[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 226 (Friday, November 25, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71125-71127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-6491]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP06-20-000]


Unocal Windy Hill Gas Storage, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Windy Hill Gas Storage 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

November 18, 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 Windy Hill Gas Storage Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Unocal Windy Hill 
Gas Storage, LLC (Unocal) in Morgan County, Colorado. These facilities 
would consist of about 14.1 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline, a 
14,200-horsepower (hp) compressor station, four water supply wells, a 
solution mining facility, a brine disposal facility, six groundwater 
monitoring wells, four gas storage caverns, a gas dehydration facility, 
and electric utilities. This EA will be used by the Commission in its 
decisionmaking 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 Unocal representative about the acquisition of an easement to 
construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. Unocal 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, Unocal 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 that Unocal 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

[[Page 71126]]

Commission's proceedings. It is available for viewing on the FERC 
Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Unocal wants to provide up to 6 billion cubic feet of working gas 
storage capacity and transportation to customers, with a maximum 
injection rate of 135 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), and a 
maximum withdrawal rate of 400 MMcf/d. Unocal seeks authority to 
construct and operate in Morgan County, Colorado:

Phase I Facilities (2006)

     Two solution-mined gas storage salt caverns (4-17S and 5-
17S);
     Four water supply wells;
     Four 400-horsepower (hp) pumps for the four water supply 
wells;
     Two 800-hp booster pumps for injection of water for cavern 
development;
     Two 3,000-gallon diesel tanks for cavern development;
     Three 1,500-barrel (bbl) fiberglass skim tanks to separate 
diesel oil from brine solution;
     One 210-bbl steel tank for holding recovered diesel oil;
     A 125- by 30-foot mining pump building and electrical 
control room;
     A 178- by 178-foot brine disposal retention pond;
     Four brine disposal wells;
     Two 300-hp brine disposal pumps, including two 1,000-hp 
pumps if needed;
     A 1,000-bbl fiberglass feed-water suction tank for the 
brine disposal pumps;
     Six shallow groundwater monitoring wells;
     A dehydration facility consisting of three 1.5-million 
British thermal unit triethylene glycol dehydrators for drying out the 
caverns;
     A compressor station consisting of four 3,550-hp 
compressors driven by natural gas-fired reciprocating engines, totaling 
14,200 hp;
     An inlet scrubber for liquid removal from in-coming gas;
     A gas cooler to cool the gas leaving the compressor 
station;
     A 1.75-mile extension from the existing Morgan County 
Rural Electric Association's 12.47 kilovolt power line;
     About 4.4 miles of permanent access roads;
     A 20-foot widening of about 0.7 mile of the existing 
County Road Q; and
     Two 60-foot-wide all-weather gravel roads totaling 0.41 
mile.

Phase II Facilities (2008)

     Two additional solution-mined gas storage salt caverns (6-
17S and 7-17S).
    The location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 1.\1\
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    \1\ 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

    Construction of the proposed facilities would require about 201.7 
acres of land. Following construction, about 119.6 acres would be 
maintained as new aboveground facility sites and permanent rights-of-
way. The remaining 82.1 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 \2\ 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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    \2\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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     Geology and soils;
     Land use;
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     Cultural resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Air quality and noise;
     Endangered and threatened species;
     Public safety.
    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.

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 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 3.
     Reference Docket No. CP06-20-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before December 23, 2005.
    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 3). If you do not 
return the Information Request, you will be taken off the mailing list.

[[Page 71127]]

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. By this 
notice we are also asking governmental agencies, especially those in 
Appendix 2, to express their interest in becoming cooperating agencies 
for the preparation of the EA.

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.
    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. E5-6491 Filed 11-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P