[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 199 (Monday, October 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60328-60330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-5657]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP05-412-000]


Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Northeast ConneXion Project--
New England and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

October 6, 2005.
    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 ConneXion Project--
New England involving construction, abandonment, and operation of 
facilities by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company Tennessee).\1\ The 
proposed facilities consist of the installation of additional 
compression at four of its existing compressor stations in Potter 
County, Pennsylvania; Onondaga, Herkimer, and Schoharie Counties, New 
York; the abandonment and installation of additional compression at two 
existing compressor stations in Columbia County, New York, and 
Worcester County, Massachusetts; and the construction of one new 
compressor station in Steuben County, New York. Tennessee will install 
55,400 horsepower (hp) and replace 10,500 hp for a net total of 44,900 
hp of compression. No construction of pipeline is proposed. 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. Tennessee indicates that the proposed facilities will enable 
it to provide up to 136,300 decatherms per day of incremental firm 
transportation capacity.
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    \1\ Tennessee'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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    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 Tennessee 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 
(www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Tennessee seeks authority for the:
     Installation of two additional 3,550-hp CAT 3612 
compressor units at each of the existing Compressor Stations 241, 245, 
and 249 located in Onondaga, Herkimer, and Schoharie Counties, New 
York;
     Replacement of an existing 4,500-hp compressor unit with a 
single 10,300-hp Solar Taurus 70S turbine-driven compressor unit at 
existing Compressor 254 in Columbia County, New York;
     Replacement of three existing compressor units totaling 
6,000 hp with the installation of two 6,275-hp Solar Centaur 50L 
turbine-driven compressor units (12,550 hp total) at existing 
Compressor Station 264 in Worcester County, Massachusetts;
     Installation of one additional 3,550-hp CAT 3612 
compressor unit at existing Compressor Station 313 in Potter County, 
Pennsylvania; and
     Construction of new Compressor Station 405A, with a single 
7,700-hp Solar Taurus 60S turbine-driven compressor unit in Steuben 
County, New York.
    Tennessee indicates that it will install ``appurtenant facilities'' 
to the project pursuant to section 2.55(a) of the regulations.
    The location of the project facilities and alternative sites for 
the new compressor station 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 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

    The new Compressor Station 405A would require about 20.0 acres of 
land of which about 10.0 acres would be used during construction. 
Following construction, about 3.2 acres would be maintained as the new 
aboveground facility site. Tennessee would not need

[[Page 60329]]

to acquire any additional acreage or land for the proposed 
modifications at the existing compressor stations.

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 proposed project under these 
general headings:
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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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     Geology and soils;
     Ground water resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Endangered and threatened species;
     Public safety;
     Land use;
     Cultural resources;
     Air quality and noise; and
     Hazardous waste.
    We will not discuss impacts to the following resource areas since 
they are not present in the project area, or would not be affected by 
the proposed facilities: Surface water resources, fisheries, and 
wetlands.
    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.
    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.
    To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the 
instructions in the public participation section below

Currently Identified Environmental Issue

    We have identified noise as an issue that we think deserves 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Tennessee. This preliminary 
issue may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.

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 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: Magalia 
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 2.
     Reference Docket No. CP05-412-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before November 7, 2005.
    Please note that we are continuing to experience delays in mail 
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include 
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our 
environmental analysis of this project. However, 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. Before you can 
file comments you will need to create a free account which can be 
created on-line.
    We may mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in receiving 
it, please return the Information Request (Appendix 2). 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, or ``intervenor''. 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). Intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the 
Commission's decision. Motions to Intervene should be electronically 
submitted using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov. 
Persons without Internet access should send an original and 14 copies 
of their motion to the Secretary of the Commission at the address 
indicated previously. Persons filing Motions to Intervene on or before 
the comment deadline indicated above must send a copy of the motion to 
the Applicant. All filings, including late interventions, submitted 
after the comment deadline must be served on the Applicant and all 
other intervenors identified on the Commission's service list for this 
proceeding. Persons on the service list with e-mail addresses may be 
served electronically; others must be served a hard copy of the filing.
    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

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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 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. E5-5657 Filed 10-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P