[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 106 (Friday, June 1, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29787-29788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-13730]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP00-233-003]


Southern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Petition To Amend Order 
Issuing Certificate and Approving Abandonment

May 25, 2001.
    Take notice that on May 18, 2001, Southern Natural Gas Company 
(Southern), AmSouth-Sonat Tower, 1900 Fifth Avenue North, Birmingham, 
Alabama 35203, in Docket No. CP00-233-003, filed an application 
pursuant to Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the Commission's 
Rules and Regulations, for a petition to amend an order, all as more 
fully set forth in the application which is on file with the Commission 
and open to public inspection. The filing may be viewed on the web at 
http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call 202-208-2222 for 
assistance).
    Southern states that it is making this petition in order to amend 
the Order Issuing Certificate and Approving Abandonment (Certificate 
Order) issued in this proceeding on March 15, 2001.\1\ Southern states 
that the Certificate Order authorized the construction and operation of 
the facilities commonly referred to as Southern's South System 
Expansion Project. Southern states that it seeks approval of a change 
in the size of certain of the loop pipelines to be added to Southern's 
South System. Southern states that it proposes to substitute 36-inch 
pipe for certain of the 30-inch pipe authorized in the Certificate 
Order. As indicated by Southern, this change will reduce the estimated 
cost of the South System Expansion Project by $1.1 million and will 
reduce the miles of new pipeline required for the project by 
approximately eight (8) miles.
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    \1\ Southern Natural Gas Company, 94 FERC para. 61,297 (2001).
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    More specifically, Southern states that it is requesting the 
Commission issue an order amending the Certificate Order changing the 
pipe size from 30-inch O.D. to 36-inch O.D. for the indicated pipeline 
loop segments and changing their lengths as follows:

    Loop 1: 4.75 miles of pipeline in Clarke County, Mississippi 
between Mileposts (MP) 67.23 and MP 71.98 (Phase I) and 3.95 miles 
of pipeline in Clarke County, Mississippi, between MP 71.98 and MP 
75.93 (Phase II).
    Loop 2: 3.56 miles of pipeline in Sumter County, Alabama, 
between MP 102.85 and MP 106.41 (Phase I) and 9.33 miles of

[[Page 29788]]

pipeline in Sumter County, Alabama, between MP 106.41 and MP 115.74 
(Phase II).
    Loop 4: 5.99 miles of pipeline in Dallas and Autauga Counties, 
Alabama, between MP 185.16 and 191.15 (Phase I) and 6.71 miles of 
pipeline in Autauga County, Alabama, between MP 191.15 and 197.87 
(Phase II). Also, the 12-inch pipeline authorized to be abandoned 
and removed to facilitate the installation of the new pipeline will 
change to 5.99 miles between MP 185.16 and 191.15 (Phase I) and 4.09 
miles between MP 193.16 and MP 194.77; MP 195.09 and MP 197.27; and 
MP 197.57 and MP 197.87 (Phase II).

    Any questions regarding the application should be directed to R. 
David Hendrickson, Assistant Secretary, Southern Natural Gas Company, 
P.O. Box 2563, Birmingham, Alabama 35202-2563, call (205) 325-7114.
    There are two ways to become involved in the Commission's review of 
this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by 
becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or 
before June 15, 2001, file with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, a motion to 
intervene in accordance with the requirements of the Commission's Rules 
of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 385.211) and the 
Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person obtaining party 
status will be placed on the service list maintained by the Secretary 
of the Commission and will receive copies of all documents filed by the 
applicant and by all other parties. A party must submit 14 copies of 
filings made with the Commission and must mail a copy to the applicant 
and to every other party in the proceeding. Only parties to the 
proceeding can ask for court review of Commission orders in the 
proceeding.
    However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have 
comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with 
the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and 
two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project. 
The Commission will consider these comments in determining the 
appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will 
not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. The Commission's 
rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to the project 
provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties directly 
involved in the protest.
    Persons who wish to comment only on the environmental review of 
this project should submit an original and two copies of their comments 
to the Secretary of the Commission. Environmental commenters will be 
placed on the Commission's environmental mailing list, will receive 
copies of the environmental documents, and will be notified of meetings 
associated with the Commission's environmental review process. 
Environmental commenters will not be required to serve copies of filed 
documents on all other parties. However, the non-party commentors will 
not receive copies of all documents filed by other parties or issued by 
the Commission (except for the mailing of environmental documents 
issued by the Commission) and will not have the right to seek court 
review of the Commission's final order.
    The Commission may issue a preliminary determination on non-
environmental issues prior to the completion of its review of the 
environmental aspects of the project. This preliminary determination 
typically considers such issues as the need for the project and its 
economic effect on existing customers of the applicant, on other 
pipelines in the area, and on landowners and communities. For example, 
the Commission considers the extent to which the applicant may need to 
exercise eminent domain to obtain rights-of-way for the proposed 
project and balances that against the non-environmental benefits to be 
provided by the project. Therefore, if a person has comments on 
community and landowner impacts from this proposal, it is important 
either to file comments or to intervene as early in the process as 
possible.
    Comments, interventions and protests may be filed electronically 
via the internet in lieu of paper. See, 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and 
the instructions on the Commission's web site at http://www.ferc.fed.us/efi/doorbell.htm.
    If the Commission decides to set the application for a formal 
hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, the Commission will issue 
another notice describing that process. At the end of the Commission's 
review process, a final Commission order approving or denying a 
certificate will be issued.

David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-13730 Filed 5-31-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M