[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 23, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59939-59943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20804]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 157

[Docket No. RM07-17-000; Order No. 700]


Revisions to Landowner Notification and Blanket Certificate 
Regulations

Issued October 18, 2007.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is 
amending its regulations to modify landowner notification requirements 
and to require a noise survey following the completion of projects 
involving compressor facilities undertaken pursuant to blanket 
certificate authority. The proposed regulatory revisions are intended 
to enhance public participation in the Commission's consideration of 
proposed projects and ensure that compressor projects completed under 
blanket certificate authority will not have a significant adverse 
environmental impact.

DATES: The regulatory revisions made in this Final Rule will become 
effective November 23, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon Wagner, Office of the General 
Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, [email protected], (202) 502-8947.
    Michael McGehee, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
[email protected], (202) 502-8962.
    Lonnie Lister, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 
[email protected], 202-502-8587.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before Commissioners: Joseph T. Kelliher, 
Chairman; Suedeen G. Kelly, Marc Spitzer, Philip D. Moeller, and Jon 
Wellinghoff.

I. Introduction

    1. On June 22, 2007, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(Commission) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to amend its 
regulations to modify landowner notification requirements and require a 
noise survey following the completion of projects involving compressor 
facilities undertaken pursuant to blanket certificate authority.\1\ 
These regulatory revisions are intended to enhance public participation 
in the Commission's consideration of proposed projects and ensure that 
compressor projects completed under blanket certificate authority will 
not have a significant adverse environmental impact. Comments on the 
NOPR were submitted by the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) 
and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA). This 
Final Rule responds to the comments and adopts, with minor 
modifications, the regulatory revisions described in the NOPR.
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    \1\ 72 FR 35669 (June 29, 2007), FERC Stats. and Regs.] 32,616 
(2007). The NOPR followed an expansion of the blanket certificate 
program, see Revisions to the Blanket Certificate Regulations and 
Clarification Regarding Rates, Order No. 686, 71 FR 63680 (Oct. 31, 
2006), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,231 (2006), order on reh'g and 
clarification, Order No. 686-A, 72 FR 37431 (July 10, 2007), FERC 
Stats. and Regs. ] 31,249 (2007), order on reh'g, Order No. 686-B, 
FERC Stats. and Regs. ] 31,255 (2007).
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II. Regulatory Revisions

    2. The NOPR discusses proposed changes to the existing regulations 
regarding landowner notification and compressor noise restrictions. 
Comments submitted address the latter.

A. Landowner Notification

    3. The NOPR discusses expanding the Sec.  157.6(d)(2)(iii) 
landowner notification requirement. Currently, this requirement directs 
natural gas companies planning to construct compressor or liquefied 
natural gas (LNG) facilities to notify all landowners whose property 
contains a residence within one-half mile of the project site before 
beginning any construction.\2\ This will be revised to remove the 
residence qualification, and will instead direct companies to notify 
all landowners within one-half mile of the site of a planned compressor 
or LNG project regardless of whether the property contains a residence. 
This revision should ensure all landowners within one-half mile of a 
proposed project site will receive notice that will allow them to raise 
land use issues, including existing non-residential uses as well as 
planned future uses of undeveloped land.
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    \2\ See the landowner notification requirements, 18 CFR 
157.203(d)(1) and (2), and the definition of affected landowners, 18 
CFR 157.6(d)(2)(iii).
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B. Noise Survey

    4. To ensure that compressor facilities installed under blanket 
certificate authority will not have significant adverse environmental 
impacts, compressor facilities must be designed to meet the noise level 
limits described below. To verify blanket certificate compressor 
facilities meet these noise level limits, this order will revise Sec.  
157.206(b)(5) to require that companies completing a blanket 
certificate compressor project file a noise survey with the Commission. 
If this post-project survey shows the facility is emitting excessive 
noise, the company will have up to one year from the project's in-
service date to meet the noise limits. After completing its noise 
mitigation measures, the company will submit a subsequent noise survey 
to verify compliance with the noise limits.

[[Page 59940]]

This same noise survey requirement is routinely applied to compressor 
facilities installed under case-specific certificate authority.
    5. A company may rely on blanket certificate authority to undertake 
qualifying projects provided: (1) Noise-generating equipment installed 
under blanket certificate authority, whether an entire new compressor 
station or an addition or modification to an existing station, does not 
exceed an average day-night sound level (Ldn) of 55 decibels 
(dBA) at a noise sensitive area (NSA) when operating at full load; (2) 
an addition or modification to an existing compressor station, which is 
currently emitting noise at an Ldn of 55 dBA or less at 
NSAs, does not cause noise at NSAs to exceed an Ldn of 55 
dBA; and (3) an addition or modification to an existing compressor 
station, which is currently emitting noise in excess of an 
Ldn of 55 dBA at NSAs, does not cause noise to increase at 
NSAs.

III. Comments and Commission Response

    6. Comments by Interior question whether an Ldn of 55 
dBA might adversely impact certain wildlife resources. Comments by 
INGAA seek clarification on how compressor noise is to be measured.

A. Department of the Interior's Comments

    7. Interior points out that 55 dBA was designated by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a noise level adequate to 
protect against speech interference and sleep disturbance for 
residential, education, and healthcare NSAs.\3\ Given that the 55 dBA 
level is based on human activity, Interior is concerned that this level 
fails to account for impacts on species that may be more sensitive to 
noise. Interior urges that screening for such species be required for 
blanket certificate projects and asks the Commission to direct blanket 
project applicants to contact Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, 
along with the appropriate state fish and wildlife agency or state 
Natural Heritage Database, to identify the presence of threatened or 
endangered species and noise-sensitive species or habitats in the 
project vicinity. If there are such species or habitats, Interior would 
then require the project applicant to seek case-specific certificate 
authorization.
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    \3\ The Commission relied on this EPA designation in conducting 
its Environmental Assessment (EA) of the blanket certificate 
program, finding that compressors should not increase ambient noise 
levels at nearby NSAs above an Ldn of 55 dBA, since 55 
dBA is ``the maximum level which will not affect public health and 
welfare by interfering with speech or other activities in outdoor 
areas * * * [and consequently] should also ensure adequate 
protection for the indoor noise environment.'' Blanket Certification 
of Routine Gas Pipeline Transactions, EA at 25 (July 1981), citing 
EPA's Information on Levels of Environmental Noise Requisite to 
Protect Public Health and Welfare with an Adequate Margin of Safety 
(Washington, DC 1974).
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    8. While appropriate to most circumstances, the Commission 
recognizes that 55 dBA ought not be applied inflexibly or 
universally.\4\ That said, the Commission finds that potential adverse 
impacts on species and habitat due to noise are adequately taken into 
account by the requirement that all blanket certificate projects comply 
with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA).\5\ Compliance with the 
ESA effectively compels a blanket certificate holder to engage in the 
same screening and consultation that Interior requests for threatened 
and endangered species. Accordingly, the Commission expects the ESA 
compliance process will continue to provide the most appropriate means 
for assessing whether a proposed blanket certificate project's 
permitted noise level of 55 dBA might have significant adverse impacts 
on wildlife resources. In addition, the Commission notes that the 
expanded landowner notification requirement implemented herein should 
promote consideration of noise impacts on the use of land for non-
residential purposes, such as the cultivation of a domesticated noise-
sensitive species.
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    \4\ The EA reviewing the blanket certificate program noted the 
possibility that ``compressor facilities constructed in some rural 
areas could degrade a quiet environment because a blanket 
authorization would require little or no noise abatement in remote 
or unpopulated areas.'' Id. at 33.
    \5\ 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.
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B. INGAA's Comments

    9. The NOPR proposed that Sec.  157.206(b)(5)(ii) direct a blanket 
certificate project sponsor to measure ``noise attributable to the 
operation of the facility at full load.'' INGAA seeks clarification on 
conducting a post-project noise survey, asking whether ``the facility'' 
is intended to refer to the particular equipment added or modified 
under blanket certificate authorization, or whether ``the facility'' is 
intended to include all the facilities, i.e., both existing facilities 
as well as new or modified facilities located at a particular 
compressor site. In response to INGAA's request, we will revise Sec.  
157.206(b)(5)(ii) as described below.
    10. As a threshold measure, for a compressor facility to qualify 
for blanket certificate authorization, the facility must be designed to 
meet an Ldn of 55 dBA at NSAs when operating at full load. 
Requiring that a facility added or modified under blanket certificate 
authority meet this maximum noise limit is intended to ensure that 
there will not be a significant adverse environmental noise impact.\6\
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    \6\ See note 3.
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    11. With respect to noise impacts, the Commission will also 
consider the composite noise level of a compressor station's new and 
existing facilities. This is because a facility that meets an 
Ldn of 55 dBA, when added to a station currently operating 
an Ldn of 55 dBA, can cause the overall noise of the station 
to exceed an Ldn of 55 dBA. Thus, the Commission will 
require that an addition or modification to an existing compressor 
station that is operating at or below an Ldn of 55 dBA at 
NSAs must not cause overall noise attributable to the station to exceed 
an Ldn of 55 dBA at NSAs. Further, an addition or 
modification to an existing compressor station that is operating above 
an Ldn of 55 dBA at NSAs must not cause overall noise 
attributable to the station to increase at NSAs.
    12. To ensure adherence to these noise level limits, the Commission 
will require a company that relies on its blanket certificate to 
construct a new compressor station facility, or to add or modify a 
facility at an existing station, to submit a noise survey within 60 
days of placing the new or modified facility in service. The company 
must measure noise attributable to its new or modified facility 
operating at full load at NSAs. When a new or modified facility is 
placed in service at an existing compressor station, the company must 
also measure the overall post-project noise of the station operating at 
full load. If the measured noise exceeds the specified limits at NSAs, 
the company must bring its station into compliance within a year of the 
blanket certificate facility's in-service date. Within 60 days of 
completing its noise-mitigation measures, e.g., making modifications to 
noise-generating equipment or erecting a barrier between the station 
and NSAs, the company must submit a subsequent noise survey to the 
Commission demonstrating its compliance with the noise level limits.

IV. Information Collection Statement

    13. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require 
that OMB approve certain reporting, record keeping, and public 
disclosure requirements (collections of information) imposed by an 
agency.\7\ Upon approval of a collection of information, OMB will 
assign an OMB

[[Page 59941]]

control number and an expiration date. The only entities affected by 
this rule would be the natural gas companies under the Commission's 
jurisdiction.
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    \7\ 5 CFR 1320.11.
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    14. The information collection requirements in this Final Rule are 
identified as FERC-537, ``Gas Pipeline Certificates: Construction, 
Acquisition and Abandonment,'' which identifies the Commission's 
information collections relating to Part 157 of its regulations, which 
apply to natural gas facilities for which authorization under section 7 
of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) is required, and includes all blanket 
certificate projects, and FERC-577, ``Gas Pipeline Certificates: 
Environmental Impact Statements,'' which identifies the Commission's 
information collections relating to the requirements set forth in 
National Environmental Policy Act and Parts 2, 157, 284, and 380 of the 
Commission's regulations, and requires applicants to conduct 
appropriate studies necessary to determine the impact of the 
construction and operation of proposed jurisdictional facilities on 
human and natural resources, and the measures which may be necessary to 
protect the values of the affected area. These information collection 
requirements are mandatory.
    15. The revised regulations require that companies seeking to 
construct or alter compressor or LNG facilities notify all landowners 
within one-half mile of the boundary of the project site. This should 
necessitate only a nominal additional effort, since companies are 
already required to identify all landowners of record within one-half 
mile of the project site, and then notify the subset of those 
landowners that have a residence on their property. In practice, 
companies routinely give notice to all identified landowners, rather 
than take the extra step of segregating properties with residences from 
those without so as to give notice only to the former. In view of this 
practice, the Commission expects the time and cost to notify non-
residential landowners will prove to be de minimis.
    16. The Noise Control Act of 1972 established the requirement that 
all federal agencies administer their programs to promote an 
environment free of noise that jeopardizes public health and 
welfare.\8\ In 1974, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, acting 
to execute its responsibility to coordinate federal research and 
activities related to noise control, identified an Ldn of 55 
dBA as necessary to protect against speech interference and sleep 
disturbance for residential, educational, and healthcare activities. 
The revised regulations state that a company adding or altering 
compressor facilities under blanket certificate authority must submit a 
noise survey within 60 days of placing new facilities in service to 
demonstrate that noise attributable to the operation of the company's 
compressors does not exceed an Ldn of 55 dBA at nearby NSAs 
or increase noise at NSAs already in excess of an Ldn of 55 
dBA. The Commission does not view this as substantially modifying 
natural gas companies' existing obligations, since the proposed 
submission of a noise survey simply provides verification of compliance 
with the existing noise requirement. The same noise survey requirement 
is routinely applied to compressor projects subject to case-specific 
NGA section 7 certificate authority.\9\
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    \8\ 42 U.S.C. 4901, et seq.
    \9\ The potential cost savings to the industry that may be 
realized by enabling projects previously permitted only under case-
specific authority to proceed under the expanded blanket certificate 
program were discussed in the Final Rule in Order No. 686. With 
respect to the proposed noise survey, the Commission notes that 
case-specific projects require a noise survey both before and after 
construction. Thus, the relatively minor cost of conducting a post-
construction noise survey for a blanket certificate project is 
expected to be offset by the benefit of not having to also conduct a 
noise survey before construction, as would be necessary for a case-
specific certificate project.
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    17. The Commission is submitting these reporting requirements to 
OMB for its review and approval under Sec.  3507(d) of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995.\10\ The Commission solicited comments on the 
need for these regulatory revisions and the accuracy of estimated 
burden estimates, as well as how the quality, quantity, and clarity of 
the information to be collected might be enhanced, and any suggested 
methods for minimizing the respondent's burden. The comments submitted 
did not specifically address the new reporting requirements; 
accordingly, the Commission will use the same estimates here as in the 
NOPR.
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    \10\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d).
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    18. The Commission estimates it will require 32 hours to complete a 
noise survey, and expects the additional burden to be modest, given 
that in 2006 only two compressor projects went forward under blanket 
certificate authority. For the purpose of estimating burden hours, the 
Commission anticipates five such projects in the future.

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                                                                  Number of
               Data collection                   Number of        responses/    Number of hours    Total annual
                                                respondents        Filings        per response        hours
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FERC-537 (Part 157).........................               5                5               32              160
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    Information Collection Costs: The above reflects the total 
reporting burden associated with the proposed broadening of the 
landowner notification requirement. Because of the regional differences 
and the various staffing levels that will be involved in preparing the 
documentation (legal, technical, and support) the Commission is using 
an hourly rate of $150 to estimate the costs for filing and other 
administrative processes (reviewing instructions, searching data 
sources, completing and transmitting the collection of information). 
The estimated cost per project is $4,800, with an estimated annual 
total of $24,000.
    Title: FERC-537.
    Action: Proposed Data Collection.
    OMB Control Nos.: 1902-0060 and 1902-0128.
    Respondents: Natural gas pipeline companies.
    Frequency of Responses: On occasion.
    Necessity of Information: Submission of the information is 
necessary for the Commission to carry out its NGA statutory 
responsibilities and meet the Commission's objectives of expediting 
appropriate infrastructure development to ensure sufficient energy 
supplies while addressing landowner and environmental concerns fairly. 
Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting requirements 
by contacting: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Michael Miller, Office of the 
Executive Director]. Phone: (202) 502-8415, fax: (202) 273-0873, e-
mail: [email protected] or the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 
20503 [Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission].

[[Page 59942]]

V. Environmental Analysis

    19. The Commission is required to prepare an EA or an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for any action that may have a significant 
adverse effect on the human environment.\11\ In promulgating the 
blanket certificate program in 1982, the Commission prepared an EA in 
which it determined that, subject to compliance with the standard 
environmental conditions, projects under the blanket program would not 
have a significant adverse environmental impact. In particular, the EA 
concluded that an Ldn of 55 dBA at NSAs would be adequate to 
avoid interfering with speech or other activities in outdoor areas and 
ensure adequate protection for the indoor noise environment. As 
discussed herein, the Commission is expanding landowner notification 
and requiring the submission of a post-project noise survey for blanket 
certificate activities involving compressor facilities. Because these 
actions serve to better inform the public of proposed projects and to 
further ensure and verify that no blanket certificate project has a 
significant adverse environmental impact, these regulatory revisions do 
not constitute a major federal action that may have a significant 
adverse effect on the human environment.
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    \11\ Order No. 486, Regulations Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act, 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & 
Regs., Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987).
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VI. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

    20. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \12\ generally 
requires a description and analysis of regulations that will have 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
The Commission is not required to make such an analysis if regulations 
would not have such an effect.\13\ Under the industry standards used 
for purposes of the RFA, a natural gas pipeline company qualifies as 
``a small entity'' if it has annual revenues of $6.5 million or less. 
Most companies regulated by the Commission do not fall within the RFA's 
definition of a small entity.\14\
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    \12\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612.
    \13\ 5 U.S.C. 605(b) (2000).
    \14\ 5 U.S.C. 601(3), citing to section 3 of the Small Business 
Act, 15 U.S.C. 623 (2000). Section 3 of the Small Business Act 
defines a ``small-business concern'' as a business which is 
independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its 
field of operation.
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    21. This order's regulatory revisions will have no significant 
economic impact on those entities--be they large or small--subject to 
the Commission's regulatory jurisdiction under NGA section 3 or 7, and 
no significant economic impact on state agencies. Accordingly, the 
Commission certifies that these regulatory revisions will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

VII. Document Availability

    22. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and print the contents of this document via the 
Internet through FERC's Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's 
Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426. 
User assistance is available for FERC's Web site during normal business 
hours from FERC's Online Support at 202-502-6652, toll free at 1-866-
208-3676, or by e-mail at [email protected], and from the 
Public Reference Room at 202-502-8371, TTY at 202-502-8659, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

VIII. Effective Date and Congressional Notification

    23. This Final Rule will take effect November 23, 2007. The 
Commission has determined with the concurrence of the Administrator of 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget, that this rule is not a major rule within the meaning of 
section 251 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 
of 1996.\15\ The Commission will submit this Final Rule to both houses 
of Congress and the Government Accountability Office.\16\
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    \15\ See 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    \16\ See 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
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List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 157

    Administrative practice and procedure, Natural gas, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    By the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Acting Deputy Secretary.

0
In consideration of the foregoing, part 157, Chapter I, Title 18, Code 
of Federal Regulations, is amended as follows:

PART 157--APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND 
NECESSITY AND FOR ORDERS PERMITTING AND APPROVING ABANDONMENT UNDER 
SECTION 7 OF THE NATURAL GAS ACT

0
1. The authority citation for part 157 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 717-717w.


0
2. In Sec.  157.6, paragraph (d)(2)(iii) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  157.6  Applications; general requirements.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (iii) Is within one-half mile of proposed compressors or their 
enclosures or LNG facilities; or
* * * * *
0
3. In Sec.  157.206, paragraph (b)(5)(ii) is redesignated as paragraph 
(b)(5)(iii) and a new paragraph (b)(5)(ii) is added, to read as 
follows:


Sec.  157.206  Standard conditions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (5) * * *
    (ii) A compressor facility installed under this section must be 
designed to meet the following noise emissions criteria. For each new 
compressor station facility, and for each addition or modification to 
an existing compression station, the blanket certificate holder must 
file a noise survey with the Secretary within 60 days of placing the 
facility in service.
    (A) If noise emitted from a new compressor facility operating at 
full load exceeds an Ldn of 55 dBA at any noise-sensitive 
area (NSA), or if an addition or modification to an existing compressor 
station operating at full load at or below an Ldn of 55 dBA 
at NSAs causes overall noise attributable to the station to exceed an 
Ldn of 55 dBA at an NSA, the blanket certificate holder must 
come into compliance with an Ldn of 55 dBA at NSAs within 1 
year of placing the facility in service.
    (B) If an addition or modification to an existing compressor 
station operating at full load above an Ldn of 55 dBA at 
NSAs causes overall noise attributable to the station to increase at an 
NSA, the blanket certificate holder must act within 1 year of placing 
the added or modified facility in service to reduce noise at NSAs to 
the level that existed prior to the addition or modification.
    (C) If the initial noise survey demonstrates a need to take action 
to mitigate noise, within 60 days of completing such action, the 
blanket certificate holder must file a subsequent noise survey with the 
Secretary demonstrating that each new compressor station facility, and 
each addition or modification to an existing

[[Page 59943]]

compressor station, complies with the noise level limits.
* * * * *

 [FR Doc. E7-20804 Filed 10-22-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P