[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 250 (Monday, December 30, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79600-79601]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32963]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP03-018-000]


City of Duluth, Minnesota; Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed City of Duluth Pipeline 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

December 24, 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 City of Duluth Pipeline 
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by the City 
of Duluth, Minnesota (City) in St. Louis County, Minnesota and Douglas 
County, Wisconsin.\1\ These facilities would consist of about 5.3 miles 
of 10-inch-diameter pipeline, check and block valves, a town border 
station, and other ancillary facilities. 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\ The City'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 City representative about the acquisition of an easement to 
construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. The City 
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 City 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 the City 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 www.ferc.gov.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    The purpose of the project is to expand the capacity and service, 
while improving the reliability, of the City's natural gas distribution 
system. The gas would enter the City's current system for distribution 
to residents and businesses of the City. This project would help ensure 
continued dependable natural gas service to the customers of the City. 
The volume of gas delivered by the proposed facilities would be 
6,000,000 cubic feet per day. The City seeks authority to construct and 
operate:

--approximately 5.3 miles of 10-inch-diameter pipeline;
--a town border station, including a heater, pressure regulators, 
relief valves, odorant tank, odorant injector, communication and 
electronics equipment, valves, and associated piping;
--a pig launcher/receiver trap and associated valving/piping or piping 
for a temporary pig launcher/receiver trap, a check valve and a block 
valve; and
--a meter station.

    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
1.\2\ If you are interested in obtaining detailed maps of a specific 
portion of the project, send in your request using the form in appendix 
4.
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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 Web site at the ``FERRIS'' link or from the 
Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 502-8371. For 
instructions on connecting to FERRIS 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 project would disturb about 44.3 acres 
of land. Following construction, about 19.4 acres would be maintained 
as permanent right-of-way or aboveground facilities. The remaining 24.9 
acres of land 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 
\3\ to discover and address concerns the public may have about 
proposals. This process is referred to as ``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
--land use
    --water resources, fisheries, and wetlands
--cultural resources
    --vegetation and wildlife
--air quality and noise
    --endangered and threatened species
--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, 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.

[[Page 79601]]

    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 the City. This preliminary 
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.

--Twelve waterbodies and 35 wetlands would be crossed by the proposed 
pipeline.
--Five waterbodies would be crossed using the horizontal directional 
drill technique, including the St. Louis River, a tributary to the St. 
Louis River, an unnamed ditch, the Little Pokegama River, and the 
Pokegama River.
--Five federally listed endangered or threatened species may occur in 
the proposed project area.
--Nineteen state threatened, endangered, or special concern species may 
occur in the proposed project area.

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 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: Magalie R. 
Salas, 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 Hydro 
Branch.
    Reference Docket No. CP03-018-000.
    Mail your comments so that they will be received in Washington, DC 
on or before January 24, 2003.
    Please note that we are continuing to experience delays in mail 
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include 
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our 
environmental analysis of this project. However, the Commission 
strongly encourages electronic filing of any comments or interventions 
or protests to this proceeding. 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 a free account which can be 
created by clicking on ``Login to File'' and then ``New User Account.''
    We might mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in 
receiving it, please return the Information Request (appendix 4). 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.

Environmental Mailing List

    This notice is being sent to individuals, organizations, and 
government entities interested in and/or potentially affected by the 
proposed project. It is also being sent to all identified potential 
right-of-way grantors. By this notice we are also asking governmental 
agencies, especially those in appendix 3, to express their interest in 
becoming cooperating agencies for the preparation of the EA.

Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the 
FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov)using the FERRIS link. 
Click on the FERRIS link, enter the docket number excluding the last 
three digits in the Docket Number field. Be sure you have selected an 
appropriate date range. For assistance with FERRIS, the FERRIS helpline 
can be reached at 1-866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-8659, or at 
[email protected]. The FERRIS link on the FERC Internet Web 
site also provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by 
the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-32963 Filed 12-27-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P