[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57056-57058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28464]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP02-17-000]


Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation; Notice of Application

November 7, 2001.
    Take notice that on October 26, 2001, Texas Eastern Transmission 
Corporation (Texas Eastern), 5400 Westheimer Court, Houston, Texas 
77056-5310, filed in Docket No. CP02-17-000 an application pursuant to 
Sections 7(b) and 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act for approval for it (i) 
to construct, own, operate, and maintain one 5,000 horsepower electric 
compressor unit at a new compressor station in Franklin Township, 
Somerset County, New Jersey, (ii) to uprate the maximum allowable 
operating pressure of certain main line pipelines in Hunterdon and 
Somerset Counties, New Jersey, (iii) to implement a new lateral line 
only transportation service (Rate Schedule MLS-1), (iv) to establish an 
incremental maximum recourse rate for service to New Jersey Natural Gas 
Company (New Jersey Natural) on its existing Freehold Lateral under the 
new Rate Schedule MLS-1, and (v) abandon certain authorizations in 
order to amend certain existing firm contractual agreements between 
itself and New Jersey Natural to reflect the addition of the proposed 
new service. Copies of this filing are on file with the Commission and 
are available for public inspection. This filing may also be viewed on 
the web at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``RIMS'' link, select 
``Docket#'' and follow the instructions (call 202-208-2222 for 
assistance).
    Texas Eastern's requests are all more fully set forth in the 
application which is on file with the Commission and open to public 
inspection. This filing may be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.fed.us/online/rims.htm (call 202-208-2222 for assistance). Any 
questions regarding the application should be directed to Steven E. 
Tillman, Director, Regulatory Affairs, at (713) 627-5113, (713) 627-
5947 (Fax), Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation, P.O. Box 1642, 
Houston, Texas 77251-1642.
    Texas Eastern respectfully requests that the Commission issue a 
preliminary determination on the non-environmental aspects of this 
application by January 23, 2002, and a final certificate on or before 
June 1, 2002. Texas Eastern says this is needed to allow it to complete 
construction of the proposed facilities to meet the November 1, 2002 
in-service date requested by New Jersey Natural.
    Texas Eastern says New Jersey Natural has requested this service to 
meet two key business needs: firm hourly swing capability and increased 
delivery pressure. Texas Eastern says New Jersey Natural requires these 
additional services due to a continuing increase in service demand in 
its service area and significant daily load swings because New Jersey 
Natural has been experiencing the addition of about 12,500 service 
customers each year and projects that this growth will continue or 
increase in the future.
    The proposed Rate Schedule MLS-1, included in Exhibit P of the 
application, will be available to any party requesting firm or 
interruptible transportation service on a portion of Texas Eastern's 
system designated as a Market Lateral. The proposed service will be 
provided as a ``lateral line only'' service with no transportation 
rights, secondary or otherwise, other than on the designated Market 
Lateral. The MLS-1 service will allow a firm contracting customer to 
designate in the MLS-1 Service Agreement the Maximum Daily Quantity 
(MDQ) and Maximum Hourly Quantity to be delivered, not to exceed the 
customer's MDQ for the Gas Day. A firm customer will be required to pay

[[Page 57057]]

for any incremental facilities required to provide the customer's 
requested service. Firm customers under Rate Schedule MLS-1 will have 
secondary and capacity release rights only on the Market Lateral. The 
firm hourly rights will be applicable only as to flows between the 
Primary Receipt Point and Primary Delivery Point(s) on the Market 
Lateral.
    The proposed MLS-1 service to New Jersey Natural for the Freehold 
Lateral is contingent on the construction of the proposed incremental 
facilities which will provide the additional capacity for the 
additional line pack necessary for New Jersey Natural's requested firm 
hourly swing service. New Jersey Natural will have non-firm hourly 
rights at other points on the Freehold Lateral. Additionally, Texas 
Eastern says that when New Jersey Natural is not using the full 
capacity, spare capacity will be available to existing Texas Eastern 
customers for utilization on a secondary or interruptible basis. This 
will provide operational flexibility for customers other than those 
taking service under Rate Schedule MLS-1.
    Texas Eastern says that the proposal Project will not negatively 
affect in any way service to other Texas Eastern mainline or Freehold 
Lateral customers. The rates for New Jersey Natural's existing mainline 
firm service agreements will remain the same and is not affected by 
this proposal. The maximum recourse rate for New Jersey Natural's 
service pursuant to Rate Schedule MLS-1 on the Freehold Lateral is a 
100 percent incremental reservation rate of $ 0.661 per Dth. This rate 
is based on proposed incremental facility costs and includes the cost 
of the additional initial line pack for the requested pack and draft 
service. Texas Eastern says it has used its current system depreciation 
and rate of return to derive this incremental rate.
    Texas Eastern says that the proposed facilities and their proposed 
locations are critical to the proposed new service New Jersey Natural. 
Texas Eastern proposes to construct, install, and operate a new 
compressor station located in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New 
Jersey consisting of one 5,000 HP electric compressor unit and 
appurtenant piping, buildings, measurement and communication facilities 
at the head of the Freehold Lateral. The compressor unit will allow 
Texas Eastern to deliver gas to New Jersey Natural at a higher delivery 
pressure (720 psig). Also, the compressor and appurtenant facilities 
will be used as a means to transfer the mainline portion of the line 
pack into the Freehold Lateral for delivery to New Jersey Natural 
during the firm hourly swing cycle. Texas Eastern says that New Jersey 
Natural has evaluated the possibility of adding compression directly to 
its system, and has informed Texas Eastern that this is not a viable 
option in achieving the same desired benefits.
    Texas Eastern also proposes to uprate the maximum allowable 
operating pressure (MAOP) to 1,170 psig on its Lambertville compressor 
discharge piping and its mainline piping east of Lambertville on 36-
inch/Line Number 20 and 42 inch/Line Number 38 for about 14 miles. The 
current MAOP on this section of pipeline (975 psig) is limited by five 
road crossings in Hunterdon County and Somerset County, New Jersey 
which Texas Eastern proposes to replace and upgrade. Replacement of 
these road crossings with higher-grade pipeline will allow Texas 
Eastern to operate this portion of the mainline facilities at the 
higher MAOP. In addition, two pressure limiting devices (PLDs) will be 
installed immediately downstream of the uprated pipelines. The PLDs 
will be installed to control the gas pressure downstream of the uprated 
segments on both pipelines.
    Texas Eastern says the construction and operation of the facilities 
is not expected to have any significant adverse impacts on the quality 
of human health or the environment and that the project was designed to 
minimize environmental impacts. Texas Eastern says that the proposed 
facilities will be designed, constructed, installed, inspected, tested, 
operated and maintained in accordance with all applicable safety 
standards and plans for maintenance and inspection as prescribed by the 
U.S. Department of Transportation.
    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 November 30, 2001, file with the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 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 Natural Gas Act (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 appellate court review of 
Commission orders in the proceeding.
    However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have their 
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 comments 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 commenters 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. 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. If the Commission decides to set the application for a formal 
hearing

[[Page 57058]]

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.
    Comments, protests and interventions 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 website under the ``e-Filing'' 
link.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-28464 Filed 11-13-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P