[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9537-9539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2622]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP06-49-000]


Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc.; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed West Colony 
Expansion of the Colony Storage Field and Request for Comments on 
Environmental Issues

February 14, 2006.
    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 Colony Storage Field involving 
construction and operation of facilities by Southern Star Central Gas 
Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star) in Anderson and Allen County, Kansas.
    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. Your input will help the Commission staff 
determine which issues need to be evaluated in the EA. Please note that 
the scoping period will close on March 16, 2006.
    This notice is being sent to affected landowners; federal, state, 
and local government representatives and agencies; environmental and 
public interest groups; Native American tribes; other interested 
parties in this proceeding; and local libraries and newspapers. We 
encourage government representatives to notify their constituents of 
this planned project and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern.
    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?'' is available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). 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.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Southern Star proposes to increase the certificated storage 
boundary and buffer zone of the Colony Storage Field by approximately 
1,960 acres. The additional acreage is necessary to protect the field's 
integrity by re-capturing gas that has migrated outside the currently 
identified storage boundary. This added acreage is located at the 
southwestern boundary of the storage field in an area known as the West 
Colony Field in Anderson County, reaching into Allen County, Kansas. 
The existing storage field consists of about 4,900 acres and operates 
up to a maximum storage capacity of 12.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of 
natural gas. No increase in storage capacity of field deliverability is 
proposed as part of this action. 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 are available on the 
Commission's Web site (excluding maps) at the ``eLibrary'' link or 
from the Commission's Public Reference Room or call (202) 502-8371. 
For instructions on connecting to eLibrary refer to the end of this 
notice. Copies of the appendices were sent to all those receiving 
this notice in the mail.
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    The purpose of this project is to expand the field geographically 
and geologically to collect gas that has moved beyond the existing 
certificated field boundary. A gas collection system will be installed 
for collecting and recycling gas back into the presently certificated 
reservoir.
    Southern Star proposes to:
     Install and operate a 180-horsepower natural gas-driven 
compressor in Anderson County, Kansas;
     Construct a 0.2-mile lateral line connecting the new 
compressor to an existing well;
     Construct a 2.6-mile connection line from the new 
compressor to an existing injection/withdrawal well; and
     Install two measurement settings, a filter separator, and 
an associated waste tank.
    Storage rights and wells on approximately 680 acres have already 
been acquired by Southern Star, and approximately 1,280 additional 
acres are proposed for acquisition. Within the acreage already 
acquired, there are fourteen open wells which are used for pressure 
relief, observation, or salt water disposal. Within the acreage 
proposed for acquisition, there are eight active oil wells and five 
temporarily abandoned wells. Pending acquisition of the

[[Page 9538]]

additional acreage, Southern Star plans to either plug these wells or 
convert some to observation wells.

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the proposed facilities would require about 5.6 
acres of land. Of this acreage, 4.7 acres would be temporarily impacted 
and 0.9 acres would be permanently affected. An additional 0.5 acres of 
permanently affected land may or may not be required to convert two 
existing wells to pressure relief.

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 will be 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. 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. 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.
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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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    Our independent analysis of the issues will be presented in the EA. 
The EA will also include possible alternatives to the proposed project 
or portions of the project, and our recommendations on how to lessen or 
avoid impacts on the various resource areas of concern. Depending on 
the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be 
published and mailed to federal, state, and local government agencies; 
public interest groups; Native American tribes; interested individuals; 
affected landowners, newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's 
official service list for this proceeding. A 30-day comment period will 
be allotted for review if the EA is published. We will consider all 
comments submitted in any Commission Order that is issued for the 
project.

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. 
Your comments should focus on the potential environmental effects of 
the proposal, reasonable alternatives to the proposal (including 
alternative locations and 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 1.
     Reference Docket No. CP06-49-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before March 13, 2006.
    Please note that the Commission encourages electronic filing of 
comments. See 18 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) 
and the instructions on the Commission's Internet Web site at  http://www.ferc.gov under the ``eFiling'' 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 create an account by clicking on 
``Login to File'' and then ``New User Account.'' You will be asked to 
select the type of filing you are making. This filing is considered a 
``Comment on Filing.''
    The determination of whether to distribute the EA for public 
comment will be based on the response to this notice. If you are 
interested in receiving it, please return the Information Request 
(appendix 3). 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.

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 email addresses may be 
served electronically; others must be served a hard copy of the filing. 
Please refer to appendix 2 if you would like more information on how to 
intervene in Commission proceedings.
    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 (3372) or on 
the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). Using the 
``eLibrary'' link, select ``General Search'' from the eLibrary menu, 
enter the selected date range and ``Docket Number'' (i.e., PF06-49-
000), and follow the instructions. For assistance with access to 
eLibrary, the helpline can be reached at 1-866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-
8659, or at [email protected]. The eLibrary link on the FERC 
Internet Web site also provides access to the texts of formal documents 
issued by the

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Commission, such as orders, notices, and rule makings.
    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. E6-2622 Filed 2-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P