[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 173 (Monday, September 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53181-53184]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-21313]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF14-12-000]


Southern Natural Gas Company, L.L.C.; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
an Environmental Assessment for the Planned North Main Lines Relocation 
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 North Main Lines Relocation 
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Southern 
Natural Gas Company, L.L.C.'s (SNG) in Bessemer, Alabama. 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 September 26, 2014.
    You may submit comments in written form or verbally. Further 
details on how to submit written comments are in the Public 
Participation section of this notice. In lieu of or in addition to 
sending written comments, the Commission invites you to attend the 
public scoping meeting scheduled as follows:

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           Date and time                          Location
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Monday, September 15, 2014, 6:00    Bessemer Civic Center, North Meeting
 p.m. CST.                           Room, Second Floor, 1130 9th Avenue
                                     SW., Bessemer, AL 35022.
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    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. SNG 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

    SNG plans to relocate a portion of its natural gas pipeline system 
known as the North Main Lines and to relocate a portion of its natural 
gas pipeline system known as the Calera Branch Line in Jefferson 
County, Alabama. SNG is relocating its pipelines in order to protect 
them from subsidence that will result from longwall coal mining 
operations that are planned underneath the current location of the 
existing lines. SNG plans to abandon a total of about 9.2 miles of 20-, 
22-, and 24-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline and replace it with 
approximately 11.0 miles of the same diameter pipelines. Three of the 
pipelines (North Main Line, North Main Loop Line, and 2nd North Main 
Line) would be relocated within a parallel corridor, and one pipeline 
(Calera Branch Line) would be relocated in a separate location. SNG 
does not anticipate altering the capacity of the existing pipelines 
with the planned relocation activities.
    Specifically, the Project would consist of the following 
components:
     Relocation of approximately 3.5 miles of the existing and 
parallel 22-inch-diameter North Main Line and 24-inch-diameter North 
Main Loop Line from milepost (MP) 297.28 to MP 300.15, and 24-inch-
diameter 2nd North Main Line from MP 174.77 to MP 177.62;
     installation of a new aboveground gate settings on each of 
the relocated North Main Lines;
     relocation of approximately 0.44 mile of the existing 20-
inch-diameter Calera Branch Line from MP 0.30 to MP 0.84;
     abandonment in place of approximately 2.87 miles of the 
existing 22-inch-diameter North Main Line and 24-inch-diameter North 
Main Loop Line from MP 297.28 to MP 300.15 and 2.87 miles of the 
existing 24-inch-diameter 2nd North Main Loop Line from MP 174.77 to MP 
177.62; and
     abandonment in place of approximately 0.54 mile of the 
existing 20-inch Calera Branch Line from MP 0.30 to MP 0.84.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 
1.\1\
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    \1\ 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 Additional Information section 
at the end of this notice.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    SNG anticipates using a 140-foot-wide construction right-of-way for 
constructing the three parallel pipelines, and a 90-foot-wide 
construction right-of-way for constructing the single pipeline. SNG 
would reduce the construction rights-of-way width to 100 feet and 75 
feet, respectively, through wetlands. SNG would maintain a 100-foot-
wide permanent easement for operating the three parallel pipelines, and 
a 50-foot-wide permanent easement for operating the single pipeline. 
Construction of the planned facilities would involve conventional 
pipeline construction and would disturb approximately 80 acres of land. 
Following construction, SNG would maintain approximately 45 acres for 
the permanent pipeline easement.

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. We will 
consider all filed comments 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 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;
     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 resource areas.
    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.
    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 scoping, 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

[[Page 53183]]

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 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.\3\ 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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    \3\ 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 the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), 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.\4\ We will define the project-specific Area of 
Potential Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPO 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, 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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    \4\ 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 SNG. This preliminary list of 
issues may change based on your comments and our analysis:
     Routing variations;
     construction in residential areas;
     existing utilities; and
     cumulative impacts.

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 
September 26, 2014.
    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 (PF14-12-000) 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 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 SNG 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 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., PF14-
12). 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

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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/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.
    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: September 2, 2014.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-21313 Filed 9-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P