[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 17 (Friday, January 26, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3835-3836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1173]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP06-429-000]


Florida Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed St. Petersburg Relay 
Replacement Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

January 19, 2007.
    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 St. Petersburg Relay Project, 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Florida Gas 
Transmission Company (FGT).\1\
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    \1\ FGT's original proposal to construct the St. Petersburg 
Lateral Replacement Project was filed as a prior notice application 
under Section 157.208(b) of the Commission's regulations. It is now 
being processed as an application for construction under Section 
7(c) of the Natural Gas Act due to the filing of a protest that was 
not resolved.
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    FGT proposes to replace a total of about 6.6 miles of its St. 
Petersburg 12-inch-diameter lateral pipeline in east-central Pinellas 
County, Florida. Testing of the 12-inch St. Petersburg Lateral 
identified stress erosion cracking anomalies reflective of the age and 
condition of the pipeline. Replacement of the pipeline sections and 
valve assemblies described below are necessary to comply with United 
States Department of Transportation requirements for a high consequence 
Class 3 area under Title 49 CFR, Pipeline Integrity Management, Subpart 
O (Section 192). The pipeline is located in a highly developed, 
urbanized area that includes residential subdivisions, shopping malls 
and existing county and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) 
road rights-of-way.
    The sections of pipeline to be replaced are described as follows:
     Relay 1--3.6 miles of pipeline,
     Relay 2--0.09 mile of pipeline,
     Relay 3--0.40 mile of pipeline,
     Relay 4--2.1 miles of pipeline, and
     Relay 5--0.5 mile of pipeline.
    FGT also proposes to install a 12-inch pig launcher and receiver 
and replace two 8-inch block valves with 10-inch block valves to allow 
passage for a pipeline integrity tool to be run after the segments have 
been replaced. The general location of the project is shown on the map 
attached as Appendix 1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendix referenced in this notice is not being printed 
in the Federal Register. Copies of the appendix (maps) are available 
from the Commission's Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 502-8371. Copies of the appendix 
will be sent to all those receiving this notice in the mail.
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    No change in the maximum allowable operating pressure of the 
pipeline would occur as a result of the proposed replacements. 
Therefore, there would be no impact to FGT's peak day or annual gas 
deliveries.
    The proposed project would disturb up to 63.6 acres of land, 14.5 
acres of which are within FGT's permanent easement and 49.1 acres of 
which are proposed temporary workspace and extra temporary workspace. 
Temporary workspace and extra temporary workspace would be required at 
public road and waterbody crossings, hydrostatic test locations, 
crossovers, tie-ins, staging/fabrication of pipeline sections, and drag 
sections.
    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?'' 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).

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.
    The Commission's staff will prepare an EA that will describe the 
potential environmental impacts that could result from construction and 
operation of the proposed project under the general headings:
     Water resources, wetlands, and waterbodies.
     Vegetation and wildlife.
     Threatened and endangered species.
     Cultural resources.
     Geology and soils.
     Land use and residences.
     Air quality and noise.
     Reliability and safety.
    Our independent analysis of the issues will be presented in the EA. 
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.
    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.
    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

[[Page 3836]]

comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commenter, your 
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission. 
The more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. 
Generally, comments are submitted regarding the potential environmental 
effects, reasonable alternatives and measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impact.
    This notice and request for environmental comments is being sent to 
affected landowners; Federal, State and local government 
representatives and agencies; environmental and public interest groups; 
other interested parties in this proceeding; and local libraries and 
newspapers. We encourage government representatives to notify their 
constituents of this notice and to encourage their comments concerning 
this proposed project.
    To ensure that your comments are properly recorded, please mail 
them to our office on or before February 19, 2007. When filing comments 
please:
     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 2; DG2E; and Reference Docket No. CP06-429-000 on the original 
and both copies.
    Please note that the Commission strongly encourages the electronic 
filing (``eFiling'') of comments, interventions or protests to this 
proceeding. Instructions on how to ``eFile'' comments can be found on 
the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the ``Documents 
and Filings'' link.

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 e-Filing 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). Only intervenors have the right to seek 
rehearing of the Commission's decision.
    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

    This notice has been sent to all known 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.

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).
    To access information via the FERC Web site click on the 
``eLibrary'' link then 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. The ``eLibrary'' link 
provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by the 
Commission such as orders, notices, and rulemakings. For assistance 
with ``eLibrary'', please contact FERC Online Support at 
FERCOnlineSupport@ ferc.gov or call toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for 
TTY, contact (202) 502-8659.
    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.
    Public meetings and/or site visits along with other Project related 
information will be posted on the Commission's calendar located at 
http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-1173 Filed 1-25-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P