[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 244 (Monday, December 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70400-70401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33674]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP98-797-000]


Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C.; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Veazie Lateral 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

December 15, 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 facilities, about 1.1 miles of 12-inch-diameter pipeline, valves, 
and a metering facility, proposed in the Veazie Lateral 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. The application and other supplemental filings in this 
docket are available for viewing on the FERC Internet website 
(www.ferc.fed.us). Click on the ``RIMS'' link, select ``Docket #'' from 
the RIMS Menu, and follow the instructions.
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    \1\ Martimes' 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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    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted 
by a pipeline company representative about the acquisition of an 
easement to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. 
The pipeline company would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 
agreement. However, if the project is approved by the Commission, that 
approval conveys with it the right of eminent domain. Therefore, if 
easement negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the pipeline 
company could initiate condemnation proceedings in accordance with 
state law. A fact sheet addressing a number of typically asked 
questions, including the use of eminent domain, is attached to this 
notice as 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, N.E., Washington, D.C. 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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Summary of the Proposed Project

    Maritime & Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C. (Maritimes) wants to expand 
the capacity of its facilities in Maine to transport up to 105,000 
Dekartherms per day of natural gas to a new electric generation 
facility (Maine Independence Station). Maritimes seeks authority to 
construct and operate the following facilities in Penobscot County, 
Maine:
     1. miles of 12-inch-diameter pipeline;
     a side valve and remote blow-off facility; and
     a metering facility.
    The location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 3. If 
you are interested in obtaining procedural information, please write to 
the Secretary of the Commission.

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the proposed facilities would require about 11.8 
acres of land. Following construction, about 0.2 acre would be 
maintained as new above

[[Page 70401]]

ground facility sites (valve, remote blow-off, and metering facility). 
In addition 4.3 acres would be retained as permanent right-of-way. The 
remaining 7.3 acres of land would be restored and allowed to revert to 
its former use.

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that 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.
    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general 
headings:
     geology and soils
     water resources, fisheries, and wetlands
     vegetation and wildlife
     endangered and threatened species
     public safety
     land use
     cultural resources
     air quality and noise
     hazardous waste
    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 on pages 4 and 5 of 
this notice.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Maritimes. This preliminary 
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     One federally listed threatened species may occur in the 
proposed project area.
     The Penobscot River would be crossing by a directional 
drill.
    Also, we have made a preliminary decision to not address the 
impacts of the nonjurisdiction facilities. We will briefly describe 
their location and status in the EA.

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/routes), 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., N.E., 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the 
Environmental Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.2;
     Reference Docket No. CP98-797-000; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before January 18, 1999.

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 2). 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 or on the FERC website (www.ferc.fed.us) 
using the ``RIMS'' link to information in this docket number.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-33674 Filed 12-18-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M