[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15354-15356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06068]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. PF17-3-000]


Midship Pipeline Company, LLC; Supplemental Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Planned Midcontinent 
Supply Header Interstate Pipeline Project and Request for Comments on 
Environmental Issues Related to New Pipeline Lateral and Booster 
Station

    As previously noticed on January 27, 2017, and supplemented herein, 
the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) that 
will discuss the environmental impacts of the Midcontinent Supply 
Header Interstate Pipeline Project (MIDSHIP Project) involving 
construction and operation of facilities by Midship Pipeline Company, 
LLC (Midship Pipeline) \1\ in Kingfisher, Canadian, Grady, Garvin, 
Stephens, Carter, Johnston, and Bryan Counties, Oklahoma and leased 
capacity on existing pipeline infrastructure in Oklahoma, Texas, and 
Louisiana. The Commission will use this EIS in its decision-making 
process to determine whether the project is in the public convenience 
and necessity.
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    \1\ The sponsor of the Midcontinent Supply Header Interstate 
Pipeline Project, previously identified as Cheniere Midstream 
Holdings, Inc., has changed its name to Midship Pipeline Company, 
LLC.
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    The Commission previously solicited public input on the MIDSHIP 
Project in January 2017. With this Supplemental Notice of Intent (NOI) 
we\2\ are specifically seeking comments on additional facilities 
planned by Midship Pipeline and recently identified as part of the 
MIDSHIP Project, specifically the Velma Lateral and Sholem Booster 
Station. Your comments should focus on the potential environmental 
effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts from these facilities. Your input will help the 
Commission staff determine what issues we 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 April 21, 2017. If you have already submitted comments 
for the MIDSHIP Project prior to this Supplemental NOI, you do not need 
to resubmit your comments.
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    \2\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the FERC's Office of Energy Projects.
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    This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental 
mailing list for this project, including the newly affected landowners 
along the planned Velma Lateral and Sholem Booster Station. 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 newly affected landowner receiving this notice, a 
pipeline company representative may have already contacted you or may 
contact you soon about the acquisition of an easement to construct, 
operate, and maintain the planned 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 the 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.

[[Page 15355]]

Summary of the Velma Lateral and Sholem Booster Station

    The Velma Lateral would consist of 13.3 miles of 16-inch-diameter 
pipeline and associated appurtenances in Oklahoma. It would begin at a 
gas supply facility near Velma in Stephens County, continue northeast 
for approximately 6.5 miles, and connect with a gas supply facility 
near Sholem, Oklahoma. Midship Pipeline would construct a new 3,750 
horsepower compressor station, referred to as the Sholem Booster 
Station, adjacent to the existing gas facility. From the compressor 
station, the Velma Lateral would continue in a northeast direction 
through portions of Stephens, Carter, and Garvin Counties for a total 
of 6.8 miles, where it would terminate at the Tatums Compressor Station 
near mainline Milepost 99.1. Midship Pipeline would construct a receipt 
meter station at the tie-in within the Tatums Compressor Station. An 
overview map of the planned project, including the Velma Lateral and 
Sholem Booster Station, is provided in appendix 1. Construction of the 
Velma Lateral and Sholem Booster Station would disturb about 168.3 
acres of land. After construction, Midship Pipeline would maintain 
about 82.2 acres for operation of these facilities; the remaining 
acreage would be restored and revert to former uses.

Public Participation

    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission will provide equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed via mail or 
provided electronically. 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 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 
(PF17-3-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    Please note this is not your only public input opportunity; please 
refer to the review process flow chart in appendix 2.

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 
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 with the Velma Lateral and Sholem 
Booster Station to address in the EIS. We will consider all filed 
comments during the preparation of the EIS.
    In the EIS we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of 
the construction and operation of the MIDSHIP Project under these 
general headings:
 Geology and soils;
 water resources and wetlands;
 vegetation, wildlife, and fisheries;
 endangered and threatened species;
 land use, outdoor recreation, and scenery;
 socioeconomics;
 cultural resources;
 air quality and noise;
 public safety; and
 cumulative 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 for the MIDSHIP 
Project, we initiated our NEPA review of the project under the 
Commission's pre-filing process on November 9, 2016. The purpose of the 
pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement of interested 
stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before 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 EIS. In addition, FERC 
representatives participated in the public open houses sponsored by 
Midship Pipeline in El Reno, Lindsay, Ardmore, and Durant, Oklahoma 
from December 12 through 15, 2016. On February 13, 14, 15, and 16, 
2017, FERC held public scoping sessions in Durant, Ardmore, Elmore 
City, and El Reno, respectively, to solicit comments regarding the 
planned MIDSHIP Project.
    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.
    With this Supplemental NOI, 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 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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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 Offices (SHPO), and to 
solicit their views and those of other government agencies, interested 
Native American 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 SHPOs as the 
project develops. On natural gas facility projects, the APE at a 
minimum encompasses all areas subject to ground disturbance (examples 
include

[[Page 15356]]

construction right-of-way, contractor/pipe storage yards, compressor 
stations, and access roads). Our EIS 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, the 
environmental information provided by Midship Pipeline, comments 
received at the project open houses, and scoping comments. This 
preliminary list of potential issues may change based on your comments 
and our analysis:
     Impacts on water wells;
     impacts on waterbodies and wetlands;
     impacts on threatened and endangered species;
     geological hazards;
     impacts on future development due to pipeline route on 
property;
     impacts on air quality;
     impacts on noise from planned compressor stations;
     public safety; and
     pipeline route alternatives.

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, as well as 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 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 3).

Becoming an Intervenor

    Once Midship Pipeline 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 (i.e., PF17-3). 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, Midship Pipeline has established toll-free telephone 
numbers (888) 214-7275 for general inquiries or (800) 305-2466 for 
landowner inquiries) and an email support address 
([email protected]) so that parties can contact them directly with 
questions about the project. You may also refer to Midship Pipeline's 
project Web site for additional information at http://www.cheniere.com/pipelines/midship/.

    Dated: March 22, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-06068 Filed 3-27-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P