[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 86 (Friday, May 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25291-25293]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-8540]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP02-25-001]


Copiah Storage, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Assessment for the Proposed 2007 Copiah Storage Project and Request for 
Comments on Environmental Issues

April 30, 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 2007 Copiah Storage Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Copiah Storage 
LLC. (Copiah) in Copiah County, Mississippi.\1\ In this docket, Copiah 
requests an amendment to Commission Order CP02-25-000 (issued June 13, 
2002) to expand previously certificated storage, compression and 
pipeline facilities that have not yet been constructed. This EA will 
supplement the previous EA and will only examine the additional 
facilities. This EA will be

[[Page 25292]]

used by the Commission in its decision-making process to determine 
whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity. Please 
note that the scoping period will close on May 30, 2007.
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    \1\ Copiah's application was filed with the Commission under 
section 7 of the Natural Gas Act.
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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 that Copiah 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

    Copiah is proposing to expand its currently unbuilt certificated 
facilities \2\ in order to meet market demand for high deliverability 
storage services for the Gulf Coast and Northeast markets. Under their 
current certificate CP02-25-000, Copiah is authorized to construct:
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    \2\ Copiah states that it did not build under the original 
certificate in 2002 due to a decrease in the electric generation 
market.
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     A single 3.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) capacity gas storage 
cavern extending approximately 5,500 feet below the ground surface 
within an underground salt dome (with an option for a second cavern);
     13,350 horsepower (hp) compressor station to provide 
compression for injection and withdrawal of natural gas from the gas 
storage cavern;
     Approximately 635 feet of 20-inch-diameter pipeline from 
the compressor station to the storage cavern wellhead;
     Up to five well sites consisting of a freshwater 
withdrawal well and brine injection well at each site; and
     Appurtenant facilities consisting of 20-inch-diameter 
water supply and brine discharge pipelines, instrument and control 
equipment, and access roads.
    Under this amendment, CP02-25-001, Copiah is seeking authorization 
to add a second storage cavern and to increase the size of the 
currently certificated underground salt cavern from 3.3 Bcf working 
capacity to 7.75 Bcf for a two-cavern storage facility with a total of 
15.5 Bcf working gas capacity. The storage facility would have a peak 
withdrawal capacity of 1,300,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) and peak 
injection capacity of 650,000 Dth/d at full capacity. Copiah also seeks 
to increase the horsepower of the compressor station to 32,000 hp.
    Also under this amendment, Copiah is seeking authorization to 
construct header facilities to connect to two natural gas pipelines:
     1.55 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline connecting the 
storage facility to the Texas Eastern Transmission, LP (TETLP) 
pipeline.
     13.43 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline connecting the 
storage facility to the proposed Southeast Supply Header (SESH) and 
Southern Natural Gas (SNG) pipeline.
     Appurtenant facilities consisting of two tap valves, two 
pig launcher and receivers, two meter and regulator stations, and 
access roads.
    The Copiah Storage Facility would be located in Copiah, 
Mississippi. The location of the project facilities is shown in 
Appendix 1.\3\
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    \3\ 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

    The Copiah Storage Facility would be located within an 
approximately 665-acre parcel of land owned by Copiah. Construction of 
these proposed facilities would require 86.70 acres of land. Following 
construction, 83.31 acres would be maintained as new aboveground 
facility sites and permanent rights-of-way. The remaining 3.39 acres 
would be returned to its previous land use. No facilities or activities 
are proposed for the remaining 578.30 acres.
    Construction of the Copiah Header Facilities, the two connecting 
pipelines, would require 154.63 acres during construction and 55.64 
acres during operation. The remaining 98.99 acres would be returned to 
its previous land 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 \4\ 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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    \4\ ''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, fisheries, and wetlands.
     Cultural resources.
     Vegetation and wildlife.
     Air quality and noise.
     Endangered and threatened species.
     Hazardous waste.
     Public safety.
    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.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific

[[Page 25293]]

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, 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: 
Kimberly D. Bose, 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. CP02-25-001.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before May 30, 2007.
    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 on-line.
    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 email 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 (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 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.

Philis J. Posey,
Deputy Secretary.

 [FR Doc. E7-8540 Filed 5-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P