[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 20, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37032-37034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15034]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF12-14-000]


Questar Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Planned JL 47 Loop Project, Request 
for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of Onsite Review

    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 JL 47 Loop Project, involving 
construction and operation of facilities by Questar Pipeline Company 
(Questar) in Duchesne County, Utah. The Commission will use this EA 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 they need to evaluate in the EA. Please note that 
the scoping period will close on July 16, 2012.
    The Commission staff will also conduct an environmental site review 
of the planned JL 47 Loop Project route. All interested parties 
planning to attend must provide their own transportation. Those 
attending should meet at the following locations:

FERC Environmental Site Review JL 47 Loop Project

Holiday Inn Express, 1515 West U.S. Highway 40, Vernal, UT, June 27, 
2012, at 8 a.m.

    Because of the driving distance, we will be leaving promptly at 8 
a.m.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this project. State and local government 
representatives should notify their constituents of this planned 
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a pipeline company 
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to 
construct, operate, and maintain the planned facilities. The company 
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement. However, if 
the Commission approves the project, that approval conveys with it the 
right of eminent domain. Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to 
produce an agreement, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation 
proceedings where compensation 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 available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (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

    Questar plans to construct and operate up to about 14.7 miles of 
16-inch-diameter loop pipeline \1\ from its Main Lines 40/104 at Pete's 
Wash northward to its Brundage Mountain Area receipt point (about 6 
miles south of Myton), all in Duchesne County, Utah. The planned loop 
would be co-located with Questar's existing Jurisdictional Lateral (JL) 
47 and Jurisdictional Tie Lateral 78 pipelines except where deviations 
are necessary to avoid other existing natural gas facilities or terrain 
constraints. The project would increase transportation capacity by 
about 60,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day. Questar states its 
project would provide much-needed capacity to transport Uinta Basin 
production to major delivery markets.
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    \1\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed parallel to 
an existing pipeline to increase capacity.
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    The JL 47 Loop Project would consist of the following facilities:
     Up to about 14.7 miles of 16-inch-diameter steel pipeline 
loop;
     A tie-in to Questar's existing Main Line 40 at Pete's Wash 
(milepost 0), consisting of ancillary valves and a pig receiver; \2\
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    \2\ A ``pig'' is a tool that is inserted into and pushed through 
the pipeline for cleaning, conducting internal inspections, or other 
purposes.
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     A tap and valve at milepost 12.5 (North Monument Butte 
Area Tap); and
     A meter, ancillary valves, and pig launcher at milepost 
14.7 (Brundage Mountain Area Tap).
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
1.\3\
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    \3\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of the appendices were sent to all 
those receiving this notice in the mail and are available at 
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

    Construction of the planned facilities would disturb about 186 
acres of land for the aboveground facilities and the pipeline. A 
majority of the land required for the project is managed by the U.S. 
Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, Vernal 
District. Following construction, Questar would maintain about 89 acres 
for permanent operation of the project's facilities; the remaining 
acreage would be restored and revert to former uses. About 82 percent 
of the planned pipeline route parallels existing pipeline, utility, or 
road rights-of-way.

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the 
Commission to take into account the potential 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 \4\ 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

[[Page 37033]]

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. We will consider all filed comments during the 
preparation of the EA.
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    \4\ ``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 planned project under these 
general headings:
     Geology and soils;
     Land use;
     Water resources;
     Cultural resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife; and
     Endangered and threatened species.
    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the planned 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 Commission's pre-filing process. 
The purpose of the pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement 
of interested stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before 
the FERC receives an application. As part of our pre-filing review, we 
have begun to contact some federal and state agencies to discuss their 
involvement in the scoping process and the preparation of the EA.
    The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. The EA 
will be available in the public record through the Commission's 
eLibrary. Depending on the comments received during the scoping 
process, we may also publish and distribute the EA to the public for an 
allotted comment period. We will consider all comments on the EA before 
we make our recommendations to the Commission. To ensure we have the 
opportunity to consider and address your comments, please carefully 
follow the instructions in the Public Participation section beginning 
on page 5.
    With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction by law 
and/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues 
related to this project to formally cooperate with us in the 
preparation of the EA.\5\ 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. Currently, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land 
Management/Vernal District has expressed its intention to participate 
as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA to satisfy its 
NEPA responsibilities related to this project.
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    \5\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are found at title 40 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations, 1501.6.
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Consultations Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation 
Act

    In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 
implementing regulations for section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act, we are using this notice to initiate consultation 
with the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, and to solicit its 
views and those of other government agencies, interested Indian tribes, 
and the public on the project's potential effects on historic 
properties.\6\ We will define the project-specific Area of Potential 
Effect in consultation with the Utah State Historic Preservation Office 
as the project develops. On natural gas facility projects, the Area of 
Potential Effect, at a minimum, encompasses all locations subject to 
ground disturbance (examples include the construction right-of-way, 
contractor/pipe storage yards, and access roads). Our EA for this 
project will document our findings on the impacts on historic 
properties and summarize the status of consultations under section 106.
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    \6\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regulations 
are found at title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 800. 
Those regulations define historic properties 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 the Commission receives them in Washington, DC on or before July 
16, 2012.
    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. In all instances, please reference the 
project docket number (PF12-14-000) with your submission. The 
Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has expert 
staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or [email protected].
    (1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment 
feature located on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the 
link to Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for interested 
persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project;
    (2) You can file your comments electronically using the eFiling 
feature located on the Commission's Web site (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 must select the type of filing you are making. If 
you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select 
``Comment on a Filing''; or
    (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
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) 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 
planned project. If we publish and distribute the EA, copies will be 
sent to the environmental mailing list for public review and comment. 
If you wish to receive no further mailings concerning environmental 
review of Questar's planned JL 47 Lateral Project, please use the 
return mailer attached as appendix 2 to notify us and you will be 
deleted from the environmental mailing list.

Becoming an Intervenor

    Once Questar files its application with the Commission, 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

[[Page 37034]]

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 in 
the User's Guide under the ``e-filing'' 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 the Commission 
receives a formal application for the project.

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 (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., PF12-
14). 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 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 www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    Finally, public meetings or additional site visits will be posted 
on the Commission's calendar located at www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related information.

    Dated: June 14, 2012.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-15034 Filed 6-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P