[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 173 (Friday, September 7, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51433-51435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17667]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP07-430-000]


Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC; Notice of Intent 
To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Colorado 
Lateral Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental 
Issues

August 29, 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 Colorado Lateral Expansion 
Project, involving construction and operation of natural gas facilities 
by Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC (Kinder Morgan) in 
Weld County, Colorado. The EA will be used by the Commission in its 
decision-making process to determine whether the project is in the 
public convenience and necessity.
    This notice announces the opening of the scoping period that will 
be used to gather environmental input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. Your input will help the Commission staff 
determine which issues need to be evaluated in the EA. Please note that 
the scoping period will close on October 1, 2007. Details on how to 
submit comments are provided in the Public Participation section of 
this notice.
    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted 
by a Kinder Morgan representative about the acquisition of an easement 
to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed project facilities. 
The pipeline company would seek to negotiate a mutually

[[Page 51434]]

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, 
Kinder Morgan could initiate condemnation proceedings in accordance 
with Colorado 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).
    With this notice, we \1\ are 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. Agencies that would like to request cooperating status 
should follow the instructions for filing comments provided below.
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    \1\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the FERC's Office of Energy Projects.
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Summary of the Proposed Project

    Kinder Morgan seeks authorization to install about 41.4 miles of 
12-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline from the existing Rockport 
Cheyenne Hub to a point on the west side of the City of Greeley, 
Colorado. All construction would be within Weld County, Colorado. The 
project would create about 55,000 decatherms per day of pipeline 
capacity from Kinder Morgan's Cheyenne Hub to distribution points in 
the Greeley market area. Kinder Morgan would construct four new meter 
stations (ranging in size from 0.18 acre to 0.92 acre) to distribute 
the natural gas to this market area. Further, a 12-inch-diamater pig 
launcher and pig receiver \2\ would be located within the existing 
Rockport Compressor Station and the proposed Greeley South Meter 
Station, respectively.
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    \2\ A pipeline ``pig'' is a device used to clean or inspect the 
pipeline. A pig launcher or receiver is an aboveground facility 
where pigs are inserted or retrieved from the pipeline.
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Non-Jurisdictional Facilities

    On behalf of a non-jurisdictional company, Atmos Energy Corporation 
(a local distribution company), Kinder Morgan would construct five 
lateral distribution pipelines of various diameters (ranging from 6 to 
12 inches) totaling about 10.8 miles, and eight regulator facilities 
located within Kinder Morgan's proposed meter stations. The owner and 
operator of these laterals and regulator facilities would be Atmos 
Energy Corporation. Figure 1 in Appendix A is a detailed map 
identifying all facilities associated with this project.\3\
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    \3\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available on the 
Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) at the 
``eLibrary'' link or from the Commission's Public Reference Room at 
(202) 502-8371. For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer to 
the ``Additional Information'' at the end of this notice. Copies of 
the appendices were sent to all those receiving this notice in the 
mail. Requests for detailed maps of the proposed facilities should 
be made directly to Kinder Morgan.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the proposed Colorado Lateral Expansion Project 
would affect a total of about 501.6 acres during construction. 
Following construction, about 246.1 acres would be allowed to revert to 
its previous conditions. Disturbance associated with aboveground 
facilities would permanently disturb 4.6 acres of land.
    Kinder Morgan would construct its 12-inch-diameter pipeline in a 
90-foot-wide construction right-of-way and laterals within a 40-foot-
wide construction right-of-way. Kinder Morgan would maintain a 50-foot-
wide permanent right-of-way for operation and maintenance of its 
mainline and Atmos Energy Corporation would maintain a 20-foot-wide 
permanent right-of-way. Kinder Morgan's proposed mainline would overlap 
existing rights-of-way for about 94 percent of the route.\4\
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    \4\ Construction of the Colorado Lateral would follow and 
overlap an existing Public Service Company of Colorado pipeline, a 
SUNCOR Energy Inc. pipeline, and a Colorado Interstate Gas proposed 
pipeline.
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The EA Process

    We are preparing the EA to comply with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) which 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, we are requesting 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 EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general 
headings:
     Geology and soils.
     Water resources.
     Wetlands.
     Land use and visual quality.
     Cultural resources.
     Vegetation, fisheries, and wildlife (including threatened 
and endangered species).
     Air quality and noise.
     Reliability and 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 for distribution and mailed to federal, state, and local 
agencies; public interest groups; interested individuals; affected 
landowners; newspapers and libraries in the project area; 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.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commenter, your 
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission. 
Your comments should focus on the potential environmental effects of 
the proposal, reasonable alternatives to the proposal (including 
alternative locations and routes), 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 Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 1;
     Reference Docket No. CP07-430-000;
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC, on or before October 1, 2007.
    Please note that the Commission strongly encourages electronic 
filing of comments. See 18 Code of Federal

[[Page 51435]]

Regulations (CFR) 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the 
Commission's Internet Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the 
``eFiling'' 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.''

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 eFiling 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) (see Appendix B).\5\ Only intervenors have 
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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    \5\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing 
comments electronically.
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    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. We 
encourage government representatives to notify their constituents of 
this proposed project and encourage them to comment on their areas of 
concern. If you do not return the attached form (Appendix C), you will 
be removed from the Commission's environmental mailing list.

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). Using the 
``eLibrary'' link, select ``General Search'' from the eLibrary menu, 
enter the selected date range and ``Docket Number'' excluding the last 
three digits (i.e., CP07-430), and follow the instructions. For 
assistance with access to eLibrary, the helpline can be reached at 1-
866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-8659, or at [email protected]. The 
eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web site also provides access to the 
texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, 
notices, and rule makings.
    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. You can also 
request additional information by calling Kinder Morgan at (303) 914-
7715.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-17667 Filed 9-6-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P