[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 7, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 72808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-6959]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket Nos. CP06-5-000; CP06-6-000; CP06-7-000]


Empire State Pipeline, Empire Pipeline, Inc.; Notice of 
Application

November 30, 2005.
    Take notice that on October 11, 2005, Empire State Pipeline (Empire 
State), and Empire Pipeline, Inc. (EPI)(collectively, Applicants), 6363 
Main Street, Williamsville, New York 14221, filed with the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) an application under section 
7(c) of the Natural Gas Act and parts 157 and 284 of the Commission's 
regulations for: (1) A certificate of public convenience and necessity 
authorizing the construction, ownership, and operation of existing and 
new interstate natural gas pipeline, compression and other facilities; 
(2) a blanket certificate to provide open-access firm and interruptible 
transportation services; and (3) a blanket certificate to construct, 
operate, and/or abandon certain eligible facilities, and services 
related thereto. Empire also requests authorization of the initial 
rates for transportation service and terms and conditions of service 
proposed in the pro forma tariff.
    Empire State's existing facilities consist of an approximately 157-
mile natural gas pipeline running from the U.S./Canada border near 
Buffalo, New York to near Syracuse, New York, and are currently subject 
to state jurisdiction. In the Empire Connector Project, the Applicants 
propose to expand and extend the existing Empire State pipeline from 
Victor, New York, to a proposed interconnection with the facilities of 
Millennium Pipeline Company, L.P. in Corning, New York. The expansion 
facilities will consist of approximately 78 miles of 24-inch diameter 
pipeline, 20,620 horsepower compressor station, and associated 
facilities. The Applicants state the proposed facilities will have a 
design capacity of 250,000 Dth/day in the winter and 221,000 Dth/day in 
the summer.
    The application is on file with the Commission and open to public 
inspection. This filing is available for review at the Commission in 
the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site 
at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket 
number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to 
access the document. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support 
at [email protected] or toll free at (866) 208-3676, or for 
TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.
    Any questions regarding this application should be directed to 
David W. Reitz, Attorney for the Applicants, 6363 Main Street, 
Williamsville, New York 14221; phone (719) 857-7949 or 
[email protected].
    On September 21, 2004 the Commission staff granted the Applicants' 
request to utilize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Pre-
Filing Process and assigned Docket No. PF04-16-000 to staff activities 
involving the Empire Connector Project. Now, as of the filing of this 
application on October 11, 2005, the NEPA Pre-Filing Process for this 
project has ended. From this time forward, this proceeding will be 
conducted in Docket Nos. CP06-5-000, et. al, as noted in the caption of 
this Notice.
    There are two ways to become involved in the Commission's review of 
this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by 
becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or 
before the comment date listed below, file with the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, a 
motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 
385.211) and the Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person 
obtaining party status will be placed on the service list maintained by 
the Secretary of the Commission and will receive copies of all 
documents filed by the applicant and by all other parties. A party must 
submit 14 copies of this filing and all subsequent filings made with 
the Commission and must mail a copy of all filing to the applicant and 
to every other party in the proceeding. Only parties to the proceeding 
can ask for court review of Commission orders in the proceeding.
    However, other persons do not have to intervene in order to have 
comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with 
the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and 
two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project. 
The Commission will consider these comments in determining the 
appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will 
not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. The Commission's 
rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to this 
project provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties 
directly involved in the protest.
    Persons may also wish to comment further only on the environmental 
review of this project. Environmental commenters will be placed on the 
Commission's environmental mailing list, will receive copies of 
environmental documents issued by the Commission, and will be notified 
of meetings associated with the Commission's environmental review 
process. Those persons, organizations, and agencies who submitted 
comments during the NEPA Pre-Filing Process in Docket No. PF04-16-000 
are already on the Commission staff's environmental mailing list for 
the proceeding in the above dockets and may file additional comments on 
or before the below listed comment date. Environmental commenters will 
not be required to serve copies of filed documents on all other 
parties. However, environmental commenters are also not parties to the 
proceeding and will not receive copies of all documents filed by other 
parties or non-environmental documents issued by the Commission. 
Further, they will not have the right to seek court review of any final 
order by Commission in this proceeding.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings of comments, 
protests, and interventions via the Internet in lieu of paper. See 18 
CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web 
site (http://www.ferc.gov) under the ``e-Filing'' link.
    Comment Date: January 17, 2006.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-6959 Filed 12-6-05; 8:45 am]
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