[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 68 (Friday, April 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18198-18200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8066]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP10-78-000]


CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Line L Abandonment 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

April 2, 2010.
    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 Line L Abandonment Project 
involving abandonment of facilities by CenterPoint Energy Gas 
Transmission Company (CenterPoint) in Hot Spring, Clark, Nevada and 
Columbia Counties, Arkansas. This 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 process the 
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. Your input will help the Commission staff 
determine what issues need to be evaluated in the EA. Please note that 
the scoping period will close on May 3, 2010.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this project. State and local government 
representatives are asked to notify their constituents of this planned 
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    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 CenterPoint provided to landowners. This fact sheet 
addresses a number of typically-asked questions, including how to 
participate in the Commission's proceedings. It is also available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    According to CenterPoint, Line L has been inactive for over three 
years, is deteriorated and obsolete, does not meet the requirements of 
new pipeline safety regulations, and is no longer needed to provide 
service to its customers. Therefore, CenterPoint proposes to abandon 
approximately 90.7 miles of predominantly 18'' diameter pipeline 
(including some 10'' and 20'' diameter segments) through Hot Spring, 
Clark, Nevada and Columbia counties in southern Arkansas. The proposed 
abandoned pipeline is known as ``Line L''. Approximately 0.8 mile of 
non-collocated segments along Line L would be abandoned by removal. 
Various other above-ground facilities associated with Line L would be 
removed. Line L would be cut and capped at each end to isolate it from 
the rest of CenterPoint's system. The remaining portions of Line L 
(approximately 89.9 miles) would be abandoned in-place and are located 
within or adjacent to easements associated with other active 
CenterPoint owned and operated pipelines. Following pipeline 
abandonment activities, CenterPoint would retain

[[Page 18199]]

rights to the permanent easement associated with Line L along the full 
length of the existing pipeline.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 
1.\1\
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    \1\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of appendices were sent to 
all those receiving this notice in the mail and are available at 
http://www.ferc.gov using the link called ``eLibrary'' 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.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    The removal of approximately 0.8 mile of Line L and above-ground 
facilities would be conducted at numerous points along the pipeline and 
would require a total of about 15.2 acres of temporary workspace. 
Property restoration would be conducted in accordance with any 
agreements between CenterPoint and the landowner, or as requested by 
the landowner and consistent with CenterPoint's restoration and 
maintenance standards. CenterPoint would preserve mature trees to the 
extent possible, and lawns and landscaping within the affected 
workspace areas would be restored following removal of the pipeline 
segments.

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 
\2\ 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, the Commission 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.
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    \2\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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    In the EA we 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;
     Land use;
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     Cultural resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Air quality and noise; and
     Endangered and threatened species.
    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 presented in the EA. 
The EA will be placed in the public record and, depending on the 
comments received during the scoping process, may be published and 
distributed to the public. A comment period will be allotted if the EA 
is published for review. 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 beginning on page 4.
    With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction and/or 
special expertise with respect to environmental issues to formally 
cooperate with us in the preparation of the EA. These agencies may 
choose to participate once they have evaluated the proposal relative to 
their responsibilities. Agencies that would like to request cooperating 
agency status should follow the instructions for filing comments 
provided under the Public Participation section of this notice.

Consultations Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act

    In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 
implementing regulations, we are using this notice to solicit the views 
of the public on the project's potential effects on historic 
properties.\3\ We will document our findings on the impacts on cultural 
resources and summarize the status of consultations under section 106 
of the National Historic Preservation Act in our EA.
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    \3\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations 
are at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 800. Historic 
properties are defined in those regulations as any prehistoric or 
historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in 
or eligible for inclusion in the National Register for Historic 
Places.
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Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. Your comments should focus on 
the potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and 
measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts. The more specific 
your comments, the more useful they will be. To ensure that your 
comments are timely and properly recorded, please send your comments so 
that they will be received in Washington, DC, on or before May 3, 2010.
    For your convenience, there are three methods which you can use to 
submit your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages 
electronic filing of comments and has expert eFiling staff available to 
assist you at (202) 502-8258 or [email protected].
    (1) You may file your comments electronically by using the Quick 
Comment feature, which is located at http://www.ferc.gov under the link 
called Documents and Filings. A Quick Comment is an easy method for 
interested persons to submit text-only comments on a project;
    (2) You may file your comments electronically by using the 
``eFiling'' feature that is listed under the Documents and Filings 
link. eFiling involves preparing your submission in the same manner as 
you would if filing on paper, and then saving the file on your 
computer's hard drive. You will attach that file to your submission. 
New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on the links 
called Sign up or eRegister. You will be asked to select the type of 
filing you are making. A comment on a particular project is considered 
a ``Comment on a Filing''; or
    (3) You may file a paper copy of your comments at the following 
address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.

Environmental Mailing List

    The environmental mailing list includes Federal, State, and local 
government representatives and agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; Native American Tribes; other 
interested parties; and local libraries and newspapers. This list also 
includes all affected landowners (as defined in the Commission's 
regulations) whose property may be used temporarily for project 
purposes, or who own land within certain distances of aboveground 
facilities, and anyone who submits comments on the project. We will 
update the environmental mailing list as the analysis proceeds to 
ensure that we send the information related to this environmental 
review to all individuals, organizations, and government entities 
interested in and/or potentially affected by the proposed project.
    If the EA is published for distribution, copies will be sent to the 
environmental mailing list for public review and comment. If you would 
prefer to receive a paper copy of the document instead of the CD 
version or would like to remove

[[Page 18200]]

your name from the mailing list, please return the attached Information 
Request (Appendix 2).

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an ``intervenor'' which is an official party to the 
Commission's proceeding. Intervenors play a more formal role in the 
process and are able to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be heard 
by the courts if they choose to appeal the Commission's final ruling. 
An intervenor formally participates in the proceeding by filing a 
request to intervene. Instructions for becoming an intervenor are 
included in the User's Guide under the ``e-filing'' link on the 
Commission's Web site.

Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC Web site at 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 
(i.e., CP10-78). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. 
For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll free at (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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-8066 Filed 4-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P