[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 169 (Wednesday, September 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53431-53432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-2000]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP04-365-000]


Dominion Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Northeast Storage Project and 
Request for Comments on Envrionmental Issues

August 25, 2004.
    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 Northeast Storage Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Dominion 
Transmission, Inc. (Dominion), in Cattaraugus County, New York, 
Clinton, McKean, and Potter Counties, Pennsylvania, and Lewis County, 
West Virginia. These facilities would consist of about 21.1 miles of 
20-inch-diameter pipeline, 10 segments of 8-to 16-inch diameter 
pipeline totaling about 2.5 miles, two new compressor stations totaling 
8,290 horsepower (hp), two meter stations, replacement of a meter, 
drilling four new injection/withdrawal wells, conversion of a 
production well to an observation well, and abandonment in place of two 
segments of 8-inch-diameter pipeline totaling about 1.8 miles. This EA 
will be used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to 
determine whether the project is in the public convenience and 
necessity.
    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.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Dominion wants to provide 9.4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of firm 
natural gas storage service and 163,017 dekatherms per day (Dt/d) of 
winter-season firm transportation service. Dominion seeks authority to 
construct and operate:
     Four new gas storage wells at the existing Quinlan Well 
Field and Gas Storage Pool, and the conversion of a production well to 
an observation well in Cattaraugus County, New York;
     21.1-mile-long, 20-inch-diameter TL-527 Pipeline in McKean 
and Potter Counties, Pennsylvania, and Cattaraugus County, New York;
     0.9-mile-long, 8-inch-diameter LN-2471-S Pipeline in 
Potter County, Pennsylvania;
     0.1-mile-long, 8-inch-diameter LN-15 CHG-1 Pipeline in 
Potter County, Pennsylvania;
     0.7-mile-long, 16-inch-diameter, QL-1 Pipeline in 
Cattaraugus County, New York;
     Five 8-inch-diameter well pipelines (QL-3, QL-4, QL-5, QL-
6, and QL-7) totaling 0.11 mile in Cattaraugus County, New York;
     0.5-mile-long and 0.1-mile-long, 16-inch-diameter 
pipelines (TL-533 and TL-534, respectively) in Lewis County, West 
Virginia;
     Sharon Measuring and Regulating Facility in Potter County, 
Pennsylvania;
     Walcott Measuring and Regulating Facility in Potter 
County, Pennsylvania;
     Leidy meter replacement in Clinton, County, Pennsylvania;
     4,740 hp Quinlan Compressor Station in Cattaraugus County, 
New York;
     3,550 hp Wolf Run Compressor Station in Lewis County, West 
Virginia.
    In addition, Dominion seeks to abandon in place:
     1.76 miles of the 8-inch-diameter LN-15 Pipeline in Potter 
County, Pennsylvania; and
     .01 mile of the 8-inch-diameter LN-250S Pipeline in Potter 
County, Pennsylvania.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
1.\1\
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    \1\ The appendixes referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other 
than appendix 1 (maps), are available on the Commission's Web site 
at the ``eLibrary'' link or from the Commission's Public Reference 
Room, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 
502-8371. For instructions on connecting to eLibrary 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 255 
acres of land. Following construction, about 140.1 acres would be 
maintained as new permanent right-of-way and aboveground facility 
sites. The remaining 114.9 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 
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 staff 
requests public comments on the scope of the issues to 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.
    In the EA we \2\ will discuss impacts that could occur as a result 
of the construction and operation of the proposed project under these 
general headings:
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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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     Geology and soils,
     Land use,
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands,
     Cultural resources,
     Vegetation and wildlife,
     Endangered and threatened species,
     Public safety.

[[Page 53432]]

    We will also evaluate potential alternatives to the proposed 
project or portions of the project, and make recommendations, if 
appropriate, 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 might 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 below.

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 
Branch 3.
     Reference Docket No. CP04-365-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before September 27, 2004.
    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 ``Documents & Filing, 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 on-line.
    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 send one electronic copy (using the Commission's eFiling system) 
or 14 paper 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. You do not need intervenor 
status to have your environmental comments considered.

Environmental Mailing List

    An effort is being made to send this notice to all individuals, 
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially 
affected by the proposed project. This includes all landowners who are 
potential right-of-way grantors, whose property may be used temporarily 
for project purposes, or who own homes within distances defined in the 
Commission's regulations of certain aboveground facilities. 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 eLibrary link. 
Click on the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and 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 eLibrary, the eLibrary helpline can be reached at 1-
866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-8659, or at [email protected]. The 
eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of formal documents 
issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission now offers a free service called 
eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances 
and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time 
you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with 
notification of these filings, document summaries and direct links to 
the documents. Go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the 
Commission's calendar located at http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related information.

Magalie R. Salas,
 Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E4-2000 Filed 8-31-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P