[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 151 (Friday, August 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47573-47576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19942]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[FERC Docket No. PF09-11-000]


TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Planned Alaska Pipeline Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) that 
will discuss the environmental impacts of the planned Alaska Pipeline 
Project (APP). The project under review is a new natural gas pipeline 
system that would transport natural gas produced on the Alaska North 
Slope (ANS) to the Alaska-Canada border for onward delivery to markets 
in North America. The APP is being advanced jointly by TransCanada 
Alaska Company, LLC and ExxonMobil Alaska Midstream Gas Investments, 
LLC (``project proponent''). This EIS will be used by the Commission in 
its decision-making process regarding issuance of a Certificate of 
Public Convenience and Necessity (Certificate) under the provisions of 
section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the Alaska Natural Gas 
Pipeline Act of 2004 (ANGPA).\1\
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    \1\ The project proponent is also considering an alternative 
proposal to build a natural gas pipeline to Valdez, Alaska for 
delivery into a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for liquefaction 
and export to global LNG markets. Because the Commission has 
received very little information on the LNG plant and the associated 
pipeline, the Valdez proposal is not sufficiently developed for the 
FERC to include in the environmental review at this time.
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    This notice explains the scoping process that the Commission will 
use to gather comments from the public and interested agencies on the 
planned project. Your input will help the Commission staff determine 
the issues that need to be evaluated in the EIS and help to focus the 
analysis on potentially significant environmental issues. Because of 
the magnitude of the proposal, the scoping period will remain open for 
an extended period, closing on February 27, 2012. This is not your only 
public input opportunity; please refer to the Environmental Review 
Process flow chart in Attachment 1.

[[Page 47574]]

    Comments may be submitted in writing or verbally. Further details 
on how to submit written comments are provided in the ``Public 
Participation'' section of this notice. In lieu of or in addition to 
sending written comments, the Commission invites you to attend public 
scoping meetings to provide verbal and/or written comments on the 
project.
    A schedule of the public scoping meeting dates, locations, and 
times will be issued in a separate notice at least one month prior to 
the date of the meetings. The meetings are tentatively scheduled to 
occur during January and February 2012.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this project. The environmental mailing list includes 
potentially affected landowners (crossed by or adjacent to the project 
route); landowners within 0.5 mile of compressor station sites; 
Federal, state, and local government agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; Alaska Native tribes; local 
libraries and newspapers; and other interested parties. State, local, 
and tribal government representatives are asked to notify their 
constituents of this planned project and encourage them to comment on 
their areas of concern.
    If you are a potentially affected landowner receiving this notice, 
you may be contacted by the project proponent about permission to 
conduct surveys, and the acquisition of an easement to construct, 
operate, and maintain the planned facilities. The project proponent 
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable easement agreement. If 
the project is approved by the Commission, that approval conveys with 
it the right of eminent domain for securing facility easements. 
Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the 
project proponent could initiate condemnation proceedings where 
compensation for the necessary easement would be determined 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?'' is included for the 
potentially affected landowners identified along the proposed route and 
is available for viewing on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). 
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.

Summary of the Planned Project

    The APP would involve construction and operation of a new pipeline 
system to transport up to 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day 
(Bcfd). Specifically, the planned project includes the following major 
components in Alaska:
     About 58 miles of 32-inch-diameter pipeline and associated 
aboveground facilities (the Point Thomson Pipeline) from the processing 
plant at the Point Thomson Field to a planned gas treatment plant (GTP) 
near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska;
     A new GTP near Prudhoe Bay capable of producing up to 4.5 
Bcfd of pipeline-quality gas;
     About 745 miles of 48-inch-diameter pipeline and 
associated aboveground ancillary and auxiliary facilities (the Alaska 
Mainline) from the GTP to the Alaska-Yukon border. The Alaska Mainline 
would have a maximum allowable operating pressure of 2,500 pounds per 
square inch;
     Construction of at least five delivery points, eight 
compressor stations, two meter stations, various mainline block valves, 
and pig launching/receiving facilities; \2\ and
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    \2\ A ``pig'' is a tool that is inserted into and moves through 
the pipeline, and is used for cleaning the inside surface of the 
pipeline, internal inspections, and other purposes.
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     Associated infrastructure such as access roads, helipads, 
construction camps, pipe storage areas, contractor yards, borrow sites, 
and dock modifications and dredging at Prudhoe Bay.
    The planned Alaska Mainline would start at the GTP and generally 
follow the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System crude oil pipeline 
(TAPS) and adjacent highways southeast to Delta Junction, Alaska. From 
Delta Junction, the mainline would diverge from TAPS and generally 
follow the Alaska Highway southeast to the Alaska-Yukon border. At the 
Alaska-Yukon border, the pipeline would interconnect to a new pipeline 
in Canada to deliver gas to North American markets through the Alberta 
Hub or other facilities with existing off-take capacity at or near the 
British Columbia/Alberta border. A map depicting the general location 
of project facilities is included as attachment 2.\3\
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    \3\ Attachment 1 (Environmental Review Process), attachment 2 
(APP General Location Map) and attachment 3 (Mailing List/
Environmental Document Request Form) are not being printed in the 
Federal Register. Copies are available on the Commission's 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 ``Availability of Additional 
Information'' section at the end of this notice. The General Project 
Map and Mailing List/Environmental Document Request Form were sent 
to all those receiving this notice in the mail.
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    The project proponent anticipates filing a formal application with 
the FERC in October 2012, starting construction of the APP in the 
fourth quarter of 2014, and placing the pipeline system into service in 
the third quarter of 2020.

Land Requirements for Construction

    The project proponent plans to use a nominal 145- to 200-foot-wide 
construction right-of-way for the majority of the pipeline routes. 
Additional temporary work areas would be required where the pipeline 
routes cross certain features (e.g., waterbodies, wetlands, steep 
slopes, roads, and railroads); for staging areas, pipe yards, and 
contractors' yards; and for widening certain roads for project access.
    On the basis of preliminary information, the project proponent 
estimates that construction of the APP would disturb about 19,900 acres 
of land. About 10,200 acres of this land would be retained after 
construction for a proposed 100-foot-wide permanent right-of-way and 
the aboveground facility sites (such as compressor stations). The 
remaining acreage would be restored and allowed to revert to former 
uses following construction.

The EIS Process

    Under section 104 of the ANGPA, Congress designated the FERC as the 
lead Federal agency for preparation of an EIS that consolidates all 
involved Federal agency environmental reviews. The ANGPA directed that 
involved Federal agencies adopt this EIS to satisfy their individual 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) responsibilities.
    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 under 
section 7 of the NGA. NEPA also requires us \4\ to identify 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 EIS on important environmental issues. By this notice, 
the Commission requests public comments on the scope of the issues to 
be addressed in the EIS. All comments received during the scoping 
period will be considered during the preparation of the EIS. To ensure 
your comments are considered, please carefully follow the instructions 
in the

[[Page 47575]]

Public Participation section of this notice.
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    \4\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the FERC's Office of Energy Projects.
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    In the EIS, we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and operation of the planned project under the 
following general headings:
     Geology and soils:
     Land use, recreation, and visual resources;
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     Cultural resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Socioeconomics and subsistence;
     Air quality and noise;
     Endangered and threatened species; and
     Public health and safety.
    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the planned project 
or portions of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen 
or avoid impacts on the various resources.
    Although no formal application has been filed, we have already 
initiated our NEPA review under the FERC's pre-filing process.\5\ The 
purpose of the pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement of 
interested stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before an 
application is filed with the FERC. As part of our pre-filing review, 
we have already started to meet with the project proponent, 
jurisdictional agencies, Alaska Native tribes, local officials, and 
other interested stakeholders to discuss the project and identify 
issues/impacts and concerns. We also participated in 24 public open 
house meetings in Alaska hosted by the project proponent in March, 
April, May, and June 2011. Additionally, we have been meeting with 
interested state and Federal agencies to discuss their possible 
involvement in the scoping process and the preparation of the EIS.
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    \5\ The FERC granted the project proponent's request to begin 
the pre-filing process on May 1, 2009.
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    Our independent analysis of the issues identified during the 
scoping process will be presented in the EIS. The draft EIS will be 
published and distributed for a 45-day public review and comment 
period. We will consider all timely comments and revise the document, 
as necessary, before issuing a final EIS.
    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 EIS. 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. Thus 
far, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. 
Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 
Administration, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Coast Guard, Eielson Air 
Force Base, and the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska 
Natural Gas Transportation Projects have agreed to participate as 
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the EIS.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified a number of issues that we think deserve 
attention based on the public open houses, interagency meetings, and 
our review of the information provided by the project proponent. This 
preliminary list of issues may be changed based on your comments and 
our analysis.
     Permafrost, Soils, and Reclamation:
--Construction limitations and slope stabilization in steep terrain and 
permafrost.
--Potential for problematic reclamation due to poor soils and 
permafrost conditions.
--Material, design, and operations and maintenance procedures/
specifications for permafrost and subsidence locations.
--Potential for introduction or spread of invasive and/or noxious 
species of vegetation during and after construction.
     Cultural Resources:

--Impacts on traditional Alaska Native culture, historic sites, and 
landscapes.

     Water Resources and Wetlands:

--Effects of construction and operation on waterbodies and wetlands.
--Effects of dredging and dumping dredged material into ocean waters.

     Fish, Wildlife, Vegetation, and Sensitive Species:

--Effects of project construction on fish and wildlife and their 
habitat, including federally listed threatened and endangered species, 
migratory birds, and big game species.
--Effects of water depletion from hydrostatic testing and ice road 
construction.

     Seismic Activity and Geohazards:
--Pipeline design in seismically active areas.
--Construction in geohazard areas.

     Land Use, Recreation, and Special Interest Areas:

--Impacts on wilderness characteristics.
--Impacts on existing conservation system units (e.g., Tetlin National 
Wildlife Refuge).
--Private land crossings.
--Impacts on recreation (e.g., fishing, hunting, boating, camping, 
hiking, skiing, mushing, and snowmachining).

     Socioeconomics:

--Effects of construction workforce demands on public services and 
temporary housing.
--Economic impacts on local communities.
--Environmental Justice.

     Subsistence and Public Health:

--Effects of construction and operation on fish, wildlife, marine 
mammal, and plant species used for subsistence.
--Impacts on access to subsistence resources.
--Health impacts on local communities.
     Air Quality and Noise

--Impacts on areas of air quality nonattainment.

     Reliability and Safety:
--Crossings of the TAPS.
--Corrosion protection.
--Potential hazards to the planned facilities from wildfires.
--Assessment of security associated with operation of the facilities.
     Cumulative Impacts:

--Effects of the APP when combined with other actions in the same 
region.
--Impacts from siting multiple utilities within the same corridor.
--Potential for the new corridors to attract future utility lines.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the planned 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 
February 27, 2012.
    For your convenience, there are three methods that you can use to 
submit written comments to the Commission. In all instances, please 
reference the project docket number (PF09-11-000) 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].

[[Page 47576]]

    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 mail a paper copy of your comments to the Commission at 
the following address: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426.

Environmental Mailing List

    We are developing an environmental mailing list that will be used 
to provide interested parties with information on the EIS process and 
opportunities for public participation, including distribution of the 
draft EIS for public review. The environmental mailing list includes 
Federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies; 
Alaska Native tribes and village corporations; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; 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. 
If you received this notice, you are currently on the environmental 
mailing list for the APP. 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 
planned project.
    Copies of the completed draft EIS will be sent to individuals on 
the environmental mailing list for public review and comment. If you 
would prefer to receive a paper copy instead of the CD version or would 
like to remove your name from the mailing list, please return the 
attached Environmental Document Request Form (attachment 3).

Becoming an Intervenor

    Once the project proponent formally files its application with the 
Commission, you may want to become an official party to the proceeding 
known as an ``intervenor.'' 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 a Commission proceeding by 
filing a request to intervene. Instructions for becoming an intervenor 
are included in the User's Guide under the ``eFiling'' link on the 
Commission's Web site. Please note that the Commission will not accept 
requests for intervenor status at this time. You must wait until a 
formal application for the APP is filed with the Commission. You do not 
need intervener status to have your environmental comments considered.

Additional Information

    Additional information is available from FERC's Office of External 
Affairs at (866) 208-FERC (3372) or on the FERC 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 (i.e., PF09-11). 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 on the FERC Web site also provides access to the text of formal 
documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and 
rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission offers a free service called 
eSubscription that 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. To register for this service, go to the eSubscription 
link on the FERC Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp).
    Also, the project proponent has established a Web site for the APP 
at http://www.thealaskapipelineproject.com. The Web site includes a 
description of the project as well as project maps and links to related 
documents. Information can also be obtained by calling the project 
proponent directly at (877) 625-8679 (toll free) or (907) 564-3660.

    Dated: August 1, 2011.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-19942 Filed 8-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P