[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 223 (Monday, November 19, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57959-57961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-28786]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP02-6-000]


Colorado Interstate Gas Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Raton Basin 2002 Expansion 
Project, and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

November 9, 2001.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of Colorado Interstate Gas Company's 
(CIG) proposed Raton Basin 2002 Expansion Project in Las Animas and 
Baca Counties, Colorado, and Cimarron County, Oklahoma.\1\ The project 
would involve the construction and operation of about 68 miles of 
pipeline, in three looping segments.\2\ 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.
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    \1\ CIG's application was filed under section 7(c) of the 
Natural Gas Act and part 157 of the Commission's regulations on 
October 5, 2001.
    \2\ A loop is a segment of pipeline installed adjacent to an 
existing pipeline and connected to it on both ends. The loop allows 
more gas to be moved through that segment of the pipeline system.
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    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted 
by a CIG 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 prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' should have been 
attached to the project notice CIG provided to landowners. This fact 
sheet addresses a number of typically asked questions, including the 
use of eminent domain and how to participate in the Commission's 
proceedings. It is available for viewing on the FERC Internet web site 
(http://www.ferc.gov).
    This Notice of Intent (NOI) is being sent to landowners along CIG's 
proposed route; Federal, state, and local government agencies; national 
elected

[[Page 57960]]

officials; regional environmental and public interest groups; Indian 
tribes that might attach religious and cultural significance to 
historic properties in the area of potential effects; local libraries 
and newspapers; and the Commission's list of parties to the proceeding. 
Government representatives are encouraged to notify their constituents 
of this proposed action and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern. Additionally, with this NOI we are asking Federal, state, 
local, and tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise 
with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the EA. These agencies may choose to participate once 
they have evaluated CIG's proposal relative to their agencies' 
responsibilities. Agencies who would like to request cooperating status 
should follow the instructions for filing comments described below.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    CIG seeks to meet the demand for increased coal-bed methane 
production in the Raton Basin by expanding its transportation 
facilities out of this area. To accomplish this, CIG would construct 
and operate the following facilities:
     200B Trinidad East Loop--25.6 miles of 16-inch-diameter 
pipeline in Las Animas County, Colorado;
     200B Kim East Loop--28.1 miles of 16-inch-diameter 
pipeline in Las Animas and Baca Counties, Colorado; and
     3B Keyes South Loop--14.4 miles of 20-inch-diameter 
pipeline in Cimarron County, Oklahoma.
    The 200B Trinidad East Loop and the 200B Kim East Loop would be 
adjacent to CIG's existing 16-inch-diameter 200A Campo Lateral. The 3B 
Keyes South Loop would be adjacent to CIG's existing 20-inch-diameter 
3A Campo Lateral. For the majority of the routes, the loops would be 
spaced about 35 feet from the existing pipelines. To avoid rugged 
topography, the loops would deviate from the existing pipelines for a 
total of 3.2 miles (about 5 percent of the total length of the 
project).
    CIG would install 1 block valve along the 200B Trinidad East Loop, 
2 block valves along the 200B Kim East Loop, and 1 block valve along 
the 3B Keyes South Loop. These block valves would be within the 
construction right-of-way for the pipelines. The nominal construction 
right-of-way for the loops would be 85-feet-wide.
    As part of this project CIG also intends to expand its existing 
Dumas Meter Station in Moore County, Texas, and expand its existing 
Baker Meter Station in Texas County, Oklahoma. However, the expansion 
of the two meter stations would be done under CIG's existing blanket 
certificate authority. In addition, under the authority of section 
2.55(a) of the Commission's regulations, CIG would install cathodic 
protection equipment, and pig launching and receiving facilities at the 
origin and terminus of each loop segment.
    The project would allow CIG to increase the capacity of its Raton 
Basin System by about 57.8 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. 
The general location of CIG's proposed facilities is shown on the map 
attached as appendix 1.\3\
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    \3\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available on the 
Commission's website at the ``RIMS'' link or from the Commission's 
Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street, NE, 
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 208-1371. For 
instructions on connecting to RIMS refer to the last page of this 
notice. Copies of the appendices were sent to all those receiving 
this notice in the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of CIG proposed facilities would affect a total of 
about 907 acres of land. About 827 acres would be needed for pipeline 
construction, including 6 staging areas, and 88 temporary extra work 
space areas outside of the nominal construction right-of-way. About 119 
acres of the construction work area would be existing rights-of-way. In 
addition, 6 pipe yards, totaling about 80, acres would be used. Also, 
CIG would use 79 existing roads for access.
    Following construction, about 413 acres would be retained as 
permanent right-of-way. The remaining 494 acres of temporary work space 
would be restored and allowed to revert to its former use.

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires 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 
\4\ 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 NOI, 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.
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    \4\ ''Us,'' ``we,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the FERC's Office of Energy Projects.
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    Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. We will 
also evaluate possible alternatives to the proposed action, or portions 
of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen or avoid 
impacts on various environmental resources.
    Depending on the comments received during the scoping process, the 
EA may be published and mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, 
elected officials, affected landowners, regional public interest 
groups, Indian tribes, local newspapers and 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.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
construction and operation of the proposed project. We have already 
identified a number of issues that we think deserve attention based on 
a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and the environmental 
information provided by CIG. This preliminary list of issues may be 
changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     Geology and Soils
     Crossing soils with high erosion and poor revegetation 
potential.
     Crossing lands set-aside for the Conservation Reserve 
Program.
     Water Resources and Wetlands
     Crossing 4 perennial streams.
     Crossing 6 wetlands, totaling 238 feet.
     Vegetation
     Crossing about 45 miles of short grass prairie.
    --Crossing about 1 mile of juniper woodlands.
     Threatened and Endangered Species
    --Flathead chub occurs in 2 streams to be crossed.
    --Other listed, candidate, or sensitive species in the project area 
include the bald eagle, Eskimo curlew, black-tailed prairie dog, and 
lesser prairie chicken.
     Cultural Resources
    --Potential impacts on 22 cultural resources.
    --Consultations with Native Americans concerning sacred sites.
     Land Use
    --Crossing about 11 miles of agricultural land.
    --Crossing 6.6 miles of the Comanche National Grasslands.

[[Page 57961]]

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 
or 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 an original and two copies of your letter to: David 
P. Boergers, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the 
Gas/Hydro Branch, PJ-11.3;
     Reference Docket No. CP02-6-000; and
     Submit your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before December 14, 2001.
    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 Web site at http://www.ferc.gov 
under the ``e-Filing'' link and 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.''
    Due to recent events, we cannot guarantee that we will receive mail 
on a timely basis from the U.S. Postal Service, and we do not know how 
long this situation will continue. However, we continue to receive 
filings from private mail delivery services, including messenger 
services in a reliable manner. The Commission encourages electronic 
filing of any comments, interventions or protests to this proceeding. 
We will include all comments that we receive within a reasonable time 
frame in our environmental analysis of this project.
    Everyone who responds to this NOI or comments throughout the EA 
process will be retained on our environmental mailing list. If you do 
not want to send comments at this time but still want to remain on our 
mailing list, please return the Information Request (appendix 3). If 
you do not return the Information Request, you will be taken off the 
mailing list.

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.
    Affected landowners and parties with environmental concerns may be 
granted intervenor status upon showing good cause by stating that they 
have a clear and direct interest in this proceeding which would not be 
adequately represented by any other parties. You do not need intervenor 
status to have your environmental comments considered.
    Additional information about the proposed project is available from 
the Commission's Office of External Affairs at (202) 208-1088 or on the 
FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) 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 Internet Web 
site provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by the 
Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings. From the FERC 
Internet Web site, 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.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 01-28786 Filed 11-16-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P