[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10570-10571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02944]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No.CP17-3-000]


Dominion Carolina Gas Transmission LLC; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Line A Abandonment 
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 Line A Abandonment Project 
(Project) involving abandonment and modification of natural gas 
facilities by Dominion Carolina Gas Transmission LLC (DCG) in Chester, 
Kershaw, Lancaster, and York Counties, South Carolina. The Commission 
will use this EA in its decision-making process.
    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. 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. 
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 March 9, 2017.
    If you sent comments on this Project to the Commission before the 
opening of this docket on October 13, 2016, you will need to file those 
comments in Docket No. CP17-3-000 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 proposed 
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 proposed facilities. The company 
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.
    DCG should have provided landowners with a fact sheet prepared by 
the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What 
Do I Need To Know?'' 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. It is also available for 
viewing on the FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov).

Public Participation

    For your convenience, there are three basic 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 & 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 & 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 
(CP17-3-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A, 
Washington, DC 20426.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    DCG proposes to abandon, remove, and modify certain natural gas 
facilities, under Section 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act, along its 
currently existing mainline Line A in South Carolina. After taking Line 
A out-of-service, customers would then be provided with natural gas 
through DCG's existing Line A-1-A that parallels Line A. Line A was 
originally installed in 1958, and now has integrity issues. The 
underground pipeline would be capped, filled with nitrogen, and 
abandoned in place.
    The facilities to be abandoned include:
     55 miles of 10-inch-diameter pipe in Chester, Kershaw, 
Lancaster, and York Counties;
     5 miles of 12-inch-diameter pipe in York County; and
     Aboveground facilities (including valves, regulators, or 
meters) would be removed at 8 existing stations.
    DCG would also install new taps, piping, meters, and regulators at 
12 existing stations in order to transfer the current feeds off of Line 
A into Line A-1-A.
    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 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

    Since this is an abandonment Project, DCG will not be acquiring new 
permanent rights-of-way. In cases where Line A is not directly adjacent 
to Line 1-A-1, the existing easement may be relinquished to the 
landowner. Most of the abandonment activities would take place within 
DCG's existing right-of-way, with the exception of disturbance of a 
total of about 2 acres at additional temporary workspaces at 21 
existing station locations. Eight existing stations would be removed. 
Crossover piping, new taps, regulators, or meters would be installed at 
12 existing stations. Construction at those aboveground facilities 
would disturb a total of about 7 acres of land. Following removal or 
construction, DCA would restore the right-of-way, and return the land 
to its original condition and use. Less than 1 acre would be retained 
for Project operation.

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

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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 abandonment, removal, and modification of Project facilities under 
these general headings:
     Geology and soils;
     land use, recreation, and visual resources;
     water resources, and wetlands;
     cultural resources;
     vegetation and wildlife;
     air quality and noise;
     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 environmental resources.
    The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. The EA 
will be available in the public record through our eLibrary system. We 
will consider all comments on the EA before making 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 of 
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 below.
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    \3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations for 
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act address the 
responsibilities of cooperating agencies 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 South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (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 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 will summarize the 
status of consultations under Section 106, and efforts to identify 
historic properties in the APE and assess Project-related impacts.
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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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Environmental Mailing List

    The environmental mailing list includes federal, state, and local 
government representatives and agencies; elected officials; 
environmental and public interest groups; interested Indian 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 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 proposed Project.

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 in 
the ``Document-less Intervention Guide'' under the ``e-filing'' link on 
the Commission's Web site. Motions to intervene are more fully 
described at http://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/how-to/intervene.asp.

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. On the FERC Web site, go to ``Documents 
& Filings,'' and click on the eLibrary link, click on ``General 
Search'' and enter the docket number (excluding the last three digits, 
i.e., CP17-3). 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 sessions 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: February 7, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-02944 Filed 2-13-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P