[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16015-16017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7864]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP03-39-000]


Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission, LLC; Notice of Intent 
To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Cheyenne Market 
Center Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

March 26, 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 Cheyenne Market Center Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Kinder Morgan 
Interstate Gas Transmission, LLC (Kinder Morgan) in Cheyenne and 
Kimball Counties, Nebraska and Weld County, Colorado.\1\ These 
facilities consist of four new compressor units, ten new injection/
withdrawal wells, two new storage field pipelines, construction of a 
new compressor station, and certain auxiliary or appurtenant 
facilities. The 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\ Kinder Morgan'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 Kinder Morgan 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

    Kinder Morgan is proposing to construct and operate certain storage 
and transportation facilities necessary to develop its proposed 
Cheyenne Market Center located in the vicinity of the Cheyenne Hub 
(Rockport) in Weld County, Colorado and the Huntsman Storage Facility 
located in Cheyenne County, Nebraska. The proposed project would create 
incremental storage capacity for up to 6,000,000 dekatherms (Dth), with 
an associated injection capability of about 38,400 Dth per day (Dthd) 
and an associated withdrawal deliverability of about 62,400 Dthd. The 
proposed project would provide customers with additional flexibility to 
store gas and utilize receipt and delivery points on short notice.
    In order to create the capacity to perform the Cheyenne Market 
Center service, Kinder Morgan proposes to construct and operate the 
following facilities:

Compressor Facilities

    [sbull] Rockport (Cheyenne Hub) Compressor Station--install two new 
addition 1,680-horsepower (hp) compressor units within the existing 
Rockport Compressor Station located in Weld County, Colorado.
    [sbull] Kimball Junction Compressor Station--install two 1,151-hp 
compressor units at the existing Kimball Junction Interconnect located 
in Kimball County, Nebraska.
    [sbull] Huntsman Compressor Station--install two new 3,550-hp 
compressor units adjacent to the existing Huntsman Compressor Station, 
and a central injection meter and a central withdrawal meter within the 
confines of the existing Huntsman Compressor Station located in 
Cheyenne County, Nebraska.

Injection/Withdrawal Wells

    [sbull] Drill ten new injection/withdrawal wells at the existing 
Huntsman Storage Field located in Cheyenne County, Nebraska. The 
proposed well field design configuration is to drill these wells 
directionally (diverging directionally from a vertical well bore) from 
two new multiple wellhead surface location sites. Six wells would be 
drilled at Pad 1, located west and adjacent to the existing 
Huntsman Storage Field Well 9. Four wells would be drilled at 
Pad 2 in the northeast corner of the Huntsman Station.

[[Page 16016]]

Storage Field Lines

    [sbull] Install about 2,000 feet of 12-inch-diameter pipeline loop 
\2\ originating at the proposed multiple wellhead Pad 1 site 
and terminating at the existing Huntsman Compressor Station inlet 
header facilities. This new 12-inch-diameter pipeline would loop the 
existing 12-inch-diameter pipeline from Huntsman Storage Field Well 
9 to the compressor station.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ A loop is a segment of pipeline that is installed adjacent 
to an existing pipeline and connected to it on both ends. The loop 
allows more gas to be moved through the pipeline system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    [sbull] Install about 1,800 feet of 8-inch-diameter pipeline loop 
originating at the proposed multiple wellhead Pad 2 site and 
terminating at the existing Huntsman Compressor Station inlet header 
facilities. This new 8-inch-diameter pipeline would start at Pad 
2, tie into the existing 8-inch-diameter discharge pipeline at 
Huntsman Storage Field Well 23 and loop the existing 8-inch-
diameter pipeline back to the compressor station.

Auxiliary Facilities

    [sbull] Install computer-based supervisory type process control 
systems, a check meter and bi-directional flow control assembly, 
control valves, pigging and gas cleaning facilities, and an office 
building with septic system and water well.
    The general location of Kinder Morgan's proposed facilities is 
shown on the map attached as appendix 1.

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of Kinder Morgan's proposed facilities would require 
about 52.6 acres of land, including construction right-of-way for the 
storage field pipeline loops, and work areas needed at the compressor 
stations, the injection/withdrawal wells sites, and for pipe storage. 
The construction disturbance width for each storage field pipeline 
would be 75 feet and there would be no change to the unspecified use 
area for the operation of either of the looped storage field lines. 
Kinder Morgan indicates that about 11.9 acres of operational area would 
be maintained. Construction access would be via existing access roads.

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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ ``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:

    [sbull] Geology and Soils
    [sbull] Water Resources and Wetlands
    [sbull] Vegetation and Wildlife
    [sbull] Threatened and Endangered Species
    [sbull] Socioeconomics
    [sbull] Cultural Resources
    [sbull] Land Use
    [sbull] Reliability and Safety
    [sbull] Air Quality and Noise

    We will 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.

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

[sbull] Threatened and Endangered Species
    --Potential impact on six Federally-listed bird species.
    --Potential impact on two Federally-listed animal species.
    --Potential impact on two Federally-listed plant species.
[sbull] Air and Noise
    --Impacts to air quality from the proposed project.
    --Impacts on noise levels from the proposed compressor units at 
nearest noise sensitive areas.

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 
or 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 Gas 1, 
PJ-11.1;
    [sbull] Reference Docket No. CP03-39-000; and
    [sbull] Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before April 27, 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.''

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to

[[Page 16017]]

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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing 
comments electronically.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-7864 Filed 4-1-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P