[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 61 (Friday, March 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15154-15155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5575]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-030-07-5101-ER-K087; WYW-166510]


 Notice of Availability (NOA) To Announce the Release of the 
Overland Pass Natural Gas Liquids Pipeline Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Overland Pass (OP) Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Pipeline DEIS. The 
DEIS analyzes the consequences of granting a Right-of-Way (ROW) to the 
Overland Pass Pipeline Company, LLC for locating a 760-mile, 14-inch 
and 16-inch diameter NGL pipeline on Federal land.

DATES: The BLM will review all public comments if they are submitted 
within 45 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) publishes this NOA in the Federal Register. All public meetings 
or other involvement activities for the OP NGL Pipeline project will be 
announced to the public by the BLM at least 15 days in advance through 
public notices, media news releases, Web site announcements, or 
mailings. The BLM will not be holding formal public hearings on this 
DEIS.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the DEIS have been sent to affected Federal, 
State, and local governments and to interested parties that previously 
requested a copy. The DEIS and supporting documents will be available 
electronically on the following Web site: http://www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/index.htm.
    Copies of the DEIS are available for public inspection during 
normal business hours at the following locations:
     Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, Public 
Room, 5353 Yellowstone, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003;
     Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office, 1300 
North Third St, Rawlins, Wyoming 82301;
     Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office, 280 
Highway 191 N., Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901;
     Bureau of Land Management, Kemmerer Field Office, 312 
Highway 189 N., Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101; and
     U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pawnee National 
Grasslands, 660 O Street, Greeley, Colorado 80631.
    Copies of the DEIS will also be delivered to public libraries in 
the following communities:
     Green River, Rock Springs, Rawlins, Laramie, and Cheyenne, 
Wyoming;
     Greeley, Fort Collins, Yuma, and Wray, Colorado; and
     Colby, WaKeeney, Hays, and McPherson, Kansas.
    A limited number of copies of the document will be available as 
long as supplies last. To request a copy, contact Tom Hurshman, Project 
Manager, as described below.
    Written comments may be submitted by the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/rfo/nepa.htm.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Facsimile: (307) 328-4224 Attn: Tom Hurshman, or
     Mail: Tom Hurshman, Project Manager, Bureau of Land 
Management, Rawlins Field Office, 1300 North Third St, Rawlins, Wyoming 
82301.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Hurshman, Project Manager, Bureau 
of Land Management, Uncompahgre Field Office, 2465 South Townsend Ave., 
Montrose, CO 81401. Mr. Hurshman may be reached by telephone at (970) 
240-5345.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project would transport up to 150,000 
barrels per day of NGL. The proposed OP Pipeline would originate in 
Opal, Wyoming, and terminate at existing NGL processing facilities in 
Conway, Kansas. The OP Pipeline route would cross approximately 123 
miles of Federal land in Wyoming and Colorado. In Wyoming, 
approximately 98 miles of the proposed pipeline route would cross 
public lands administered by three BLM Field Offices: Kemmerer, Rock 
Springs, and Rawlins.
    In addition, the OP Pipeline location would cross two units of the 
National Forest System administered by the United States Department of 
Agriculture, Forest Service. The proposed pipeline location includes 
approximately 2 miles of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, 
and approximately 23 miles of the Pawnee National Grassland north of 
Greeley, Colorado. No Federal land in Kansas would be affected by this 
proposal.
    In the fall of 2005, Williams Field Services, doing business as 
Overland Pass Pipeline Company LLC (Overland Pass Company), submitted 
to the BLM an application for a ROW grant across Federal lands to 
locate a pipeline up to 20 inches in diameter that would be used to 
transport NGLs from Opal, Wyoming, to an existing processing facility 
in Conway, Kansas. (NGLs are naturally occurring heavier hydrocarbon 
liquids that are associated with the production of natural gas such as 
methane. NGLs include ethane and are primarily used to produce 
plastics, propane, butanes, and natural gasoline.) On March 24, 2006, 
the BLM published in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent (NOI ) to 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and as required by 43 Code of Federal 
Regulations Part 2880. To allow the public an opportunity to review the 
proposal and project information, the BLM held public meetings during 
April 2006 in Rock Springs and Cheyenne, Wyoming; Greeley, Colorado; 
and Hays, Kansas. Potential impacts to specific resources such as water 
quality and quantity, threatened and endangered and sensitive species, 
construction impacts to vegetation communities and historic trails, and 
pipeline route and location near residential development were 
identified during scoping and analyzed in the DEIS. Overland Pass 
Company made a number of minor re-routes to their original proposal as 
submitted.
    Three actions were analyzed in the DEIS: No Action Alternative; 
Proposed Action Alternative, and the Southern Energy Corridor. The No 
Action Alternative means that the project as proposed by Overland Pass 
Company in its ROW application would be rejected by the BLM. Under the 
No Action

[[Page 15155]]

Alternative, the BLM would not issue a ROW grant for the OP Pipeline. 
The project, including the pipeline, temporary access roads, and 
temporary use areas during construction, would not be approved or 
authorized as described in the ROW application. The BLM's preferred 
alternative is the Proposed Action Alternative. The Proposed Action 
Alternative analyzed in the DEIS reflects minor revisions to the 
original route as proposed by Overland Pass Company. The Southern 
Energy Corridor Alternative reflects the Green River Resource 
Management Plan's preferred locations for future proposed ROWS. Other 
alternatives, including transportation system alternatives and route 
variations, were considered, but not studied in detail.
    The DEIS analyzes the potential environmental consequences of 
granting Overland Pass Company a ROW to construct an approximately 760-
mile pipeline that would transport NGLs from Opal, Wyoming, to its 
terminus at the company's existing facilities in Conway, Kansas. The 
pipeline would be approximately 14 inches in diameter between Opal and 
Echo Springs, Wyoming, and 16 inches in diameter from Echo Springs, 
Wyoming, to Conway, Kansas.
    As part of the proposed action, the OP Pipeline would be routed 
across southern Wyoming from Opal to Echo Springs along various 
existing utility or pipeline ROWs. From Echo Springs, the pipeline ROW 
would run in a southeasterly direction, paralleling the existing 
Southern Star Pipeline, and proceed to the south of Cheyenne, Wyoming, 
before entering Colorado. A major portion of the proposed route in 
Wyoming would cross public lands administered by the BLM.
    From the Colorado border, the pipeline ROW would continue to 
parallel Southern Star Pipeline southeasterly crossing the Pawnee 
National Grassland, which is administered by the USDA Forest Service, 
and then into Kansas. From the Colorado-Kansas state line, the OP 
Pipeline would continue to run parallel to the Southern Star Pipeline 
to south of WaKeeney, Kansas. It would then follow an existing BP Amoco 
pipeline to Bushton, Kansas. From this point, the OP Pipeline would not 
parallel existing pipelines until reaching Mitchell, Kansas, where it 
would then follow an existing Williams Pipeline to the termination 
point at Conway, Kansas.
    At Bushton and Conway, Kansas, the transported NGL would be 
processed at existing facilities and distributed through an existing 
transportation infrastructure to consumer markets in the Midwest and 
Texas Gulf of Mexico coast. About 82 percent of the proposed 760-mile 
pipeline would be co-located within existing pipeline ROW corridors. In 
addition to the pipeline, three electric pump stations would be needed 
to move the NGL at a maximum pressure of 1,440 pounds per square inch 
gauge (psig) through the pipeline. The pump stations are proposed to be 
located near Echo Springs and Laramie, Wyoming, and near WaKeeney, 
Kansas. The pipeline would have manual or self-actuating shut-off 
valves at regular intervals, as well as cleaning facilities and meter 
stations.
    The OP Pipeline would be constructed and installed within a 75-
foot-wide construction area. After construction and reclamation, the 
permanent ROW would be 50 feet wide, centered on the pipeline. All 
temporary workspace areas needed for construction activities outside 
the 50 foot wide permanent ROW would require Temporary Use Permits.
    All comment submittals must include the commenter's name and street 
address. Comments, including the names and street addresses of 
respondent, will be available for public review at the Rawlins Field 
Office during its business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday 
through Friday, except for Federal holidays. Before including your 
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment, 
including your personal identifying information may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold 
from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

    Dated: February 21, 2007.
Robert A. Bennett,
State Director.
[FR Doc. E7-5575 Filed 3-29-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P