[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 22, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2875-2877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1463]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP02-44-000, Docket No. CP02-46-000, and Docket No. CP02-
53-000]
Dominion Transmission, Inc., Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company,
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation Dominion Transmission, Inc.;
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Leidy
Extension 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 Leidy Extension Project in
Potter County, Pennsylvania involving
[[Page 2876]]
construction and operation of natural gas pipeline facilities. Dominion
Transmission, Inc. (Dominion), proposes to add compression under Docket
No. CP02-44-000. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (Tennessee) proposes to
build the Ellisburg Compressor Station under Docket No. CP02-46-000.
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation (National) and Dominion propose to
add compression and uprate their jointly-owned Ellisburg-Leidy Line
under Docket No. CP02-53-000.\1\ This EA will be used by the Commission
in its decision-making process to determine whether the projects \2\
are in the public convenience and necessity.
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\1\ Tennessee's, National's, and Dominion's applications were
filed with the Commission under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and
part 157 of the Commission's regulations.
\2\ These three component projects of the overall Leidy
Extension Project would together comprise the facility expansions
and upgrades in Potter County necessary for the shipment of an
additional 150,000 dekatherms per day (Dt/d) of natural gas to the
Leidy Meter and Regulating Station in Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
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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?'' addresses a number
of typically asked questions, including the use of eminent domain and
how to participate in the Commission's proceedings. This fact sheet can
be viewed on the FERC Internet web site (www.ferc.fed.us).
Summary of the Proposed Project
Dominion, under Docket No. CP02-44-000, proposes to build a 4,735-
horsepower (hp) relay compressor, along with an associated building and
access driveway, inside the fenced-in area of its existing Little
Greenlick Relay Station. The Little Greenlick Relay Station is
immediately adjacent to the Greenlick Compressor Station containing
four existing compressors.
Tennessee, under Docket No. CP02-46-000, proposes to build a new
Ellisburg Compressor Station and associated meter station. This
compressor station would be built on newly acquired property
immediately adjacent to the Dominion's existing Ellisburg Storage Field
Compressor Station. The Ellisburg Compressor Station would include two
gas-driven 2,365-hp compressors and an associated compressor building,
gas cooler, and an auxiliary building. Tennessee would construct the
meter station in a previously-disturbed fenced-in area within
Dominion's Ellisburg Storage Field Compressor Station.
National, under Docket No. CP02-53-000, proposes to build an 8,070-
hp compressor and an associated building in a previously-disturbed
fenced-in area within National's Ellisburg Compressor Station. National
and Dominion would jointly own this compressor. National would also
uprate the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of their
jointly-owned 41-mile-long, 24-inch-diameter Ellisburg-Leidy Line by
replacing two block valves and installing one new block valve at
milepost (MP) 1.3. The two block valves to be modified are at MP 0.0
inside National's Ellisburg Compressor Station and at MP 34.2 at Kettle
Creek. Dominion would make aboveground modifications to the Leidy M&R
Station (owned jointly with National) at the southern end of the
Ellisburg-Leidy Line separately under sections 2.55(a) and 157.211 of
the Commission's regulations.
The locations of the facilities for the Leidy Extension Project are
shown in 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., 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 the 4,735-hp relay compressor in the Little
Greenlick Relay Station would require 5.24 acres of previously-
disturbed land within the station. Construction of two gas-driven
2,365-hp compressors for the proposed Ellisburg Compressor Station
would require 5.16 acres of which 2.27 acres would be restored and
allowed to revert to its former use following construction. A small
area of previously-disturbed ground within Dominion's adjacent
Ellisburg Storage Field Compressor Station would be required for
construction of a new meter station. In addition, 0.5 acre would be
used for access roads along the Ellisburg Storage Field Compressor
Station.
Construction of the 8,070-hp compressor and an associated building
would require use of a previously-disturbed fenced-in area within
National's Ellisburg Compressor Station. Uprating the MAOP of the 41-
mile-long Ellisburg-Leidy Pipeline would require temporary use of 0.11
acre of existing mowed right-of-way at MP 1.33 of the Ellisburg-Leidy
Pipeline for installation of a new block valve. No ground disturbance
would be required for the modification of the two block valves at MPs
0.0 and 34.2.
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 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.
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\4\ ''We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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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
Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands
Vegetation and wildlife
Endangered and threatened species
Public safety
Land use
Cultural resources
Air and noise quality
Hazardous waste
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,
[[Page 2877]]
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.
Currently Identified Environmental Issues
We have already identified several issues that we think deserve
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and
the environmental information provided by Tennessee, National and
Dominion. This preliminary list of issues may be changed based on your
comments and our analysis.
Impacts to Rose Lake Run from (1) the clearing of 5.16
acres of vegetation and from disturbance of a hazardous waste
remediation site adjacent to Tennessee's proposed Ellisburg Compressor
Station, and (2) construction activities at National's Ellisburg
Compressor Station within which Rose Lake Run crosses.
Noise increases for noise sensitive areas near Tennessee's
proposed Ellisburg Compressor Station.
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, 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., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 2.
Reference Docket Nos. CP02-44-000, CP02-46-000, and CP02-
53-000.
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before February 15, 2002.
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 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 2).\5\ Only intervenors have
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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\5\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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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 (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 help line 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 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
help line can be reached at (202) 208-2474.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-1463 Filed 1-18-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P