[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 41 (Thursday, March 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10394-10396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-892]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP04-413-000]


Entrega Gas Pipeline Inc.; Notice of Availability, Route 
Inspection, and Public Comment Meetings on the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Entrega Pipeline Project

February 25, 2005.
    The environmental staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(FERC or Commission) has prepared a draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) on the interstate natural gas pipeline transmission 
facilities proposed by Entrega Gas Pipeline Inc. (Entrega) in the 
above-referenced dockets.
    The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Its purpose is to inform the 
Commission, the public, and other permitting agencies about the 
potential adverse and beneficial environmental impacts associated with 
the proposed project and its alternatives, and to recommend practical, 
reasonable, and appropriate mitigation measures which would avoid or 
reduce any significant adverse impacts to the maximum extent 
practicable and, where feasible, to less than significant levels. The 
draft EIS

[[Page 10395]]

concludes that the proposed project, with the potential exception of 
two route segments (the Piceance Basin Expansion Route Alternative and 
the Cheyenne Hub Variations), and with appropriate mitigating measures 
as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact. 
Additional public input is specifically being sought on these two 
segments to complete the routing analysis for the final EIS.
    The U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
participated as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the draft 
EIS because the project would cross Federal lands under BLM 
administration in Wyoming and Colorado. The draft EIS will be used by 
the BLM to consider the issuance of a right-of-way (ROW) grant for the 
portion of the project on Federal lands. While the conclusions and 
recommendations presented in the draft EIS were developed with input 
from the BLM as a cooperating agency, the BLM will present its own 
conclusions and recommendations in its Record of Decision for the 
project.

Proposed Project

    The Entrega Pipeline Project involves the construction and 
operation of a new interstate natural gas pipeline system that would 
extend between a proposed Meeker Hub in Rio Blanco County, Colorado; 
Wamsutter, in Sweetwater County, Wyoming; and the Cheyenne Hub in Weld 
County, Colorado. The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental 
effects of the construction and operation of the following facilities 
in Colorado and Wyoming:
     About 327.5 miles of new 36- and 42-inch-diameter 
pipeline--

--136.0 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline, with 86.2 miles in Colorado 
(Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties) and 49.8 miles in Wyoming (Sweetwater 
County); and
--191.5 miles of 42-inch-diameter pipeline, with 183.0 miles in Wyoming 
(Sweetwater, Carbon, Albany, and Laramie Counties) and 8.5 miles in 
Colorado (Larimer and Weld Counties);

     Three new compressor stations (the Meeker Hub and Bighole 
Compressor Stations in Colorado, the Wamsutter Compressor Station in 
Wyoming);
     Seven meters at interconnections with other pipeline 
systems (three associated with the new compressor stations, four at the 
new Cheyenne Hub Metering Station in Wyoming);
     Four pig launchers and four pig receivers (six associated 
with compressor and metering stations, one launcher and one receiver at 
the new Arlington Pigging Station in Wyoming);
     22 mainline valves (5 valves at compressor and metering 
stations, 17 valves along the pipeline ROW); and
     Other associated facilities, such as access roads and 
powerlines.
    The proposed project would be capable of transporting up to 1.5 
billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Meeker Hub 
Compressor Station to interconnections at:
     Wamsutter, Wyoming with the Colorado Interstate Gas 
Company (CIG) and Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. transmission systems 
that serve markets east and west of Wamsutter; and
     The Cheyenne Hub (Weld County, Colorado) with CIG, 
Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Company, Trailblazer Pipeline Company, and 
Public Service Company of Colorado. These systems would transport gas 
to markets in the Midwest and Central U.S. and the Eastern Slope south 
of the Cheyenne Hub.

Comment Procedures and Public Meetings

    Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. To ensure 
consideration of your comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is 
important that we \1\ receive your comments before the date specified 
below. Please follow these instructions carefully to ensure that your 
comments are received in time and are properly recorded:
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    \1\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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     Send an original and two copies of your comments to: 
Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
     Reference Docket Nos. CP04-413-000;
     Label one copy of your comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 1, PJ-11.1; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington DC on or before April 18, 2005.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing of any 
comments or interventions or protests to this proceeding. See 18 Code 
of Federal Regulations (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 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 a free account, which can be created by clicking on ``Login to 
File'' and then ``New User Account.''
    In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend a public comment meeting in the 
project area. Meetings are scheduled as shown on the following page.
    Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend and 
present oral comments on the draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings 
will be prepared.

                  Schedule for Public Comment Meetings
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             Date and time                           Location
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Monday, April 11, 2005, at 7 p.m. (MST)  Best Western Hitching Post,
                                          1700 West Lincolnway,
                                          Cheyenne, WY.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005, at 7 p.m.       Hungry Miner Restaurant, 2300
 (MST).                                   West Spruce, Rawlins, WY.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005, at 7 p.m.     Moffat County Extension Office--
 (MST).                                   CSU, 539 Barclay Street,
                                          Craig, CO.
Thursday, April 14, 2005, at 7 p.m.      CSU Extension, 779 Sulfur Creek
 (MST).                                   Road, Meeker, CO.
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    After these comments are reviewed and considered, modifications 
will be made to the draft EIS and it will be published and distributed 
as a final EIS. The final EIS will contain responses to timely comments 
filed on the draft EIS.
    Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to 
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to 
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene 
pursuant to

[[Page 10396]]

Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 
385.214). Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the 
Commission's decision.
    Anyone may intervene in this proceeding based on the draft EIS. You 
must file your request to intervene as specified above. You do not need 
intervenor status to have your comments considered.
    The draft EIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and 
is available for public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, 
Washington, DC 20426; (202) 502-8371.
    A limited number of copies are available from the FERC's Public 
Reference Room identified above. In addition, copies of the draft EIS 
have been mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies; public interest 
groups; individuals and affected landowners who have requested the 
draft EIS; libraries and newspapers in the project area; and parties to 
this proceeding.

Route Inspection

    From April 11-14, we will also be conducting an inspection of 
select areas along the route and locations of aboveground facilities 
associated with Entrega's proposal. Anyone interested in participating 
in the inspection activities may contact the FERC's Office of External 
Affairs (identified below) for more details and must provide their own 
transportation.

Questions?

    Additional information about the proposed 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 (i.e., CP04-413) in 
the Docket Number field. Be sure you have selected an appropriate date 
range. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, 
contact (202) 502-8659. The eLibrary 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.
    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 the eSubscription link on the FERC Internet Web 
site.
    Information concerning the involvement of the BLM is available from 
Tom Hurshman, BLM Project Manager, at (970) 240-5345.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-892 Filed 3-2-05; 8:45 am]
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