[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 71 (Friday, April 12, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21931-21933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08598]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP13-83-000]


Arlington Storage Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Seneca Lake Storage Facility 
Gallery 2 Expansion Project, and Request for Comments on Environmental 
Issues

    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 Arlington Storage Company, LLC 
(Arlington Storage) Seneca Lake Storage Facility Gallery 2 Expansion 
Project (Project). The expansion would be accomplished through the 
conversion of two existing interconnected bedded salt caverns 
(collectively known as ``Gallery 2''), previously used for liquid 
propane gas (LPG) storage, to natural gas storage. The Project is 
located in Schuyler County, New York on the west side of Seneca Lake in 
the Town of Reading (Figure 1). 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 project scoping period will close on May 3, 2013. Further details 
on how to submit written comments are provided in the Public 
Participation section of this notice.
    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this project as described under the Environmental 
Mailing List Section of this notice. State and local government 
representatives are asked to notify their constituents of this proposed 
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
    The Project would be constructed on land owned by Arlington Storage 
or its affiliate U.S. Salt Corporation, within an area used for salt 
mining and/or natural gas activities. Project work areas have been 
previously disturbed through historical solution mining operations for 
salt production and LPG storage. Development of the caverns at Gallery 
2 began in 1958 by the International Salt Company. The gallery caverns 
were used for brine production until 1964

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when they were converted to LPG storage until 1984 when the caverns 
were emptied of LPG and filled with salt water for preservation. No 
residential lands would be crossed and no unaffiliated landowners would 
be directly affected by the proposed work.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    The proposed Project would consist of converting two existing 
interconnected bedded salt caverns, previously used for LPG storage, 
and related facilities (collectively known as ``Gallery 2'') to natural 
gas storage. The addition of Gallery 2 would add an incremental 0.55 
billion cubic feet (Bcf) of working gas capacity to the Arlington 
Storage existing Seneca Lake facility. Arlington's existing Seneca Lake 
storage consists of two storage caverns (``Gallery 1'') with a working 
gas capacity of 1.45 Bcf. The Arlington Storage Seneca Lake facility 
interconnects with the Dominion Transmission, Inc. and Millennium 
Pipeline Company, LLC interstate natural gas pipeline systems. In order 
to add the proposed incremental 0.55 Bcf of facility working gas 
capacity, Arlington Storage requests to:
     Construct approximately 500 feet of pipeline (170 feet of 
16-inch-diameter and 330 feet of 8-inch-diameter pipeline) to connect 
the Gallery 2 wells to the existing Seneca Lake 16-inch-diameter 
natural gas pipeline;
     install a 500 horsepower (hp) skid-mounted compressor 
unit;
     use of Well no. 45 in debrining \1\ operation, and for 
future cavern monitoring;
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    \1\ The project would ready the caverns for natural gas storage 
by pumping the saltwater out of the caverns. This process is 
referred to as ``debrining''.
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     construct temporary facilities to be used during the 
cavern(s) debrining process consisting of a temporary brine pump and 
temporary brine pipelines;
     installation of electric and instrument air lines 
connecting the Gallery 2 facilities to the Seneca Lake Storage 
compressor station; and
     plug and abandon two existing wells formerly used in the 
Gallery 2 Caverns' brine production and propane storage operation
    The general location of the Project facilities is shown in Appendix 
1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of 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 Project pipeline facilities would 
disturb about 6.63 acres of land owned by Arlington Storage which 
comprises the Gallery 2 site (4.84 acres), the temporary laydown area 
(0.92 acres), and the temporary use of an existing access road (0.87 
acres) (see Figure 1). Following construction, Arlington would maintain 
about 0.85 acres for permanent operation of Project facilities. The 
remaining 5.8 acres disturbed by construction would be restored and 
revert to former uses.

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 
\3\ 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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    \3\ ``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;
     endangered and threatened species;
     public safety; and
     cumulative impacts.
    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, will be published and 
distributed to the public. A comment period will be allotted after 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 of this notice.
    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 Natural Historic Preservation 
Act

    In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 
implementing regulations for section 106 of the Natural Historic 
Preservation Act, we are using this notice to initiate consultation 
with applicable State Historic Preservation Office(s) (SHPO), and to 
solicit their views and those of other government agencies, interested 
Indian tribes, and the public on the project's potential effects on 
historic properties.\4\ We will define the project-specific Area of 
Potential Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPO(s) as the Project 
is further developed. On natural gas facility projects, the APE at a 
minimum encompasses all areas subject to ground disturbance (examples 
include construction right-of-way, contractor/pipe storage yards, 
compressor stations, and access roads). Our EA would document our 
findings on the potential Project impacts on historic properties and 
summarize the status of consultations under section 106.
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    \4\ 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 Natural Register of Historic 
Places.
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Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities, the 
environmental information provided by Arlington Storage, and comments 
received from the public. This preliminary list of issues may be 
changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     Air quality and low-frequency noise impacts from the 
proposed compression facility;
     effects of construction and operation on migratory 
wildlife species;

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     potential spills from debrining the caverns and potential 
impact to groundwater and surface water quality; and
     cumulative environmental impacts from existing natural gas 
and LPG storage in the region.

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, 2013.
    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 (CP13-83-000) 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 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 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; 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 own homes within certain distances of aboveground 
facilities, and anyone who submitted comments on the project. We have 
made every effort to include all commentors on the mailing list; 
however, we are unable to include commentors that did not include a 
physical address with their comments. 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.
    Once 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 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 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., CP13-
83). 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 www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the 
Commission's calendar located at www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related information.

    Dated: April 3, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-08598 Filed 4-11-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P