[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 236 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71159-71160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20826]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP07-017-000]


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

December 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 Piqua Natural Gas Storage 
Field Expansion and Well Abandonment Project proposed by Southern Star 
Central Gas Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star) in Allen and Woodson 
Counties, Kansas.\1\ Southern Star proposes to increase the storage 
boundary and buffer zone of the Piqua Storage Field by approximately 
480 acres, and to permanently abandon 13 injection/withdrawal wells 
within the Piqua Storage Field. 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\ Southern Star'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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    This notice announces the opening of the public comment period that 
will be used to gather environmental input from the public and 
interested agencies on the project. Comments are requested by January 
6, 2007.
    With this notice, the FERC staff is asking other federal, state, 
local and tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise 
with respect to environmental issues to cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the EA. These agencies may choose to participate once 
they have evaluated Southern Star's proposal relative to their 
responsibilities. Agencies that would like to request cooperating 
status should follow the instructions for filing comments described in 
Appendix 1.
    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted 
by a company representative about the acquisition of an easement 
related to the storage field expansion and/or well abandonment 
activities, as proposed in this project. The 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 company could initiate condemnation proceedings in 
accordance with state law.
    A brochure 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 at 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 seeks authority to increase the certificated storage 
boundary and buffer zone of the Piqua Storage Field. In addition, they 
propose to redefine the cap rock for the gas storage formation as the 
interval from the base of the Fort Scott Limestone to the top of the 
Pawnee Limestone. The proposed geographic expansion and cap rock 
redefinition of the gas storage field would protect the integrity of 
the field and the current geologic confining layer by preventing future 
gas migration issues that may result from outside shallow oil operators 
drilling near the field.
    Southern Star also requests abandonment authority to permanently 
plug and abandon 13 injection/withdrawal wells located within the 
storage field. These wells have been identified to exhibit poor 
deliverability and/or mechanical risk. Therefore, the permanent 
plugging and abandonment of these wells would allow Piqua Storage Field 
to operate more efficiently.
    The general location of the project area is shown in Appendix 2.\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 2 (map), 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

    As discussed above, approximately 480 acres would be acquired by 
Southern Star to increase the certificated storage boundary and to 
redefine the cap rock of the Piqua Storage Field. The acquisition is 
located at the eastern edge of the current storage field boundary in 
Allen County, Kansas.
    A total of approximately 15.5 acres of land would be temporarily 
affected by the abandonment activities of the proposed project and 
includes a construction area of 200 feet by 200 feet for each well. 
About 11.7 acres of this land would be required as temporary workspace 
in completing well abandonment activities. Access to each well would be 
obtained by use of existing, unimproved field roads.

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 
\3\ 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.
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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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    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.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    In the EA, we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and abandonment activities of the proposed project. We 
will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the proposed project or 
portions of the project.
    One environmental issue we have already identified that we think 
deserves attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed 
facilities and the environmental information provided by Southern Star 
is the Conservation Reserve Program

[[Page 71160]]

(CRP) land located within the project area. Approximately 3.6 acres of 
the total land affected by the project is designated as CRP land and 
would be temporarily impacted by the project's well abandonment 
activities. Additional issues may be identified based on your comments 
and our analysis.

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 in completing 
our environmental analysis. Please carefully follow the instructions 
below 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. CP07-017-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before January 6, 2007.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing of comments. 
Please refer to 18 Code of Federal Regulations (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. 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 a copy of the EA, please return the Information 
Request form (Appendix 3). An effort is being made to send this notice 
to all individuals affected by the proposed project. This includes all 
landowners whose property may be used temporarily for project purposes, 
or is in the area of new storage fields or proposed expansions of 
storage fields including any applicable buffer zone.

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

    If you wish to remain on our environmental mailing list, please 
return the Information Request form included in Appendix 3. If you do 
not return this form, you will be removed from our mailing list.

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. E6-20826 Filed 12-7-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P