[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 201 (Wednesday, October 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60813-60815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-5775]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP05-411-000]


Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Cunningham Service Expansion 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

October 12, 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 Cunningham Service Expansion 
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Northern 
Natural Gas Company (Northern) in Pratt County, Kansas.\1\ These 
facilities would consist of two reciprocating compressors rated at 
3,550 horsepower (hp) each. This EA will be used by the Commission in 
its decisionmaking process to determine whether the project is in the 
public convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ Northern'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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    This notice announces the opening of the scoping period that will 
be used to gather environmental input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. Please note that the scoping period will close 
on November 11, 2005.
    This notice is being sent to potentially affected landowners; 
Federal, State, and

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local government agencies; elected officials; environmental and public 
interest groups; Native American tribes; other interested parties; 
local libraries and newspapers. State and local government 
representatives are asked to notify their constituents of this planned 
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    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 Northern 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

    Northern is seeking authorization to increase the certificated 
withdrawal and injection rates at the existing Cunningham Storage Field 
located in Pratt and Kingman Counties, Kansas by replacing two 2,400 hp 
reciprocating compressors with two new compressors rated at 3,550 hp 
each. Northern would also install associated valves and piping to 
connect the new units with existing station piping. Furthermore, 
Northern would use the additional horsepower to increase the 
certificated withdrawal rates (from 650 million cubic feet per day 
(MMcf/d) to 720 MMcf/d) and injection rates (from 500 MMcf/d to 545 
MMcf/d) to provide the requested amount of firm deferred delivery (FDD) 
service. Northern indicates that the proposed facilities and the 
increase in withdrawal and injection rates are required to meet FDD 
service of 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas (Bcf) requested by 
shippers. Following installation of the proposed facilities, the 
certificated Cunningham Storage Field capacity would remain unchanged 
at 62 Bcf.
    Northern contends that the modifications will cause minor ground 
disturbance outside of the compressor building to make the piping 
connections to the new units. No ground disturbance will occur outside 
of the existing compressor station yard. Because the work will 
generally take place within the existing compressor station building, 
additional land or work space will not be required for the project.
    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 the appendices were sent 
to all those receiving this notice in the mail.
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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.
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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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    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.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified one issue that we think deserves 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Northern. This preliminary 
issue may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     The installation of additional compression may contribute 
to an increase in noise levels at nearby noise sensitive areas.

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: 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 No. CP05-411-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before November 11, 2005.
    We will include all comments that we receive within a reasonable 
time frame in our environmental analysis of this project. To expedite 
our receipt and consideration of you comments, the Commission strongly 
encourages electronic submission 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. 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

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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.

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, 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.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E5-5775 Filed 10-18-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P