[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 158 (Monday, August 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49221-49223]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20198]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF15-17-000]


Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Planned Access South, Adair Southwest, 
and Lebanon Extension Projects 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 Access South, Adair Southwest, 
and Lebanon Extension Projects (Projects) in Docket No. PF15-17-000. 
The projects involve construction, abandonment, and operation of 
facilities by Texas Eastern Transmission, LP (Texas Eastern) that would 
provide incremental pipeline transportation service from the Appalachia 
area natural gas supply basins to markets in the Midwest and Southeast. 
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 Projects. You can make a difference by providing us 
with your specific comments or concerns about the 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 EA. 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 10, 
2015.
    If you sent comments on the Projects to the Commission before the 
opening of this docket on March 13, 2015, you will need to file those 
comments in Docket No. PF15-17-000 to ensure they are considered as 
part of this proceeding.
    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 
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 to

[[Page 49222]]

construct, operate, and maintain the planned 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.
    (1) 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;
    (2) 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
    (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
the following address. Be sure to reference the project docket number 
(PF15-17-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A, 
Washington, DC 20426.

Summary of the Planned Project

    The planned pipeline facilities for the Projects include 19.9 miles 
of 36-inch diameter pipeline loop \1\ in three segments, most of which 
would be either within or adjacent to Texas Eastern's existing rights-
of-way in Meigs, Athens, Noble, Monroe Counties, Ohio. Proposed 
modifications to aboveground facilities would include the installation 
of new compression and additional modifications necessary to allow for 
bidirectional flow, increased horsepower requirements, and meter 
reversals at thirteen existing compressor stations which are expected 
to be located primarily within Texas Eastern's current footprint.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed parallel to 
an existing pipeline to increase capacity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    At the Five Points Compressor Station in Pickaway County, Ohio, 
Texas Eastern would install a new 10,000 horsepower (hp) electric 
compressor and would abandon in-place three 2,000 hp electric 
compressor units. A new 16,875 hp electric compressor would be added at 
the Tompkinsville Compressor Station in Monroe County, Kentucky.
    Planned modifications at thirteen existing compressor station sites 
would include piping modifications to accommodate bi-directional flow 
capability along Texas Eastern's existing mainline. These modifications 
are proposed at the following compressor stations:
     Holbrook Compressor Station in Greene County, 
Pennsylvania;
     Lebanon Compressor Station in Warren County, Ohio;
     Five Points Compressor Station in Pickaway County, Ohio;
     Somerset Compressor Station in Perry County, Ohio;
     Berne Compressor Station in Monroe County, Ohio;
     Athens Compressor Station in Athens County, Ohio;
     Owingsville Compressor Station in Bath County, Kentucky;
     Danville Compressor Station in Lincoln County, Kentucky;
     Tompkinsville Compressor Station in Monroe County, 
Kentucky;
     Gladeville Compressor Station in Wilson County, Tennessee;
     Barton Compressor Station in Colbert County, Alabama;
     Egypt Compressor Station in Monroe County, Mississippi; 
and
     Kosciusko Compressor Station in Attala County, 
Mississippi.
    In addition two pig \2\ launcher/receivers would be relocated and 
two new pig launcher/receivers would be installed in Monroe County, 
Ohio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ A ``pig'' is a tool that the pipeline company inserts into 
and pushes through the pipeline for cleaning the pipeline, 
conducting internal inspections, or other purposes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The general location of the Projects facilities is shown in 
appendix 1.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the planned facilities would disturb about 631.9 
acres of land for the aboveground facilities and the pipeline, 
including access roads. Following construction, Texas Eastern would 
maintain about 70.7 acres for permanent operation of the Projects' 
facilities; the remaining acreage would be restored and revert to 
former uses. The planned loops would be mostly adjacent to Texas 
Eastern's existing pipeline rights-of-way and construction at the 
compressor stations would occur at existing facilities where no 
permanent expansion of the facilities would occur.

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 
\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 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the EA we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and operation of the planned Projects 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 possible alternatives to the planned Projects 
or portions of the Projects, and make

[[Page 49223]]

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.
    The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. The EA 
will be available in the public record through 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 2.
    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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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), 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.\6\ 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 EA for the Projects will 
document our findings on the impacts on historic properties and 
summarize the status of consultations under section 106.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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; 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 planned 
Projects.
    If we publish and distribute the EA, copies of the 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 Texas Eastern 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. Motions to intervene are more fully described at 
http://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/how-to/intervene.asp. Instructions 
for becoming an intervenor are in the ``Document-less Intervention 
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., PF15-
17). 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: August 11, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-20198 Filed 8-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P