[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 161 (Wednesday, August 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51023-51025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18140]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-493-000]


Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed East 300 Upgrade 
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 East 300 Upgrade Project 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Tennessee Gas 
Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (Tennessee) in Susquehanna County, 
Pennsylvania and Sussex and Passaic Counties, New Jersey. 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. 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 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.

[[Page 51024]]

Eastern Time on September 14, 2020. Comments may be submitted in 
written form. Further details on how to submit comments are provided in 
the Public Participation section of this notice.
    You can make a difference by submitting 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. Commission 
staff will consider all written comments during the preparation of the 
EA.
    If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the 
opening of this docket on June 30, 2020, you will need to file those 
comments in Docket No. CP20-493-000 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 easement agreement. You 
are not required to enter into an agreement. However, if the Commission 
approves the project, the Natural Gas Act conveys the right of eminent 
domain to the company. Therefore, if you and the company do not reach 
an easement agreement, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation 
proceedings in court. In such instances, compensation would be 
determined by a judge in accordance with state law.
    Tennessee 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? which addresses a number of typically asked questions, 
including the use of eminent domain and how to participate in the 
Commission's proceedings. This fact sheet along with other landowner 
topics of interest are available for viewing on the FERC website 
(www.ferc.gov) under the Natural Gas Overview or Landowner Topics link.

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. Go to https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to register for eSubscription.
    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 FERC Online. 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 FERC Online. 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. 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
    (3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to 
the Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP20-
493-000) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service 
must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    Information about FERC's environmental review process can be found 
on the FERC website (www.ferc.gov) under the natural gas Landowner 
Topics link. In addition, Tennessee has created a project-specific 
website with additional information at https://www.kindermorgan.com/pages/business/gas_pipelines/east/east300upgrade/.
    Please note this is not your only public input opportunity; please 
refer to the review process flow chart in appendix 1.\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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Summary of the Proposed Project

    Tennessee proposes to construct and operate a new compressor 
station in the Township of Milford in Passaic County, New Jersey and 
modify two compressor stations in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania and 
Sussex County, New Jersey, respectively. The East 300 Upgrade Project 
would provide about 115 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per 
day to Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Consolidated 
Edison). According to Tennessee, the East 300 Upgrade Project would 
help eliminate capacity constraints in Consilidated Edison's service 
region and ensure that Consolidated Edison's residential, commercial, 
and industrial customers are able to meet their heating and cooling 
needs.
    The East 300 Upgrade Project would consist of the following 
facilities:
     One Solar Taurus 70 turbine with an International 
Organization for Standardization (ISO) rating of 11,107 horsepower and 
auxiliary facilities and appurtenances, including additional cooling 
equipment and filter separators at Tennessee's existing Compressor 
Station 321 in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania;
     one Solar Titan 130 turbine with an ISO rating of 20,500 
horsepower and auxiliary facilities and appurtenances, including 
additional cooling equipment and filter separators at existing 
Compressor Station 325 in Sussex County, New Jersey; and
     one new electric-driven compressor station (``Compressor 
Station 327'') and various appurtenances and auxiliary facilities along 
Tennessee's existing 300 Line in the Township of West Milford in 
Passaic County, New Jersey.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
2.

Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the proposed facilities would disturb about 82 
acres of land. Following construction, Tennessee would maintain about 
22 acres for permanent operation of the project's facilities; the 
remaining acreage would be restored and revert to former uses.

[[Page 51025]]

The EA Process

    The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the 
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general 
headings:
     Geology, groundwater, and soils;
     surface water resources and wetlands;
     vegetation and wildlife and threatened and endangered 
species;
     cultural resources;
     socioeconomics;
     land use and visual resources;
     air quality and noise;
     public safety; and
     cumulative impacts
    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 staff's independent analysis of the 
issues. The EA will be available in electronic format in the public 
record through eLibrary \2\ and the Commission's natural gas 
environmental documents web page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). 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 New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Historic 
Preservation Offices, 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\ The EA for this 
project will document 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'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; 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 and includes a mailing address with their 
comments. 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 proposed 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 3).

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-
493). 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 virtual sessions or site visits will be posted on the 
Commission's calendar located at https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/events along with other related information.

    Dated: August 13, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-18140 Filed 8-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P