[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 160 (Friday, August 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47801-47803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13760]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP06-398-000]


MoBay Storage Hub, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed MoBay Storage Project and 
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

August 1, 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 MoBay Storage Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by MoBay Storage 
Hub, Inc. (MoBay) in offshore Alabama waters and in Mobile County, 
Alabama.\1\ These facilities would consist of injection/withdrawal 
storage wells, observation wells, various diameter offshore and onshore 
pipeline, two 8,500 horsepower (hp) offshore compressor units, one 
37,880 hp onshore compressor station, and meter stations. 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\ MoBay'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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    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?'' was attached to the 
project notice Caledonia 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).

[[Page 47802]]

Summary of the Proposed Project

    MoBay proposes to build and operate a high-deliverability, multi-
cycle natural gas storage facility and appurtenant facilities in Mobile 
Bay in offshore Alabama waters and in Mobile County, Alabama, to 
provide a working gas capacity of approximately 50 billion cubic feet 
(BCF), and maximum daily injection and withdrawal capabilities of up to 
one BCF per day. The proposed storage facility would be converted from 
three offshore substantially-depleted natural gas reservoirs: the North 
Dauphin Island (NDI), Northwest Dauphin Island (NWDI), and Northeast 
Petit Bois (NEPB) fields.
    MoBay seeks authority to construct and operate:
     30 offshore injection and withdrawal wells supported by 10 
caissons;
     14 observation wells within the three reservoirs;
     two offshore 8,500 hp compressor units on the NDI 
platform;
     7.4 miles of 8- to 16-inch-diameter offshore pipeline 
connecting the 30 wells to the NDI and NWDI platforms;
     12.1 miles of 36-inch-diameter offshore pipeline from the 
NDI platform to the Bayou Coden Valve Station at landfall just east of 
the mouth of Bayou Coden at milepost 0.0;
     the 37,880 hp MoBay Compressor Station near the Gulfstream 
Compressor Station 410 on Rock Road in Mobile County, Alabama;
     the Gulfstream Interconnect, the Transco Interconnect, and 
the Gulf South Pipe Line Interconnect Meter Stations; and
     the Coden Valve at milepost 0.04.
    MoBay requests certification by November 1, 2006, to enable 
commencement of construction in late 2006 for a targeted in-service 
date of October 1, 2007.
    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 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 disturbance 
of 14 acres of land offshore and 93 acres of land onshore (18 acres in 
extra workspaces and pipe yard) for a total of 107 acres. Following 
construction, 14 acres of offshore land and 33 acres of onshore land 
would be restored to previous use, leaving 60 acres of onshore land 
under permanent easement for operation. MoBay would use a 100-foot-wide 
construction ROW and a 75-foot-wide operational ROW for the onshore 
pipelines. MoBay would open a 5-foot-wide seafloor trench for offshore 
pipeline construction.

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 under these 
general headings:
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    \3\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).

     Geology and soils;
     Water resources;
     Wetlands and fisheries;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Threatened and endangered species;
     Land use;
     Cultural resources;
     Air quality and noise;
     Reliability and safety, and
     Cumulative impacts.

    We will also evaluate reasonable 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.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by MoBay. This preliminary list 
of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     Open-cut crossing of three perennial waterways, including 
Bayou Jonas and Bayou Como;
     Disturbance of cypress trees associated with Jonas Bayou;
     Sedimentation in the Mississippi Sound from underwater 
pipeline and well installation;
     Disturbance of 102 acres of wetlands, including conversion 
of 35 acres of palustrine forested wetlands to emergent wetlands;
     Open-cut pipeline installation across 15 miles of the 
Intercoastal Waterway;
     Visual impacts of 10 injection/withdrawal well caissons 
and 14 observation well caissons;
     Crossing within 0.03 mile of Ralston Park at milepost 
0.70;
     Crossing of the Dauphin Island-Bayou LaBatre Loop of the 
Alabama Coastal Birding Trail at milepost 1.12;
     Noise impacts to three noise sensitive areas (i.e. 
residences) located from 1,800 to 4,300 feet from the proposed MoBay 
Compressor Station.

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/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,

[[Page 47803]]

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 2.
     Reference Docket No. CP06-398-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before August 31, 2006.
    Please note that we are continuing to experience delays in mail 
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include 
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our 
environmental analysis of this project. However, 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 online.
    We may mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in receiving 
it, please return the Information Request (Appendix 4). 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 known as an 
``intervenor''. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process. 
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of 
case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors. 
Likewise, each intervenor must send one electronic copy (using the 
Commission's eFiling system) or 14 paper copies of its filings to the 
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all 
other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. If 
you want 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) (see Appendix 2).\4\ Only intervenors have 
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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    \4\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing 
comments electronically.
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    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 3, 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 (3372) or on 
the FERC Internet website (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 (i.e., enter PF06-
398) 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. E6-13760 Filed 8-17-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P