[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 114 (Thursday, June 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35627-35630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14017]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF13-7-000]


Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Planned East Side Expansion Project, 
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of Public 
Scoping Meeting

    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 East Side Expansion Project 
involving construction and operation of

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pipeline looping \1\ and associated facilities by Columbia Gas 
Transmission, LLC (Columbia) in Chester County, Pennsylvania and 
Gloucester County, New Jersey. Columbia also plans to modify one 
interconnect in New York, three compressor stations in Pennsylvania and 
one compressor station in Maryland. The Commission will use this EA in 
its decision-making process to determine whether the project is in the 
public convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ A loop is a segment of pipe that is installed adjacent to an 
existing pipeline and connected to it at both ends. The loop allows 
more gas to be moved through the system.
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    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 8, 2013.
    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.
    Comments about the project may be submitted in writing or verbally 
at the public scoping meeting to be held as described below. To submit 
written comments, please see the public participation section of this 
notice.

FERC Public Scoping Meeting East Side Expansion Project

June 18, 2013/7:00 p.m., Sykes Auditorium, West Chester University, 110 
West Rosedale Avenue, West Chester, PA 19383

June 19, 2013/7:00 p.m., Woolwich Township Hall, 120 Village Green 
Drive, Swedesboro, NJ 08085

    If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a Columbia 
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to 
construct, operate, and maintain the planned facilities. Columbia 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

    Columbia plans to expand and improve its existing natural gas 
transmission pipeline system to increase operation flexibility and 
efficiency, provide bi-directional flow capabilities, and an additional 
310,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas service to mid-Atlantic 
markets. Specifically, Columbia plans to construct, modify, install or 
abandon and replace, and operate the following natural gas transmission 
pipeline facilities:
     Line 1278 Loop: Construct and operate approximately 8.9 
miles of 26-inch-diameter natural gas transmission pipeline, generally 
running parallel to the existing Line 1278 pipeline in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania.
     Line 10345 Loop: Construct and operate approximately 7.4 
miles of 20-inch-diameter natural gas transmission pipeline, generally 
running parallel to the existing 10345 pipeline in Gloucester County, 
New Jersey.
     Wagoner Interconnect (Sparrowbush, New York): Modify the 
existing interconnect with the Millennium Pipeline to facilitate 
additional service.
     Milford Compressor Station (Milford, Pennsylvania): 
Abandon the existing compressors and replace them with two Solar 
turbine-driven centrifugal compressors totaling 6,600 horsepower (hp). 
Also, upgrade compressor station piping and metering facilities.
     Easton Compressor Station (Easton, Pennsylvania): Abandon 
the existing compressors and replace them with two Solar turbine-driven 
centrifugal compressors totaling 19,500 hp.
     Eagle Compressor Station (Chester Springs, Pennsylvania): 
Install additional piping and valves.
     Rutledge Compressor Station (Fallston, Maryland): Modify 
the compressor station mainline valve setting.
    The general locations of the project facilities are 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 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

    According to Columbia, construction of the planned facilities would 
require the temporary use of approximately 195.78 acres of land. 
Operation of the planned facilities would require the permanent use of 
approximately 52.01 acres of land. About 89 percent of the planned 
pipeline would be co-located with and parallel to existing Columbia 
natural gas transmission pipeline.

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. We will 
consider all filed comments 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 planned project under these 
general headings:
     Geology and soils;
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Endangered and threatened species;
     Cultural resources;
     Land use;
     Socioeconomics;
     Air quality and noise;
     Reliability and safety; and
     Cumulative environmental impacts.
    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 environmental 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.

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    Our independent analysis of the issues will be presented in the EA. 
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 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 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.\4\ 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. Army Corps of Engineers 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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    \4\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 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 applicable State Historic Preservation Office(s), 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.\5\ We will define the project-specific Area of Potential 
Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPOs as the project develops. 
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 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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    \5\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regulations 
are at Title 36, 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 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 planned facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Columbia. This preliminary 
list of issues may change based on your comments and our analysis. 
Issued identified include:
     Potential impacts on residences in close proximity to the 
right-of-way;
     Potential cumulative impacts from multiple pipelines on a 
single property;
     Tree clearing;
     Erosion and sediment control; and
     Potential impacts on water quality.

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 
8, 2013. However, this is not your only public input opportunity.
    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 (PF13-7-000) 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.
    Copies of the completed draft EA 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

    Once Columbia 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 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

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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., PF13-
7-000). 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 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 6, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-14017 Filed 6-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P