[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 185 (Wednesday, September 23, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59779-59780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20986]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP20-460-000]


Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Clifton to Palmyra A-Line 
Abandonment Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for the 
Clifton to Palmyra A-Line Abandonment Project, proposed by Northern 
Natural Gas Company (Northern) in the above-referenced docket. Northern 
requests authorization to abandon in-place a segment of its A-Line 
pipeline from Clifton, Kansas to Palmyra, Nebraska and increase 
compression capacity at its existing Beatrice Compressor Station near 
Beatrice, Nebraska.
    The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Clifton to Palmyra A-Line Abandonment 
Project in accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The FERC staff concludes that approval of the 
proposed project, with appropriate

[[Page 59780]]

mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
    The proposed Clifton to Palmyra A-Line Abandonment Project includes 
the following activities:
     Disconnect the existing 24-inch-diameter M600A and the 
existing 20-inch-diameter M600J at Northern's existing Clifton 
Compressor Station;
     disconnect the existing 24-inch-diameter M590A and the 
existing 24-inch-diameter M600A at Northern's existing Beatrice 
Compressor Station;
     disconnect the existing 24-inch-diameter M590A at 
Northern's existing Palmyra Compressor Station;
     abandon in-place 54.3 miles of existing 24-inch-diameter 
M600A mainline in Gage and Jefferson Counties, Nebraska, and Washington 
and Clay Counties, Kansas;
     abandon in-place 19.9 miles of existing 20-inch-diameter 
M600J mainline in Clay and Washington Counties, Kansas;
     abandon in-place 41.7 miles of existing 24-inch-diameter 
M590A in Otoe, Lancaster, and Gage Counties, Nebraska, between Palmyra 
and Beatrice, Nebraska; and
     install a new 15,900-horsepower turbine driven compressor 
unit at Northern's existing Beatrice Compressor Station near Beatrice, 
Nebraska.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability to 
federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies; 
elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; Native 
American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other interested 
individuals and groups; and newspapers and libraries in the project 
area. The EA is only available in electronic format. It may be viewed 
and downloaded from the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on the natural 
gas environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). In addition, the EA 
may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on the FERC's website. Click 
on the eLibrary link (https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/elibrary/overview), select ``General Search'' and enter the docket number in the 
``Docket Number'' field, excluding the last three digits (i.e. CP20-
460). 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 EA is not a decision document. It presents Commission staff's 
independent analysis of the environmental issues for the Commission to 
consider when addressing the merits of all issues in this proceeding. 
Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. Your comments should 
focus on the EA's disclosure and discussion of potential environmental 
effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts. The more specific your comments, the more useful 
they will be. To ensure that the Commission has the opportunity to 
consider your comments prior to making its decision on this project, it 
is important that we receive your comments in Washington, DC on or 
before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 16, 2020.
    For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to file 
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 on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC Online. This is an easy method for submitting brief, text-only 
comments on a project;
    (2) You can also file your comments electronically using the 
eFiling feature 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 must select the type of filing you are making. If 
you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select 
``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-
460-000) 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, Maryland 20852.
    Filing environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, 
but you do not need intervenor status to have your comments considered. 
Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of 
the Commission's decision. At this point in this proceeding, the 
timeframe for filing timely intervention requests has expired. Any 
person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion 
to intervene out-of-time pursuant to Rule 214(b)(3) and (d) of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.214(b)(3) and 
(d)) and show good cause why the time limitation should be waived. 
Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/ferc-online/how-guides.
    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC website (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of all 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 https://www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: September 16, 2020.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-20986 Filed 9-22-20; 8:45 am]
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