[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18221-18222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06763]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-53-000]


National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
an Environmental Assessment for the Amendment to West Side Expansion 
and Modernization 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 Amendment to West Side 
Expansion and Modernization Project (Project). The EA will discuss 
facilities that would be operated by National Fuel Gas Supply 
Corporation (National Fuel) located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. 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 about issues regarding the project. The National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Commission to take into account the 
environmental impacts that could result from its action whenever it 
considers the issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience and 
Necessity (Certificate). NEPA also requires the Commission to discover 
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. To ensure that your comments are timely 
and properly recorded, please submit your comments so that the 
Commission receives them in Washington, DC on or before 5:00 p.m. 
Eastern Time on April 27, 2020.
    You can make a difference by submitting your specific comments or 
concerns regarding 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. 
Commission staff will consider all filed comments during the 
preparation of the EA.
    If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the 
opening of this docket on February 18, 2020, you will need to file 
those comments in Docket No. CP20-53-000 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.
    National Fuel 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 website (www.ferc.gov) at https://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/gas/gas.pdf.

Public Participation

    The Commission offers a free service called eSubscription which 
makes it easy to stay informed of all issuances and submittals 
regarding the dockets/projects to which you subscribe. These instant 
email notifications are the fastest way to receive notification and 
provide a link to the document files which can reduce the amount of 
time you spend researching proceedings. To sign up go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.
    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 staff available to assist you at (866) 208-
3676 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, which is located on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) 
under the link to Documents and Filings. Using eComment 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, which is located on the Commission's website (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.
    (3) You will be asked to select the type of filing you are making; 
a comment on a particular project is considered a Comment on a Filing; 
or
    (4) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
the following address. Be sure to reference the project docket number 
(CP20-53-000) 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

    National Fuel is requesting the Certificate for the West Side 
Expansion Modernization (WSEM) Project issued on March 2, 2015, in 
Docket No. CP14-70-000 be amended. As part of the West Side Expansion 
Modernization (WSEM) Project, National Fuel received authorization to 
designate 1,775 horse power (HP) of compression out of 7,100 HP at the 
Mercer Compressor Station (CS) as spare compression to ensure National 
Fuel's ability to meet system pressure requirements and to perform 
routine and other maintenance when the system is operating at a high 
load factor. In its Certificate Order, the Commission conditioned the 
authorization of the ``spare'' compression stating that ``National Fuel 
cannot, without grant of additional certificate authorization, use any 
of the spare compression to satisfy intermittent demand for 
interruptible or secondary firm service or requests for short-term firm 
service during scheduled maintenance intervals.''
    National Fuel is now seeking authorization to remove the spare 
designation from the 1,775 HP of compression at its Mercer CS to 
accommodate a subscribing shipper's request to direct a portion of its 
firm transportation capacity to a different primary delivery point.
    The general location of the Mercer CS 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

    The reclassification of the Mercer CS spare compression would not 
require the use of any new lands. No construction would be required and 
no areas outside the compressor building would be disturbed.

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The EA Process

    As stated above, the reclassification of the spare HP at the Mercer 
CS would occur within the existing compressor building and would not 
involve any land disturbance. The EA will discuss impacts that could 
occur as a result of the construction and operation of the proposed 
project.
    Commission staff 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 Commission staffs' independent analysis of the 
issues. The EA will be available in electronic format in the public 
record through eLibrary \2\ and the Commission's website (https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/eis.asp). If eSubscribed, you will 
receive instant email notification when the EA is issued. The EA may be 
issued for an allotted public comment period. Commission staff will 
consider all comments on the EA before making recommendations to the 
Commission. To ensure Commission staff have the opportunity to address 
your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the Public 
Participation section, beginning on page 2.
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    \2\ For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer to the 
last page of this notice.
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    With this notice, the Commission is asking agencies with 
jurisdiction by law and/or special expertise with respect to the 
environmental issues of this project to formally cooperate 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.
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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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Consultation 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, the Commission is using this notice to initiate 
consultation with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office, 
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\
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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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    The EA for this project will document findings on the impacts on 
historic properties and summarize the status of consultations under 
section 106.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    Commission staff has not identified any environmental concerns with 
the proposal at this time but will use your comments to determine if 
any exist. This will inform our analysis in the EA.

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, and anyone who 
submits comments on the project. Commission staff will update the 
environmental mailing list as the analysis proceeds to ensure that 
Commission notices related to this environmental review are sent to all 
individuals, organizations, and government entities interested in and/
or potentially affected by the planned project.
    If the Commission issues the EA for an allotted public comment 
period, a Notice of Availability of the EA will be sent to the 
environmental mailing list and will provide instructions to access the 
electronic document on the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov). If you need 
to make changes to your name/address, or if you would like to remove 
your name from the mailing list, please return the attached ``Mailing 
List Update Form'' (appendix 2).

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 website at www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary link. Click on the 
eLibrary link, click on General Search and enter the docket number in 
the Docket Number field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., CP20-
53). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 
502-8659. The eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of all 
formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and 
rulemakings.
    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: March 26, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-06763 Filed 3-31-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P