[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 154 (Tuesday, August 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42845-42846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21409]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP98-596-000]


Columbia Gulf Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
an Environmental Assessment for Columbia Gulf Transmission Company's 
Proposed Mainline 99 Project and Request for Comments on Environmental 
Issues

August 5, 1998.
    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 construction and operation of 
the proposed Mainline 99 Project.\1\ This EA will be used by the 
Commission in its decision-making process to determine whether the 
project is in the public convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ Columbia Gulf Transmission Company's application was filed 
with the Commission 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

    Columbia Gulf Transmission Company (Columbia Gulf) proposed to 
increase the horsepower at their Corinth and Inverness Compressor 
Stations in Alcorn County and Humphreys County, Mississippi, 
respectively. Columbia Gulf also proposes to increase the horsepower at 
its Hampshire Compressor Station in Maury County, Tennessee. A new 
compressor unit of greater horsepower would replace one existing 
compressor unit at each station. A total of 11,014-hp of compression 
would be added to Columbia Gulf's system which would allow an 
additional 96,555 Dth/day.
    The Corinth and Inverness Compressor Stations each have a 12,050-hp 
rated Pratt & Whitney, GG3C-1 turbine and an Ingersoll-Rand IR-JP-125-
30'' centrifugal compressor that would be replaced with a 17,282-hp 
rated Solar Turbines Incorporated (Solar) Titan 130-T18000S turbine 
driver with a C652 centrifugal compressor and appurtenances.
    The Hampshire Compressor Station's 14,000 HP rated Pratt & Whitney, 
GG3C-4 power turbine, with a Clark 70-01-0-48'' centrifugal compressor 
would be replaced with a 14,550 HP rated Solar Mars 100-T15000S turbine 
driver with a C651 centrifugal compressor and appurtenances.
    The construction of all new units would be within the existing 
compressor station sites.
    The location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 2.\2\ 
If you are interested in obtaining procedural information, please write 
to the Secretary of the Commission.
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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

    The replacement project would not require any additional land 
outside the existing compressor station facilities and all earth 
disturbance and construction activities would take place entirely 
within Columbia Gulf's existing properties at all three compressor 
stations. The total area of earth disturbance would be approximately 
0.5 acres at the Corinth and Inverness compressor stations and 0.75 
acres at the Hampshire Compressor Station.

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

[[Page 42846]]

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 the 
proposed action and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern.
    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general 
headings:
     Air quality and noise impacts associated with construction 
and operation.
    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the proposed project 
or portions of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen 
or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
    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 make 
our recommendations to the Commission.
    To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the 
instructions in the public participation section below.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, your 
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission. 
You should focus on the potential environmental effects of the 
proposal, alternatives to the proposal (including alternative 
locations), and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impact. The 
more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. Please 
carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your comments are 
received in time and properly recorded:
     Send two copies of your letter to: David P. Boergers, 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE, 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the 
Environmental Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.
     Reference Docket No. CP98-596-000; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before September 4, 1998.

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the proceeding known as an 
``intervenor''. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process. 
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of 
case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors. 
Likewise, each intervenor must provide 14 copies of its filings to the 
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all 
other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. 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 3). Only intervenors have the 
right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
    The date for filing timely motions to intervene in this proceeding 
has passed. Therefore, parties now 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 environmental comments considered.
    Additional information about the proposed project is available from 
Mr. Paul McKee of the Commission's Office of External Affairs at (202) 
208-1088.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-21409 Filed 8-10-98; 8:45 am]
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