[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53997-53998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-22712]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP00-14-000]


Buccaneer Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.; Notice of Availability of 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Buccaneer Gas 
Pipeline Project

August 30, 2000.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) has prepared a 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the natural gas pipeline 
facilities proposed by Buccaneer Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. 
(Buccaneer) in the above-referenced docket.
    The DEIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that approval of the 
proposed project, with the appropriate mitigating measures as 
recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact. The DEIS 
also evaluates alternatives to the proposal, including system 
alternatives.
    The DEIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following facilities:
     4.0 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline in Mobile County, 
Alabama;
     406.9 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline from the 
shoreline of Mobile County, Alabama, across the Gulf of Mexico, to the 
shoreline of Pasco County, Florida;
     125.1 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline in Pasco, Polk, 
Osceola, and Orange Counties, Florida;
     142.3 miles of 16- to 30-inch-diameter lateral pipeline in 
Pasco, Polk, Hardee, Lake, Osceola, Orange, and Brevard Counties, 
Florida;
     1 mainline meter station in Mobile County, Alabama and 13 
meter and regulating stations in Pasco, Polk, Hardee, Lake, Osceola, 
Orange, and Brevard Counties, Florida; and
     a new 75,000 horsepower compressor station in Mobile 
County, Alabama and a new liquids separation facility in Pasco County, 
Florida.
    The purpose of the Buccaneer Pipeline Project is to provide natural 
gas transportation service for up to 900 million cubic feet per day 
(MMcf/d) of natural gas from supply areas in Alabama, across the Gulf 
of Mexico, for delivery to new markets in central and eastern Florida. 
The primary market is for natural gas-fueled electric generation plants 
that are needed to meet the forecasted substantial increases in 
consumption in Florida driven by projected population growth over the 
next 10 to 20 years.

Comment Procedures and Public Meetings

    Any person wishing to comment on the DEIS may do so. To ensure 
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is 
important that we receive your comments before the date specified 
below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your 
comments are received in time and properly recorded:

[[Page 53998]]

     Send two copies of your comments to: 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 
Gas 2, PJ-11.2;
     Reference Docket No. CP00-14-000; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before October 24, 2000.
    In addition to written comments, we will hold public meetings in 
the project area to receive comments on the DEIS. All meetings will 
begin at 7:00 p.m., and are scheduled as follows:

Date and Location

    September 26, 2000--Bayou La Batre Community Center, 12745 Padgett 
Switch Road, Bayou La Batre, Alabama, (334) 824-7918.
    September 27, 2000--Community Center, U.S. Highway 41, Land O' 
Lakes, Florida, (813) 929-1229.
    October 3, 2000--Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer 
Services, 500 3rd Street, NW., Winter Haven, Florida, (863) 291-5820.
    October 4, 2000--Holiday Inn, Bayhill Ballroom, 2145 E. Irlo 
Bronson Memorial Hwy., Kissimmee, Florida, (407) 846-4646.
    October 5, 2000--City of Titusville, Council Chambers, 55 South 
Washington Ave., Titusville, Florida, (321) 383-5774.
    Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend and 
present oral comments on environmental impact described in the DEIS. 
Transcripts of the meetings will be prepared.
    After these comments are reviewed, any significant new issues are 
investigated, and modifications are made to the DEIS, a Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) will be published and distributed 
by the staff. The FEIS will contain the staff's responses to timely 
comments filed on the DEIS.
    Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to 
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person may file a 
motion to intervene on the basis of the Commission Staff's DEIS (see 
Title 18 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 385.214). You do not need 
intervenor status to have your comments considered.
    All intervenors, agencies, elected officials, local governments, 
special interest groups, libraries, media, and anyone providing written 
comments on the DEIS will receive a copy of the FEIS. If you do not 
wish to comment on the DEIS but wish to receive a copy of the FEIS, you 
must write to the Secretary of the Commission indicating this request.
    The DEIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and is 
available for distribution and public inspection at: Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 
888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-1371.
    A limited number of copies are available from the Public Reference 
and Files Maintenance Branch identified above. In addition, copies of 
the DEIS have been mailed to Federal, State and local agencies, public 
interest groups, individuals who have requested the DEIS, newspapers, 
and parties to this proceeding.
    Additional information about the proposed project is available from 
Paul McKee in 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 the docket numbers. For assistance with access to 
RIMS, the RIMS helpline can be reached at (202) 208-2222. Access to the 
texts of formal documents issued by the Commission with regard to these 
dockets, such as orders and notices, is also available on the FERC 
website using the ``CIPS'' link. for assistance with access to CIPS, 
the CIPS helpline can be reached at (202) 208-2474.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-22712 Filed 9-5-00; 8:45 am]
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