[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 116 (Tuesday, June 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35858-35859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15206]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration


Federal Consistency Appeal by Islander East Pipeline Company From 
an Objection by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection

AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 
Department of Commerce (Commerce).

ACTION: Notice of remand and stay of appeal proceedings; reopening of 
public comment period.

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SUMMARY: This notice: (1) Announces a remand of Islander East's 
administrative appeal (Consistency Appeal of Islander East Pipeline 
Company, L.L.C.) to the Connecticut Department of Environmental 
Protection; (2) announces a suspension in processing Islander East's 
administrative appeal by the Department of Commerce, for a period 
ending no later than July 31, 2003; (3) reopens the period for the 
public to comment on Islander East's administrative appeal; and (4) 
provides information about procedural aspects of the appeal that are 
affected by the remand and stay of appeal proceedings.

DATES: The remand of the appeal to the Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection will extend for a period ending no later than 
July 31, 2003. The stay of appeal proceedings by the Department of 
Commerce will run through a period ending no later than July 31, 2003. 
The public comment period will now close on July 31, 2003, but will be 
extended assuming processing of the appeal resumes. The Federal agency 
comment period will be extended to run through July 31, 2003, and will 
be further extended after the appeal has recommenced.

[[Page 35859]]


ADDRESSES: All e-mail comments on issues relevant to the Secretary of 
Commerce's (Secretary) decision in this appeal may be submitted to 
Islander [email protected]. Comments may also be sent by mail to 
the Office of the General Counsel for Ocean Services, National Oceanic 
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1305 East-West 
Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Materials from the appeal record are 
available at the Internet site http://www.ogc.doc.gov/czma.htm and at 
the Office of the General Counsel for Ocean Services. Also, public 
filings made by the parties to the appeal are to be available for 
review at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 79 
Elm Street, Hartford, CT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Branden Blum, Senior Counselor, NOAA 
Office of the General Counsel, via e-mail at [email protected], 
or at 301-713-2967, extension 186.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Remand and Stay

    In November 2002, the Islander East Pipeline Company, L.L.C. 
(Islander East) filed a notice of appeal with the Department of 
Commerce (Department), pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 
1972 (CZMA), as amended, asking that the Secretary of Commerce override 
the State of Connecticut's (State) objection to Islander East's 
proposed natural gas pipeline. The pipeline would extend from near 
North haven, Connecticut, across the Long Island Sound to a terminus in 
Suffolk County (Long Island), New York. Connecticut's objection is 
based on the project's potential effect on the natural resources or 
land and water uses of Connecticut's coastal zone.
    In March 2003, and then in early May 2003, the Department granted, 
and then extended, a stay of proceedings for this appeal, as jointly 
requested by the parties. Subsequently, on May 15, 2003, Islander East 
requested the Department of Commerce to: (1) Continue the stay then in 
place regarding the Department's proceeding of the appeal; and (2) 
remand the proceeding to the Connecticut Department of Environmental 
Protection. The remand would allow the State to reconsider its October 
2002 objection to the proposed pipeline project, based on new 
information submitted by Islander East. The new information primarily 
involves changes proposed to minimize adverse environmental impacts to 
Long Island Sound that may result from construction of the proposed 
pipeline. The changes are intended to address concerns which were a 
basis for the State's objection to the project.
    The State of Connecticut advised the Department on May 23, 2003, 
that it did not object to a remand; nor did it object to the period of 
the remand ending no later than July 31, 2003, as proposed by Islander 
East. On June 2, 2003, the Department granted the requested remand and 
stay pursuant to 15 CFR 930.129(d).

II. Public Comments

    During the remand and stay, the public may continue to submit 
comments to the Department of Commerce (see address section above) on 
issues to be considered if the appeal recommences. A summary of the 
grounds for which Islander East requested an override of the State's 
objection appears in the Federal Register at 68 FR 3513. The public 
comment period, which was announced in this same issue of the Federal 
Register as ending on May 8, 2003, is reopened through July 31, 2003. 
Comments received after May 8, 2003, but before the publication of this 
notice, will be considered to be timely filed.

III. Other Procedural Matters

    This portion of the Federal Register notice provides information 
concerning other procedural aspects of the Islander East appeal that 
are affected by the remand and stay. The Federal agency comment period 
will be reopened and letters announcing this action will be sent to 
agencies whose views were previously solicited but not yet received. If 
the Department resumes processing the appeal, both the public and 
federal agency comment periods will be further extended in order to 
provide an adequate opportunity to consider the State of Connecticut's 
brief. (The State's brief had been due on March 24, 2003. As announced 
previously, the State's brief is now due 45 days after the appeal has 
recommenced.) Note: the additional time for comments, to be provided if 
the appeal recommences, will not be commensurate with the length of the 
stays. This is a change to advice contained in a Federal Register 
notice announcing the stay granted on March 17, 2003 (see 68 FR 14401), 
and reflects the ongoing nature of the stay. The stay requested at the 
time we provided our earlier advice is far shorter than the overall 
length of the stay as subsequently extended.
    The scheduling of a public hearing on the appeal will continue to 
be delayed until after processing of the appeal resumes, consistent 
with the earlier request of Islander East and the State.
    A summary of relevant issues as well as additional background on 
the appeal appears in a January 24, 2003, Federal Register 
announcement, 68 FR 3513, a copy of which can be found at the 
Department of Commerce CZMA appeals Web site www.ogc.doc.gov/czma.htm. 
The Web site also provides access to documents from the appeal record 
and general information concerning the appeal process.
    Questions about the stay for the Islander East appeal may be sent 
to NOAA via e-mail ([email protected]) or made by telephone (301 
713-2967, extension 186).

(Federal Domestic Assistance Catalog No. 11.419 Coastal Zone Management 
Program Assistance.)

    Dated: June 11, 2003.
James R. Walpole,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 03-15206 Filed 6-16-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-08-M