[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71029-71031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-3539]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Docket Nos. CP05-29-000, CP05-30-000, and CP05-31-000]


Freebird Gas Storage, L.L.C.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Freebird Gas Storage Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

December 2, 2004.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or

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Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of the Freebird Gas Storage Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Freebird Gas 
Storage, L.L.C. (Freebird) in Lamar County, Alabama.\1\ These 
facilities would raise the capacity of the East Detroit Gas Storage 
Field. The facilities would also consist of five new compressor units, 
eight additional well heads, two new flow lines, a 4.48 mile 16-inch 
bi-directional lateral to connect the storage facility to the ``500 
leg'' of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (Tennessee) upstream of 
Tennessee's Compression Station 550. At the interconnection with 
Tennessee a new meter station and various regulator facilities would be 
constructed.
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    \1\ Freebird'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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    The applicant also requests authorization for a blanket 
certificate.
    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.
    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 Freebird 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

    Freebird proposes to purchase and expand the existing East Detroit 
Gas Storage Field, (currently a non-jurisdictional facility) located in 
Lamar County, Alabama. The storage field is currently owned by 
Northwest Alabama Gas District. The applicant would raise the capacity 
of the storage field from 1.44 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to 
approximately 7.5 Bcf. Five new compressor units would be installed 
onsite at the existing compressor station to increase available 
compression from 4,000 to 15,870 horsepower (hp), which would provide a 
withdrawal rate of 160,000 million cubic feet (Mcf) per day for 30 
consecutive days. Eight wells would be drilled and two new gathering 
lines, 0.65 and 0.41 miles in length, would be constructed within the 
existing boundaries of the storage facility. A 4.48 mile, 16-inch bi-
directional lateral would be constructed to connect the storage 
facility to the ``500 leg'' of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company 
(Tennessee). At the interconnection with Tennessee, a new meter station 
would be constructed. Regulator facilities, located at the new meter 
station, will include a scraper trap, meters, associated piping for bi-
directional flow, a chromatograph building, pressure regulation, and a 
heater. The location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 
1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendices 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 website 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 69.21 
acres of land. Following construction, about 49.29 acres would be 
maintained as new aboveground facility sites. The remaining 19.92 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 \3\ will discuss impacts that could occur as a result 
of the construction and operation of the project. 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.
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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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    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.

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 
and 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 (1).
     Reference docket numbers.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before January 5, 2005.
    Please note that 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. Prepare

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your submission in the same manner as you would if filing on paper and 
save it to a file on your hard drive. Before you can file comments, you 
will need to create an account by clicking on ``login to file'' and 
then ``New User Account''. You will be asked to select the type of 
filing you are making. This filing is considered a ``comment on 
filing.''

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).\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

    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.

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.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-3539 Filed 12-7-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P