[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 21, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14198-14200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4036]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP06-60-000]


Enbridge Pipelines L.L.C. (Midla); Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed T-1 Mainline Segment 
Abandonment and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

March 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 Enbridge Pipelines L.L.C.'s 
(Midla) T-1 Mainline Segment Abandonment involving abandonment of 
natural gas pipeline facilities and associated surface 
appurtenances.\1\ The T-1 Mainline segment that would be abandoned 
originates at the Desiard Compressor Station in Ouachita Parish, 
Louisiana and extends in a southeasterly direction to the intersection 
of Holdiness Road, approximately 1.9 miles northeast of Alto, Richland 
Parish, Louisiana. This EA will be used by the Commission in its 
decision-making process to determine whether the proposed abandonment 
is in the public convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ Midla'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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[[Page 14199]]

Summary of the Proposed Abandonment

    Midla requests to:
    (1) Abandon in place 21.6 miles of 22-inch-diameter pipeline, that 
includes the grouting of the pipe or casing under 22 parish or private 
roads, seven state maintained roads, three railroads and one interstate 
highway;
    (2) remove 3,899 feet of 22-inch-diameter pipeline at the request 
of six private landowners, 180 feet of pipeline from six surface 
exposures and valves at nine locations;
    (3) remove surface appurtenances including out-of-service risers 
and one out-of-service meter; and
    (4) relinquish the easement to the current landowners.
    The general location of the facilities that would be abandoned is 
shown in Appendix 1.\2\ If you are interested in obtaining detailed 
maps of a specific portion of the proposed abandoned facilities, send 
in your request using the form in Appendix 3.
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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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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 proposed abandonment of the pipeline facilities under general 
headings which may include the following:
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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.
     Land use.
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands.
     Cultural resources.
     Vegetation and wildlife.
     Air quality and noise.
     Endangered and threatened species.
     Hazardous waste.
     Public safety.
    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the proposed 
abandonment or portions of the abandonment, 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/EIS and considered by the 
Commission. You should focus on the potential environmental effects of 
the proposal, alternatives to the proposal, 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. CP06-60-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before April 14, 2006.
    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.

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.
    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 abandonment. This includes all landowners who 
are potential right-of-way grantors, whose property may be used 
temporarily for abandonment 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.

[[Page 14200]]

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. E6-4036 Filed 3-20-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P