[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 86 (Thursday, May 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23862-23863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2187]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP05-54-000]


Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd.; Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Piceance Basin Expansion 
Project

April 29, 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 Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. (WIC) in Moffat 
and Rio Blanco Counties, Colorado, and Sweetwater County, Wyoming, in 
the above-referenced docket.
    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 Piceance Basin Expansion Project (Piceance 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 
concludes that the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating 
measures as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental 
impact.
    The U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is 
participating 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 Piceance Project involves the construction and operation of a 
new interstate natural gas pipeline system that would extend between 
the existing Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) Greasewood 
Compressor Station in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, and the existing CIG 
Wamsutter Compressor Station in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.\1\
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    \1\ Both WIC and CIG are affiliates owned by El Paso 
Corporation.
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    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following facilities in Colorado and 
Wyoming:
     About 141.7 miles of 24-inch-diameter new pipeline with 
89.8 miles located in Colorado (Rio Blanco and Moffat Counties) and 
51.9 miles located in Wyoming (Sweetwater County);
     Additional compression to be installed at the existing CIG 
Greasewood Compressor Station in Colorado;
     Four meter stations at interconnections with other 
pipeline systems (two associated with the CIG Greasewood Compressor 
Station, two at the CIG Wamsutter Compressor Station);
     Three pigging facilities (one associated with each 
compressor station and a new facility at milepost 54.0 near County Road 
4 in Moffat County, Colorado);
     Nine mainline valves (one valve at each of the two 
existing compressor stations and seven valves along the pipeline ROW); 
and
     Other associated facilities, such as access roads and 
communication towers.
    The proposed project would be capable of transporting up to 350,000 
dekatherms of natural gas per day (Dth/d) from the CIG Greasewood 
Compressor Station to interconnections at Wamsutter, Wyoming with the 
CIG and WIC interstate transmission pipeline systems that serve markets 
east and west of Wamsutter.

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 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:
     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 No. CP05-54-000;
     Label one copy of your comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 1, PJ11.1; and
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, D.C. on or before June 20, 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

[[Page 23863]]

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 below.

                  Schedule for Public Comment Meetings
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               Date and time                          Location
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Tuesday, June 7, 2005 at 7 p.m. (MST).....  Moffat County Extension
                                             Office--CSU 539 Barclay
                                             Street, Craig, CO 81625.
Wednesday, June 8, 2005 at 7 p.m. (MST)...  Desert School 235 Bugas,
                                             Wamsutter, WY 82336.
Thursday, June 9, 2005 at 7 p.m. (MST)....  Fairfield Center 200 Main
                                             Street, Meeker, CO 81641.
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    Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend and 
present oral comments on the draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings 
will be prepared.
    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 Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and 
Procedure (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.\2\ You do not 
need intervenor status to have your comments considered.
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    \2\ 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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    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; libraries; newspapers; and 
parties to this proceeding.
    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 (CP05-54) 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.

Linda Mitry,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-2187 Filed 5-4-05; 8:45 am]
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