[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26236-26238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10969]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP15-94-000; Docket No. CP15-96-000; Docket No. CP15-93-
000]
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, LP; Trunkline Gas Company,
LLC; Rover Pipeline LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement for the Proposed Panhandle Backhaul Project and
Trunkline Backhaul Project, and Request for Comments on Environmental
Issues
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) will analyze the environmental impacts of the Panhandle
Backhaul Project and Trunkline Backhaul Project, involving the
modification and upgrades of existing facilities by Panhandle Eastern
Pipe Line Company, LP (Panhandle) and Trunkline Gas Company, LLC
(Trunkline), in the Commission's environmental impact statement (EIS)
currently under preparation for the Rover Pipeline Project in Docket
No. CP15-93-000. The Panhandle Backhaul Project would modify existing
facilities in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Trunkline
Backhaul Project would modify existing facilities in Illinois,
Tennessee, and Mississippi. Both projects would increase backhaul
capacity to flow natural gas volumes from the Rover Pipeline Project.
The Commission will use the EIS in its decision-making process to
determine whether the projects are 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 Panhandle Backhaul Project and
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Trunkline Backhaul Project. You can make a difference by providing us
with your specific comments or concerns about these two projects. Your
comments should focus on the potential environmental effects,
reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental
impacts. Your input will help the Commission staff determine what
issues they need to evaluate in the EIS. 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 June 1, 2015.
If you sent comments on these projects to the Commission before the
opening of these dockets on February 23, 2015, you will need to file
those comments in Docket No. CP15-94-000 for the Panhandle Backhaul
Project and Docket No. CP15-96-000 for the Trunkline Backhaul Project
to ensure they are considered as part of these proceedings.
This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental
mailing list for these projects. State and local government
representatives should notify their constituents of these proposed
projects 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 or
lease to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. The
company would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement.
However, if the Commission approves the projects, 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.
Public Participation
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic
filing of comments and has expert staff available to assist you at
(202) 502-8258 or [email protected]. Please carefully follow these
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
You can file your comments electronically using the eComment
feature on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for submitting brief,
text-only comments on a project;
You can file your comments electronically by using the eFiling
feature 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.'' If you are filing a comment on a particular project,
please select ``Comment on a Filing'' as the filing type; or
You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to the
following address. Be sure to reference the projects' docket numbers
(CP15-94-000 for the Panhandle Backhaul Project and CP15-96-000 for the
Trunkline Backhaul Project) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE.,
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Summary of the Proposed Projects
Panhandle and Trunkline are proposing the upgrades and
modifications to allow for bi-directional flow of natural gas on their
existing pipeline systems. Modifications and upgrades along the
Panhandle system would occur at existing facilities in Lenawee County,
Michigan; Allen and Defiance Counties, Ohio; Hamilton, Marion, Parke,
and Vermillion Counties, Indiana; and Douglas County, Illinois. The
Panhandle Backhaul Project would include:
New pipe, valves, fittings, and associated materials to allow for bi-
directional flow at the Edgerton, Zionsville, Montezuma, and Tuscola
Compressor Stations;
minor piping, pressure controls, valves, fittings, and associated
materials at Edgerton 10 Gate, Zionsville 3 Gate, and Tuscola 6 Gate;
and
tap valves and associated piping for an interconnect with the proposed
Rover Pipeline Project at the Rover Defiance Compressor Station.
Modifications and upgrades along the Trunkline system would occur
at existing facilities in Douglas and Wayne Counties, Illinois; Dyer
County, Tennessee; and Tate County, Mississippi. The Trunkline Backhaul
Project would include:
New pipe, valves, fittings, and associated materials to allow for bi-
directional flow at the Johnsonville, Joppa, Dyersburg, and
Independence Compressor Stations;
new pipe, valves, fittings, meters, regulators, and other associated
materials at the Bourbon Meter Station; and
tap valves and associated piping for an interconnect with the Panhandle
Backhaul Project at the Tuscola Compressor Station.
The general locations of the Panhandle and Trunkline project
facilities are 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 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 Panhandle facilities would disturb a total of
230.2 acres of land on or surrounding Panhandle's permanent right-of-
way or lands leased or owned by Panhandle. Any land disturbance
associated with the modifications and upgrades would occur within
previously disturbed areas.
Construction of the Trunkline facilities would disturb a total of
204.3 acres of land within the existing facility sites or within
Trunkline's permanent right-of-way. Any land disturbance associated
with the modifications and upgrades would occur within previously
disturbed areas.
The EIS 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 EIS on the
important environmental issues. By this notice, the Commission requests
public comments on the scope of the issues to address in the EIS. We
will consider all filed comments during the preparation of the EIS.
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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 EIS we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of
the construction and operation of the
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proposed projects under these general headings:
Geology and soils;
land use;
socioeconomics;
water resources,
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
projects or portions of the projects, and make recommendations on how
to lessen or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
The FERC staff is in the process of preparing an EIS for the Rover
Pipeline Project. Five other agencies are participating as cooperating
agencies in the preparation of this EIS: The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. With this notice,
we are asking other agencies with jurisdiction by law and/or special
expertise with respect to environmental issues related the Panhandle
and/or Trunkline projects to formally cooperate with us in the
preparation of the EIS.\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.
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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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The EIS will present our independent analysis of the issues. We
will publish and distribute the draft EIS for public comment. After the
comment period, we will consider all timely comments and revise the
document, as necessary, before issuing a final EIS. 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 2.
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 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 projects' potential
effects on historic properties.\4\ The EIS will document our findings
on the impacts on historic properties and summarize the status of
consultations under section 106. We note that Panhandle has a signed
categorical exclusion with Illinois SHPO and Trunkline has signed
categorical exclusions with Illinois and Tennessee SHPOs. These
categorical exclusions exempt work activities within existing
facilities from further review by the SHPOs.
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\4\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's 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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We will define the project-specific Area of Potential Effects (APE)
in consultation with the SHPO(s) as the projects develop. 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 EIS for these projects will document our findings on the
impacts on historic properties and summarize the status of
consultations under section 106.
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 projects. 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 projects.
Copies of the completed draft EIS 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 EIS scoping process, you may want
to become an ``intervenor'' which is an official party to the
Commission's proceedings. 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.
Additional Information
Additional information about the projects 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., CP15-
94, CP15-96, CP15-93). 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/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: May 1, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-10969 Filed 5-6-15; 8:45 am]
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