus the analysis in the EA on the important environmental issues. By 
this Notice of Intent, the Commission requests public comments on the 
scope of the issues it will address in the EA. All comments received 
are considered during the preparation of the EA. State and local 
government representatives are encouraged to notify their constituents 
of this proposed action and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern.
    Because the LNG plant is an existing facility and no new additions 
or modifications are proposed, the EA will focus on the operation of 
the proposed project, the cryogenic design aspects of the plant, and 
public safety including LNG trucking.
    Prior to finalizing the EA, the FERC staff will meet with 
representatives of Hopkinton (time and location to be noticed at a 
later date) to conduct a cryogenic design and engineering review of the 
LNG facility at Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
    Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending 
on the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be 
published and mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, public 
interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners, 
newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's official service list for 
this proceeding. A comment period will be allotted for review if the EA 
is published. We will consider all comments on the EA before we 
recommend that the Commission approve or not approve the project.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by sending a letter addressing your 
specific comments or concerns about the project. You should focus on 
the potential environmental effects of the proposal, alternatives to 
the proposal, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impact. The 
more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. Please 
follow the instructions below to ensure that your comments are received 
and properly recorded:
     Address your letter to: Lois Cashell, Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., Washington, DC 20426;
     Reference Docket No. CP97-156-000;
     Send a copy of your letter to: Mr. James Dashukewich, EA 
Project Manager, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., 
NE., Room 71-44, Washington, DC 20426; and
     Mail your comments so that they are received in 
Washington, DC on or before February 14, 1997.

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the proceeding or an ``intervenor''. 
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of 
case-related

[[Page 3890]]

Commission documents and filings by other intervenors. Likewise, each 
intervenor must provide copies of its filings to all other parties. If 
you want to become an intervenor, you must file a motion to intervene 
according to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure (18 CFR 385.214) (see appendix 2).
    Filing of timely motions to intervene in this proceeding should be 
made on or before February 14, 1997. Once this date has passed, parties 
seeking to file late interventions must show good cause, as required by 
section 385.214(b)(3), why this time limitation should be waived. 
Environmental issues have been viewed as good cause for late 
intervention. You do not need intervenor status to have your scoping 
comments considered.
    If you are interested in obtaining detailed maps of this project, 
or procedural information, contact Mr. James Dashukewich, EA Project 
Manager, at (202) 208-0117.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-1829 Filed 1-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M