[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78986-78988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31707]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP11-40-000; CP10-34-000]


East Cheyenne Gas Storage, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the East Cheyenne Gas Storage Project Well 
Plan Amendment and Request for Comments On Environmental Issues

December 13, 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 Well Plan Amendment proposed 
by East Cheyenne Gas Storage, LLC (East Cheyenne). The proposed project 
would amend the East Cheyenne Gas Storage Project, authorized by the 
Commission on August 2, 2010 under Docket No. CP10-34-000, which 
consists of construction and operation of facilities in Logan County, 
Colorado. The proposed amendment primarily involves redeveloping a 
number of existing oil production wells in the West Peetz and Lewis 
Creek Fields to gas storage injection/withdrawal (I/W) wells. This EA 
will be used by the Commission in its decision-making process to 
determine whether the project amendment 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 amendment. 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 January 13, 2011.
    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 amendment 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 East Cheyenne 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 also available for viewing on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    The authorized East Cheyenne Gas Storage Project consists of 
construction and operation of a natural gas storage facility in two 
nearly depleted oil production fields in Logan County, Colorado. Prior 
to, and concurrent with development of the gas storage fields, East 
Cheyenne planned to do enhanced oil recovery (EOR) of petroleum 
reserves remaining in the storage fields. East Cheyenne's activities to 
date have included the conversion or plugging of existing wells in the 
West Peetz Field. The East Cheyenne Gas Storage Project is anticipated 
to have an initial working gas storage capacity of approximately 9.8 
billion cubic feet (Bcf), which would increase to approximately 18.9 
Bcf between 3 and 5 years after operation begins.
    The proposed Well Plan Amendment consists of the following changes 
to the East Cheyenne Gas Storage Project:
     Conversion of 14 existing vertical oil production wells 
into natural gas storage I/W wells;
     Relocation of two of the certificated I/W wells, and the 
development of these wells as vertical wells rather than horizontal 
wells;
     Relocation of two of the originally certificated 
monitoring wells and the addition of three monitoring wells, using 
existing well pads and well bores;
     Reduction of the number of water disposal wells from four 
to three;
     Construction of additional gathering lines necessary to 
connect the additional and relocated wells;
     Conversion of 17 originally proposed and certificated 
temporary access roads to permanent access roads;
     Elimination of the temporary West Peetz Compressor 
Station; and
     Modification of the equipment to be used in the Process 
Facility to incorporate certain equipment previously included as part 
of the temporary West Peetz Compressor Station.
    East Cheyenne proposes to amend its project because of recently 
acquired information about the existing conditions in the J Sands 
reservoir. As part of its EOR activities, East Cheyenne has reentered 
and evaluated the adequacy of previously plugged and abandoned wells 
and at the same time tested the characteristics of the reservoir. In 
response to new information, East Cheyenne undertook additional 
consultation and performed additional reservoir modeling. These 
consultations and modeling efforts suggest that the optimal method of 
commencing storage development and early storage operations will 
require an increased number of I/W wells and the conversion of 
horizontal wells to vertical wells.
    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 approved East Cheyenne Gas Storage Project involved storing 
natural gas in nearly depleted reservoirs that underlie an area of 
approximately 2,360 acres, with an additional 3,400 acres serving as a 
storage buffer area. The

[[Page 78987]]

additional proposed facilities would all be located in previously 
surveyed areas within the project site. Construction of the proposed 
facilities within that area would require in total approximately 485.84 
acres of land; an increase of 89.33 acres from the original project 
total of 396.51 acres. Following construction, about 201.39 acres would 
be maintained within the permanent right-of-way; an increase of 50.61 
acres from the original project total of 150.78 acres. The remaining 
284.45 acres of land would be restored and allowed to revert to its 
former 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 
\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 amendment under 
these general headings:
     Geology and soils;
     Land use;
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     Cultural resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Air quality and noise;
     Endangered and threatened species; and
     Public safety.
    We will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the proposed 
project or portions of the project amendment, 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 below.
    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.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project amendment. 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 
January 13, 2011.
    For your convenience, there are three methods which you can use to 
submit your comments to the Commission. In all instances please 
reference the project docket number (CP11-40-000) with your submission. 
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 eComment 
feature, which is located on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and Filings. An eComment is an 
easy method for interested persons to submit brief, text-only comments 
on a project;
    (2) You may file your comments electronically by using the eFiling 
feature, which is located on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the link to Documents and Filings. With eFiling you 
can provide comments in a variety of formats by attaching them as a 
file with your submission. New eFiling users must first create an 
account by clicking on ``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; 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) who are potential right-of-way 
grantors, whose property may be used temporarily for project purposes, 
or who own homes 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.

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 website.

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., CP11-40). 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

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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. 2010-31707 Filed 12-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P