[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29068-29070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13383]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP17-441-000]


Northwest Pipeline, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed North Seattle Lateral Upgrade 
Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of 
Public Scoping Session

    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 Seattle Lateral Upgrade 
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Northwest 
Pipeline, LLC (Northwest) in Snohomish County, Washington. 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. 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 July 21, 2017.
    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.
    Northwest 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 four methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission will provide equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form 
or provided verbally. 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; or
    (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,

[[Page 29069]]

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 
(CP17-441-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A, 
Washington, DC 20426.
    (4) In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend the public scoping session its staff 
will conduct in the project area, scheduled as follows:

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             Date and time                           Location
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Thursday, July 13, 2017, 5:00 p.m.-9:00  Lynnwood Convention Center,
 p.m. PDT.                                3711 196th Street SW.,
                                          Lynnwood, WA 98036, (425) 778-
                                          7155.
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    The primary goal of these scoping sessions is to have you identify 
the specific environmental issues and concerns that should be 
considered in the EA to be prepared for this project. Individual verbal 
comments will be taken on a one-on-one basis with a court reporter. 
This format is designed to receive the maximum amount of verbal 
comments, in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted.
    Each scoping session is scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PDT. 
You may arrive at any time after 5:00 p.m. There will not be a formal 
presentation by Commission staff when the session opens. If you wish to 
provide comments to the court reporter, the Commission staff will hand 
out numbers in the order of your arrival. Comments will be taken until 
9:00 p.m. However, if no additional numbers have been handed out and 
all individuals who wish to provide comments have had an opportunity to 
do so, staff may conclude the session at 8:00 p.m. Please see appendix 
1 for additional information on the session format and conduct.\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 last page of this notice.
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    Your scoping comments will be recorded by the court reporter (with 
FERC staff present) and become part of the public record for this 
proceeding. Transcripts will be publicly available on FERC's eLibrary 
system (see below for instructions on using eLibrary). If a significant 
number of people are interested in providing verbal comments in the 
one-on-one settings, a time limit of 3-5 minutes may be implemented for 
each commentor.
    It is important to note that verbal comments hold the same weight 
as written or electronically submitted comments. Although there will 
not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be available 
throughout the comment session to answer your questions about the 
environmental review process. Representatives from Northwest will also 
be present to answer project-specific questions.
    Please note this is not your only public input opportunity; please 
refer to the review process flow chart in appendix 2.

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Northwest proposes to remove approximately 6.6 miles of the 8-inch-
diameter North Seattle Lateral pipeline and replace it with 20-inch-
diameter pipeline, primarily in the same trench. The project is in 
Snohomish County, Washington. According to Northwest, the proposed 
facilities would increase service reliability and enable Northwest to 
provide an incremental 196,311 dekatherms per day of firm capacity to 
serve Puget Sound Energy.
    The North Seattle Lateral Upgrade Project would consist of the 
following facilities:
     Replace 6.6-miles of 8-inch-diameter pipeline with 20-
inch-diameter pipeline,
     rebuild the existing North Seattle/Everett meter station 
in order to accommodate the increased delivery capacity of the North 
Seattle Lateral,
     relocate an existing 8-inch pig launcher and a 20-inch pig 
receiver,\2\
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    \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.
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     replace an existing 8-inch mainline valve with a 20-inch 
valve.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
3.

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction activities related to the Upgrade Project would 
disturb about 103 acres of land for the pipeline replacement and 
aboveground facilities. The new pipeline would be installed within 
Northwest's existing easement. Following construction, Northwest would 
maintain its existing 48 acres of easement area for permanent operation 
of the project facilities; the remaining 54 acres of construction work 
space would be restored and revert to former uses. The entire existing 
right-of-way in which the replacements would be made parallels existing 
pipeline, utility, or road rights-of-way.

Alternatives Under Consideration

    Northwest is considering two alternate configurations to the 
project, as shown in appendix 4. The first option, if geotechnical and 
engineering studies are favorable, would be to terminate the 20-inch-
diameter pipeline at milepost 8.4 and place the relocated pig launcher/
receiver at this point, near Newton Road (see figure 4a), rather than 
at milepost 8.9, as currently proposed. This would shorten the overall 
length of the pipeline replacement by approximately 0.3 mile. A second 
alternative is to divert the pipeline off the existing Northwest 
easement between Yew Way and Waverly Drive as it passes through the 
Fritch Forest Products mill facility, in order to avoid interference 
with mill operations. This alternative is depicted in figure 4b.

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 
\3\ 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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    \3\ 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 proposed project under these 
general headings:
     Geology and soils;
     land use;
     water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     vegetation and wildlife;

[[Page 29070]]

     endangered and threatened species;
     cultural resources;
     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 resource areas.
    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 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, beginning on page 2 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.\4\ 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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    \4\ 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 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.\5\ 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 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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    \5\ 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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Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified two issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Northwest. This preliminary 
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
     Effects of construction on residential properties.
     Impacts on sensitive fish species during stream 
construction activities.

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 
proposed project.
    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 5).

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 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., CP17-
441). 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: June 21, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
 Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-13383 Filed 6-26-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P