[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15233-15234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6522]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP98-150-000, CP98-150-002, and Docket No. CP98-151-000]


Millennium Pipeline Company, L.P.; Columbia Gas Transmission 
Company; Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Proposed Millennium Pipeline Project

March 12, 2001.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (SDEIS) on the natural gas pipeline facilities proposed by 
Millennium Pipeline Company, L.P. (Millennium) and Columbia Gas 
Transmission Company in the above-referenced dockets.
    The SDEIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that if the Commission 
certificates the proposed Millennium Pipeline Project with all the 
recommended mitigation measures, the environmental impacts associated 
with constructing and operating the amended portions of the proposed 
project discussed in Part I of this SDEIS would have limited adverse 
environmental impact. Part II of this SDEIS provides analyses of a 
number of other aspects of the proposed project, and we note that 
additional mitigation measures would need to be included in the 
Commission certificate to address these aspects of the proposal. The 
SDEIS also evaluates alternatives to the proposal, including system 
alternatives. We note that other issues and environmental impacts were 
previously identified in our draft environmental impact statement 
(DEIS) issued on April 16, 1999. This SDEIS addresses only the issues 
where important information about the originally proposed Millennium 
Pipeline Project has been updated since we issued the DEIS.
    Part I of the SDEIS addresses the potential environmental effects 
form construction and operation of the following proposed facilities:
     22.7 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline in Westchester 
County, New York; and
     Five mainline valves.
    Part II of the SDEIS addresses certain issues identified in 
comments we received on the DEIS, and includes issues associated with:
     The black dirt area in Orange County, New York;
     Water resources (e.g., ground and surface waters, Lake 
Erie, the Hudson River, and Catskill Aqueduct);
     Coastal zone management consistency;
     Route alternaties at the Hudson River; and
     Numerous specific route variations.
    The purpose of the Millennium Pipeline Project would be to 
transport up to 700,000 decatherms per day and provide firm natural gas 
transportation service for nine shippers beginning on November 1, 2002.
    The SDEIS will be used in the regulatory decision-making process at 
the FERC and may be presented as

[[Page 15234]]

evidentiary material in formal hearings at the FERC. While the period 
for filing interventions in this case has expired, motions to intervene 
out-of-time can be filed with the FERC in accordance with the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures, 18 CFR 385.214(d). 
Further, anyone desiring to file a protest with the FERC should do so 
in accordance with 18 CFR 385.211.

Comment Procedures and Public Meeting

    Any person wishing to comment on the SDEIS 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:
     Send an original and two copies of your comments to: 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 
Group 2, PJ11.2;
     Reference Docket No. CP98-150 et al.; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before April 30, 2001.
    Comments, protests and interventions may also be filed 
electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. See 18 CFR 
385.2001(a)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's web site at 
http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm under the link to the User's 
Guide. Before you can file comments you will need to create an account 
which can be created by clicking on ``Login to File'' and then ``New 
User Account.''
    In addition to written comments, we will hold a public meeting in 
the project area to receive comments on the SDEIS. Interested groups 
and individuals are encouraged to attend and present oral comments on 
the environmental impact described in the SDEIS. Transcripts of the 
meeting will be prepared.
    The public meeting will begin at 7 p.m., and is scheduled as 
follows:
    April 9, 2001; Ossining High School, 29 South Highland Ave., 
Ossining, New York 10562, 914-941-7700.
    After these comments are reviewed, any significant new issues are 
investigated, and modifications are made to the SDEIS, 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 SDEIS.
    Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to 
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to 
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene 
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedures (18 CFR 385.214).
    Anyone may intervene in this proceeding based on this SDEIS. You 
must file your request to intervene as specified above. You do not need 
intervenor status to have your comments considered.
    The SDEIS 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 SDEIS have been mailed to Federal, state and local agencies, public 
interest groups, individuals who have requested the SDEIS, newspapers, 
and parties to this proceeding.
    In addition, this notice of availability of the SDEIS will also 
serve as a supplemental public Notice for the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers for its Application for Permit pursuant to Section 10 of the 
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) and Section 404 of the 
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344). The original Public Notice which 
described the proposed pipeline from Canada to New York is available 
for review at both the New York (www.nan.army.mil) and Buffalo 
(www.lrb.army.mil) District's web sites.
    If you wish to provide written comments to the Corps of Engineers 
on the subject activity, please provide them within 30 days of this NOA 
to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District Regulatory Branch, 
Albany Field Office, 1 Bond Street, Troy, New York 12180, Attn: Heidi 
Firstencel, Permit Application No. 1999-00640.
    Additional information about the proposed project is available from 
the Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (202) 208-1088 or on 
the FERC Intenet website (www.ferc.fed.us) using the ``RIMS'' link to 
information in this docket number. Click on the ``RIMS'' link, select 
``Docket #'' from the RIMS Menu, and follow the instructions. For 
assistance with access to RIMS, the RIMS helpline can be reached at 
(202) 208-2222.
    Similarly, the ``CIPS'' link on the FERC Intenet website provides 
access to the texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such 
as orders, notices, and rulemakings. From the FERC Internet website, 
click on the ``CIPS'' link, select ``Docket #'' from the CIPS menu, and 
follow the instructions. For assistance with access to CIPS, the CIPS 
helpline can be reached at (202) 208-2474.

David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-6522 Filed 3-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M