[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 180 (Monday, September 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54647-54649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-15430]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP06-433-000]


Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Palmyra North Expansion 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

September 12, 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 Palmyra North Expansion 
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Northern 
Natural Gas Company (Northern) in Clay County, Kansas; Saunders, 
Washington, and Otoe Counties, Nebraska; Lincoln County, South Dakota; 
and Cherokee and Dickinson Counties, Iowa.\1\ These facilities would 
consist of modifications to existing facilities and installation of new 
facilities. 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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    \1\ On August 29, 2006, Northern filed its application with the 
Commission under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of 
the Commission's regulations. The Commission filed its notice of 
application on September 6, 2006.

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[[Page 54648]]

    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 Northern 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).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Northern proposes to expand the capacity of its Palmyra North 
Facilities in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota to transport 
approximately 32,100 dekatherms per day of natural gas in order to meet 
agricultural and ethanol customer demand and to increase incremental 
winter peak day service. Northern seeks authority to:
     Add a new Solar Centaur 40S-T4700 simple cycle turbine to 
a gas-fired-turbine compressor and relocate the compressor and all 
associated facilities from Clifton Compressor Station in Clay County, 
Kansas to Palmyra Compressor Station in Otoe County, Nebraska;
     Install a dual-run-regulator station with associated 
piping around an existing block valve at mile post (MP) 47.6 in 
Saunders County, Nebraska;
     Install a flow-limiting-control-valve to its existing 
Cargill Town Border Station at MP 16.9 in Washington County, Nebraska;
     Install a new meter station to an existing Northern line 
at MP 65.2 in Lincoln County, South Dakota;
     Install a new 9,240-foot-long, 6-inch-diameter branch line 
to existing pipelines and the Town Border Station to an existing 
Northern mainline and install a new 6-inch-diameter branch line in 
Dickinson County, Iowa; and
     Connect a 200-foot-long, 4-inch-diameter pipeline to an 
existing Town Border Station with a new 4-inch-diameter branch line and 
take-off valve in Cherokee County, Iowa.
    Northern has proposed several nonjurisdictional facilities to be 
associated with the Palmyra North Expansion Project that include two 
new ethanol plants, one ethanol plant expansion, an expansion of an 
integrated corn processing plant, and a 20-mile-long, 6-inch-diameter 
pipeline to their Millennium Plant.
    The general 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

    Project activities will occur on property owned by Northern, with 
the majority of the project activities occurring within Northern's 
existing facilities. Construction of the proposed facilities would 
impact about 85.0 acres of land. Following construction, approximately 
0.5 acres of new land would be maintained for operation. The remaining 
84.5 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 \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).
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 Geology and Soils
 Land Use
 Water Resources and Wetlands
 Cultural Resources
 Vegetation and Wildlife
 Air Quality and Noise
 Threatened and Endangered 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.

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 Northern. This preliminary 
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     A total of 0.5 acre of agricultural land would convert to 
industrial use.
     Air and noise quality may be affected by added facilities.
    Also, we have made a preliminary decision to not address the 
impacts of the nonjurisdictional facilities. We will briefly describe 
their location and summarize the status of state and local 
environmental reviews in the EA.

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), 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

[[Page 54649]]

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 OEP/
DG2E, Gas Branch 3.
     Reference Docket No. CP06-433-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before October 14, 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 3). 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, 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 (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 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. E6-15430 Filed 9-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P