[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 58 (Wednesday, March 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14613-14615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7209]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP01-5-003]


Algonquin Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Everett Extension Project, 
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of a Public 
Scoping Meeting and Site Visit

March 19, 2003.
    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 proposed Everett Extension 
Project. On February 5, 2003, Algonquin Gas Transmission Company (AGT) 
filed an application to amend its Certificate of Public Convenience and 
Necessity for authorization to construct and operate facilities in 
Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 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. A decision whether an 
environmental impact statement is needed has not been made yet, and 
will be based on the comments and information received during the 
scoping process. Agencies listed in Appendix 3 are hereby asked to 
indicate whether they want to be cooperating agencies for preparing the 
EA.
    The application, and other supplemental filings in this docket are 
available for viewing on the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). Click on the ``FERRIS'' link, select ``General Search'' 
from the FERRIS menu, and follow the instructions, being sure to input 
the correct docket number (CP01-5-003).
    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 and under certain 
circumstances the pipeline company could initiate condemnation 
proceedings in accordance with Florida 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 that AGT 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).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    AGT would construct 6.64 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline, 0.31 
miles of 8-inch-diameter pipeline, three meter stations, and 
appurtenant facilities. The proposal would extend the 24-inch-diameter 
Deer Island Lateral pipeline (approved on June 4, 2002, in Docket No. 
CP01-5-002, but unbuilt yet). The proposal would provide 110,000 
dekatherms per day of firm transportation service. AGT requests final 
authorization for the proposed facilities by December 15, 2003, and 
would construct its facilities in 2004 during the summer and fall, so 
that it could place the facilities in service by June 1, 2005. The 
general locations of the project facilities are shown in Appendix 1.\1\ 
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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    \1\ 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 Everett Extension Project would temporarily 
disturb a total of about 72.70 acres of land. This includes about 22.9 
acres offshore and 36.2 acres onshore for the pipeline construction 
right-of-way (ROW), and 13.6 acres for extra workspace and contractor 
staging areas. The total land requirements for the permanent ROW would 
be about 14.14 acres, including 1.35 acres of land for operation of the 
new permanent aboveground facilities. The remaining 58.56 acres of land 
affected by construction would be restored and allowed to revert to its 
former use.
    Approximately 3.86 miles of the pipeline would be built onshore, 
and 3.09 miles would be offshore. The offshore construction would 
include about 2.25 miles of horizontal directional drilling, and about 
0.84 miles of shallow water dredging. The offshore disturbance would 
include about 8.67 acres for trench excavation and 14.22 acres for 
temporarily storing the side-cast trench spoil. AGT states that most 
(69%) of the proposed onshore route would not require AGT to obtain a 
ROW easement, since 60% of the route would be located within existing 
roads or utility ROW, and 9% would be on property owned by proposed 
customers. AGT would typically use a 50- to 75-foot-wide construction 
ROW. Temporary extra workspaces are often needed for waterbody, 
highway, and railroad crossings; additional topsoil storage; and pipe 
storage and equipment yards.

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

[[Page 14614]]

public may have about proposals. This is called ``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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    \2\ ``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:
    [sbull] Water resources.
    [sbull] Wetlands.
    [sbull] Fisheries and essential fish habitat.
    [sbull] Vegetation and wildlife.
    [sbull] Endangered and threatened species.
    [sbull] Land use, recreation, and visual resources.
    [sbull] Cultural resources.
    [sbull] Socioeconomics.
    [sbull] Geologic and soil resources.
    [sbull] Air and noise quality.
    [sbull] Reliability and safety.
    [sbull] System or route alternatives.
    Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. The EA 
will be 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 45-day comment period will be allotted for review of the 
EA. We will consider all comments on the EA and revise the document, as 
necessary, before issuing a Final EA. The Final EA will include our 
responses to comments received and will be used by the Commission in 
its decision-making process to determine whether to approve the 
project.
    To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the 
instructions in the Public Participation and Scoping Meeting section of 
this Notice of Intent.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project. We have already 
identified a number of issues that deserve attention based on a 
preliminary review of the proposed facilities, the environmental 
information provided by AGT, and early input from intervenors. Some of 
these issues are listed below. This list is preliminary and may be 
changed based on your comments and our analysis.
    [sbull] Effect of construction on groundwater or surface water 
supplies;
    [sbull] Potential failure of the HDD segments, or inadvertent 
releases of drilling lubricant or hazardous materials during the 
drilling activities;
    [sbull] Extent and effects of turbidity and sedimentation that may 
result from pipeline trenching or directional drilling in shallow 
waters;
    [sbull] Potential fuel spills from the pipelay barges and 
associated vessel traffic;
    [sbull] Construction and operational effects on marine and 
estuarine habitats that support commercial or recreational fisheries;
    [sbull] Potential effects to wildlife and fisheries, including 
essential fish habitat and other fishery resource of concern, and other 
biological resources of concern;
    [sbull] Potential effects on federally endangered and threatened 
species including the piping plover, northern right whale, humpback 
whale, fin whale, loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, hawksbill 
sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea turtle, and leatherback sea turtle;
    [sbull] Potential effects to onshore and offshore submerged 
cultural resources;
    [sbull] Noise generated as a result of pipeline construction;
    [sbull] Temporary disruption of local roadways and recreational 
trails during construction;
    [sbull] Potential effect of the project on Logan Airport 
operations;
    [sbull] Cumulative impacts and temporal loss of habitat function 
from additive effects of the proposed project with other projects, 
including natural gas pipelines and other utilities, which have been 
recently constructed or are proposed to be built in the same region;
    [sbull] Public Safety in the vicinity of the proposed facilities.

Public Participation and Scoping Meeting

    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:
    [sbull] 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.
    [sbull] Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the Gas 
2 Branch.
    [sbull] Reference Docket No. CP01-5-003.
    [sbull] Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before April 18, 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.''
    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 4). If you do not return the Information Request, you will be 
taken off the mailing list.
    In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, we invite 
you to attend a public scoping meeting. The FERC will conduct this 
public meeting together with the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting 
Board, at the time and location listed below:
    Time: Wednesday April 9, 2003, at 7 PM, Location: Curtis Guild 
Elementary School, 195 Leyden Street, East Boston, MA 02128.
    The public meeting is designed to provide you with more detailed 
information and another opportunity to offer your comments on the 
proposed project. Prior to the start of the meeting, company 
representatives will be available to informally discuss the project. 
Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend the meeting 
and to present comments on the environmental issues they believe should 
be addressed in the EA. A transcript of the meeting will be made so 
that your comments will be accurately recorded.

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the

[[Page 14615]]

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).\3\ Only 
intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's 
decision.
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    \3\ 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. The deadline for 
requesting to be an intervenor is April 7, 2003, but you may still 
request consideration to be an intervenor after that, if you can 
demonstrate why you should be granted intervenor status. 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 ROW 
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.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-7209 Filed 3-25-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P