[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67681-67682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24442]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-466-000]


WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wahpeton 
Expansion Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Wahpeton Expansion Project, proposed by WBI Energy 
Transmission, Inc. (WBI Energy) in the above-referenced docket. WBI 
Energy requests authorization to construct and operate the Wahpeton 
Expansion Project, which would provide an incremental 20,600 equivalent 
dekatherms per day of firm natural gas transportation capacity from WBI 
Energy's existing Mapleton Compressor Station to the proposed Montana 
Dakota Utilities (MDU)-Kindred and MDU-Wahpeton Border Stations to 
provide natural gas services to the communities of Kindred and 
Wahpeton, North Dakota.
    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Wahpeton Expansion Project in 
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA). Commission staff concludes that approval of the proposed 
project, with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would 
result in some adverse environmental impacts. Most of these impacts 
would be temporary and occur during construction (e.g., impacts on 
wetlands, land use, traffic, and noise). With the exception of climate 
change impacts that are not characterized in the EIS as significant or 
insignificant, Commission staff conclude that project effects would not 
be significant. As part of the analysis, Commission staff developed 
specific mitigation measures (included in the draft EIS as 
recommendations). Staff recommend that these mitigation measures be 
attached as conditions to any authorization issued by the Commission.
    The Wild Rice River Route Alternative--Milepost (MP) 55 would 
affect landowners that have not been part of the FERC's environmental 
scoping process, as further discussed on page 4. Therefore, by this 
letter we are notifying these parties of our evaluation and requesting 
comments about this route alternative presented in section 3.3.1 of the 
draft EIS.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following project facilities, in Cass 
and Richland Counties, North Dakota:
     a new 60.5-mile-long, 12-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline;
     minor modifications to WBI Energy's existing Mapleton 
Compressor Station;
     a new MDU-Wahpeton Border Station;
     a new MDU-Kindred Border Station;
     seven new block valve settings;
     four new pig launcher/receiver settings; and
     ancillary facilities.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
draft EIS 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 draft EIS is only available in electronic format. It 
may be viewed and downloaded from 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 draft EIS may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on 
FERC's website. Click on the eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search), select ``General Search'' and enter the docket number 
in the ``Docket Number'' field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., 
CP22-466). 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 draft EIS 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 draft EIS may do so. 
Your comments should focus on draft EIS's disclosure and discussion of 
potential environmental effects, measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts, and the completeness of the submitted 
alternatives, information and analyses. To ensure consideration of your 
comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is important that the 
Commission receive your comments on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 
December 27, 2022.
    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 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

[[Page 67682]]

Online. This 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 on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC Online. With filing, 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 Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP22-
466-000) 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.
    4. In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend one of the public comment sessions its 
staff will conduct in the project area to receive comments on the draft 
EIS, scheduled as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date and time                           Location
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Tuesday, November 29, 2022, 5:00 p.m.-   Wahpeton City Hall, 1900 4th
 7:00 p.m.                                Street N, Wahpeton, ND 58075,
                                          (701) 591-2110.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022, 5:00 p.m.- Kindred High School, 225 Dakota
 7:00 p.m.                                Street, Kindred, ND 58051,
                                          (701) 428-3177.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify 
the specific environmental issues and concerns with the draft EIS. 
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 comment session is scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
Central Standard Time. 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. Comments will be taken until 7:00 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 call (202) 502-
8371.
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    Your verbal comments will be recorded by the court reporter (with 
FERC staff or representative present) and become part of the public 
record for this proceeding. Transcripts will be publicly available on 
FERC's eLibrary system (see page 2 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 5 minutes may be 
implemented for each commentor. 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.
    It is important to note that the Commission provides equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form 
or provided orally at a comment session.
    Any person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a 
motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedures (18 CFR part 385.214). Motions to intervene are 
more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/how-intervene. Only 
intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of the 
Commission's decision. The Commission grants affected landowners and 
others with environmental concerns intervenor status upon showing good 
cause by stating that they have a clear and direct interest in this 
proceeding which no other party can adequately represent. Simply filing 
environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, but you do 
not need intervenor status to have your comments considered.

Route Alternative

    As indicated on page 1, some landowners are receiving this draft 
EIS because their property has been identified as potentially being 
affected by the Wild Rice River Route Alternative--MP 55, which is 
recommended by FERC staff to avoid or lessen environmental impacts 
along WBI Energy's proposed pipeline route. Section 3.3.1 of the draft 
EIS contains our analysis and discussion of this alternative. The 
Commission staff wants to ensure that all potentially affected 
landowners have the opportunity to participate in the environmental 
review process, thus staff is soliciting comments to assist with the 
environmental analysis of this route alternative, which will be 
presented in the final EIS.

Questions?

    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 that 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: November 3, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-24442 Filed 11-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P