[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4710-4712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-2288]



[[Page 4711]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP02-45-000]


Texas Eastern Transmission. L.P.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Hanging Rock Lateral Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

January 25, 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 Hanging Rock Lateral Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Texas Eastern 
Transmission, L.P. (Texas Eastern) in (Scioto and Lawrence Counties, 
Ohio).\1\ These facilities would consist of about 9.6 miles of 24-inch-
diameter pipeline. 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\ Texas Eastern's application was filed with the Commission 
under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the 
Commission's regulations.
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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?'' was attached to the 
project notice Texas Eastern 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

    Texas Eastern wants to construct a pipeline lateral to provide 
service to the Hanging Rock Power Plant, a 1,240 megawatt gas-fired 
electric power plant (Hanging Rock Plant) which will be constructed in 
Lawrence County, Ohio, by Duke Energy Hanging Rock, L.L.C. The pipeline 
facilities would allow Texas Eastern to provide a total of 250,000 
dekatherms per day (dth/d) of transportation service to the Hanging 
Rock Plant. Texas Eastern proposes to have these facilities in service 
by November 1, 2002. Texas Eastern seeks authority to construct and 
operate:
     9.6 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline extending from 
milepost (MP) 562.18 on Texas Eastern's 30-inch-diameter Line Nos. 10 
and 15 (the Texas Eastern Interconnect) in Scioto County, Ohio, to the 
Hanging Rock Plant in Lawrence County, Ohio;
     150 feet of 20-inch-diameter pipeline at the Texas Eastern 
Interconnect;
     150 feet of 12-inch-diameter pipeline at MP 2.1 on the 
Hanging Rock Lateral to interconnect with the existing Tennessee Gas 
Pipeline Company (Tennessee) pipeline Scioto County, Ohio;
     2 new metering and regulating (M&R) stations (the 
Tennessee Interconnect) at MP 2.1 in Scioto County, Ohio, where the 
Hanging Rock Lateral and the Tennessee pipeline cross;
     the Hanging Rock Plant M&R station on the Hanging Rock 
Plant property at MP 9.6 in Lawrence County, Ohio; and
     appurtenant facilities.
    The location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 2.\2\
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    \2\ 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, D.C. 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 proposed facilities would require about 146.9 
acres of land including the construction right-of-way, extra work 
spaces, access roads, and pipeyards. Following construction, about 0.86 
acre would be maintained as new aboveground facility sites. The 
remaining 146.04 acres of land would be restored and allowed to revert 
to its former use. About 57.8 acres of this total would be within the 
permanent pipeline 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 
\3\ 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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    \3\ ''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 quality and noise
     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. Alternatives routes 
that may be evaluated include moving segments of the project to the 
east side of the Norfolk & Western Railroad tracks.
    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 beginning 
on page 5.

[[Page 4712]]

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 Texas Eastern. This 
preliminary list of issues may be changed based on your comments and 
our analysis.
     Six perennial and 8 intermittent waterbodies would be 
crossed by open cut.
     About 4.53 acres of wetlands, including about 2.47 acres 
of forested wetlands, would be crossed.
     About 7.23 acres of upland forest would be cleared.
     Three federally listed endangered or threatened species 
may occur in the proposed project area.
     About 117.7 acres of prime agricultural land would be 
affected, including a total of about 0.86 acre of prime farmland soils 
that would convert to industrial use.
     About 3.9 acres of residential property would be affected.
     A total of 16 residences are within 50 feet of the 
construction work area and 8 of these are within 10 feet.
     A total of 2 businesses are within 40 feet of the 
construction right-of-way and 1 business is within 10 feet.
    Also, we have made a preliminary decision to not address the 
impacts of the nonjurisdictional facilities. We will briefly describe 
their location and status in the EA.

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/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: 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 2.
     Reference Docket No. CP02-045-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before (February 25, 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.''
    We may mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in receiving 
it, 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).\4\ Only intervenors have 
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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    \4\ 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 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.

C.B. Spencer,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-2288 Filed 1-30-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P