[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2874-2875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1461]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP02-9-000]


Dominion Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Line 280 Replacement Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

January 15, 2002.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of the Line 280 Replacement Project 
involving construction, operation, and abandonment of facilities by 
Dominion Transmission, Inc. (DTI) in Pennsylvania.\1\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ DTI's application was filed with the Commission under 
Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the Commission's 
regulations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted 
by a pipeline company 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?'' was attached to the 
project notice DTI 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 website (www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    DTI proposes to abandon in place approximately 71 miles of its 
existing LN-280 pipeline and 5 miles of its existing LN-4 pipeline in 
Cameron, Clinton, Elk, Potter, and Tioga Counties, Pennslyvania. In 
order to replace the capacity lost by the pipeline abandonment, DTI 
also proposes to install two additional compressor units, each rated 
for 1,775 horsepower, at its existing Ardell Compressor Station in Elk 
County, Pennsylvania.
    Abandonment of LN-280 and LN-4 would require no additional land, 
since the pipelines would be left in place. DTI would retain ownership 
of the existing right-of-way. Construction of the proposed facilities 
at the existing Ardell Compressor Station would require about 11.5 
acres of land. Of this 11.5 acres, approximately 1.9 acres would be 
required for the station expansion and for new right-of-way. The 
remaining 9.6 acres would occur on the existing station or existing 
right-of-way.

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 
\2\ 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

[[Page 2875]]

in the EA on the important environmental issues. By this Notice of 
Intent, 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. State and local government 
representatives are encouraged to notify their constituents of this 
proposed action and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general 
headings:
     geology and soils;
     land use;
     air quality and noise;
     endangered and threatened species;
     cultural resources;
     vegetation and wildlife;
     public safety.
    We will not discuss impacts to water resources, fisheries, and 
wetlands since they are not present in the project area, or would not 
be affected by the proposed facilities. We will also evaluate possible 
alternatives to the proposed project or portions of the project, and 
make recommendations on how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various 
resource areas.
    Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending 
on the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be 
published and mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, public 
interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners, 
newspapers, 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.
    To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the 
instructions in the public participation section below.

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), 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: Linwood 
A. Watson, Jr., Acting 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 Gas 1.
     Reference Docket No. CP02-9-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before February 14, 2002.
    Comments may also 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 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.'' Due to current 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 or 
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.

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 1).\3\ Only intervenors have 
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing 
comments electronically. 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, N.E., 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 website (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 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.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-1461 Filed 1-18-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P