[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 212 (Friday, November 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75572-75576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24316]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP23-544-000]


Northern Border Pipeline Company; Notice of Scoping Period 
Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues for the Proposed Bison 
XPress Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental document, that will discuss 
the environmental impacts of the Bison XPress Project involving 
construction and operation of facilities by Northern Border Pipeline 
Company (Northern Border) in in McKenzie, Dunn, and Morton Counties, 
North Dakota. The Commission will use this environmental document in 
its decision-making process to determine whether the project is in the 
public convenience and necessity. Applications by Bison Pipeline, LLC 
(Docket No. CP23-543-000) and Wyoming Interstate Company, LLC and Fort 
Union Gas Gathering, LLC (Docket No. CP23-545-000) are associated 
projects being evaluated under the applicable Commission regulations.
    This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the 
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested 
agencies regarding the project. As part of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) review process, the Commission takes into account 
concerns the public may have about proposals and the environmental 
impacts that could result from its action whenever it considers the 
issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. This 
gathering of public input is referred to as ``scoping.'' The main goal 
of the scoping process is to focus the analysis in the environmental 
document on the important environmental issues. Additional information 
about the Commission's NEPA process is described below in the NEPA 
Process and Environmental Document section of this notice.
    By this notice, the Commission requests public comments on the 
scope of issues to address in the environmental document. 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 November 29, 2023. Comments may be 
submitted in written form. Further details on how to submit comments 
are provided in the Public Participation section of this notice.
    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 environmental document. Commission 
staff will consider all written comments during the preparation of the 
environmental document.
    If you submitted comments on this project to the Commission before 
the opening of this docket on September 15, 2023, you will need to file 
those comments in Docket No. CP23-544-000 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. The Commission does 
not subsequently grant, exercise, or oversee the exercise of that 
eminent domain authority. The courts have exclusive authority to handle 
eminent domain cases; the Commission has no jurisdiction over these 
matters.
    Northern Border 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 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, Landowner Topics link.

[[Page 75573]]

Public Participation

    There are three methods you can use to submit your comments to the 
Commission. Please carefully follow these instructions so that your 
comments are properly recorded. The Commission encourages electronic 
filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-
3676 or [email protected].
    (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 (CP23-
544-000) 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.
    Additionally, 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.
    The Commission's Office of Public Participation (OPP) supports 
meaningful public engagement and participation in Commission 
proceedings. OPP can help members of the public, including landowners, 
environmental justice communities, Tribal members and others, access 
publicly available information and navigate Commission processes. For 
public inquiries and assistance with making filings such as 
interventions, comments, or requests for rehearing, the public is 
encouraged to contact OPP at (202) 502-6595 or [email protected].

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Northern Border's proposed Bison XPress Project consists of the 
replacement and expansion of compression facilities at Northern 
Border's existing compressor stations including Arnegard (No. 4) in 
McKenzie County, North Dakota, Manning (No. 5) in Dunn County North 
Dakota, and Glen Ullin (No. 6) in Morton County, North Dakota (Appendix 
1). Upon completion, the Bison XPress Project would (a) replace and 
expand existing compressor facilities with new, more modern and 
efficient compression facilities; (b) create 300,000 dekatherms per day 
of incremental mainline natural gas capacity from receipt points 
between Northern Border's Culbertson (No. 3) Compressor Station and 
Glen Ullin (No. 6) Compressor Station (``Bakken Receipt Points'') to 
its interconnection with Bison in Morton County, North Dakota (Kurtz 
Delivery Point); and (c) introduce standby horsepower for the first 
time on Northern Border's system, as opposed to the previous single 
compressor unit design at each station.

Land Requirements for Construction

    All facility modifications and additions proposed as part of the 
Bison XPress Project would be entirely on property owned by Northern 
Border, within Northern Border easements, or on leased space. The Bison 
XPress Project would require the use of a total of 102.70 acres of land 
during construction, including 26.86 acres at the Arnegard Compressor 
Station, 33.15 acres at the Manning Compressor Station, and 42.69 acres 
at the Glen Ullin Compressor Station. Permanent impacts (a total of 
4.11 acres) would only occur at the Manning Compressor Station and 
would be associated with the expansion of the existing facility fence 
line and grading to level the land surface. Construction activities at 
all three of the compressor stations would require temporary workspace 
both within and directly adjacent to the existing facility fence lines.
    Temporary workspace outside of the existing facility fence lines at 
the compressor stations would be used primarily for the staging, 
parking, and storage of construction equipment and materials. Temporary 
workspace at all three of the compressor stations that extends beyond 
Northern Border's property would be leased from the landowner during 
Project construction. Following the completion of construction, 
temporary workspace outside of the existing facilities would be 
restored to pre-construction contours and allowed to revegetate.

NEPA Process and the Environmental Document

    Any environmental document issued by the Commission will discuss 
impacts that could occur as a result of the construction and operation 
of the proposed Bison XPress Project under the relevant general 
resource areas:
     geology and soils;
     water resources and wetlands;
     vegetation and wildlife;
     threatened and endangered species;
     cultural resources;
     land use;
     environmental justice;
     air quality and noise; and
     reliability and safety.
    Commission staff have already identified several issues that 
deserve attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed 
facilities and the environmental information provided by Northern 
Border. This preliminary list of issues may change based on your 
comments and our analysis:
     environmental justice;
     air quality; and
     cultural resources.
    Commission staff will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed Bison XPress Project or portions of the project and make 
recommendations on how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various 
resource areas. Your comments will help Commission staff identify and 
focus on the issues that might have an effect on the human environment 
and potentially eliminate others from further study and discussion in 
the environmental document.
    Following this scoping period, Commission staff will determine 
whether to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Bison XPress Project. The EA or the EIS 
will present Commission staff's independent analysis of the issues. If 
Commission staff prepares an EA, a Notice of Schedule for the 
Preparation of an Environmental Assessment will be issued. The EA may 
be issued for an allotted public comment period. The Commission would 
consider timely comments on the EA before making its decision regarding 
the proposed Bison XPress Project. If Commission staff prepares an EIS, 
a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS/Notice of Schedule will be issued, 
which will open up an additional comment period. Staff will

[[Page 75574]]

then prepare a draft EIS which will be issued for public comment. 
Commission staff will consider all timely comments received during the 
comment period on the draft EIS and revise the document, as necessary, 
before issuing a final EIS. Any EA or draft and final EIS will be 
available in electronic format in the public record through eLibrary 
\1\ 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 environmental document is issued.
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    \1\ 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 environmental document.\2\ 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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    \2\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, section 1501.8.
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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 applicable State Historic Preservation Office(s), 
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.\3\ The environmental document for the 
project will document findings on the impacts on historic properties 
and summarize the status of consultations under section 106.
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    \3\ 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 Bison XPress Project.
    If you need to make changes to your name/address, or if you would 
like to remove your name from the mailing list, please complete one of 
the following steps:
    (1) Send an email to [email protected] stating your 
request. You must include the docket number CP23-544-000 in your 
request. If you are requesting a change to your address, please be sure 
to include your name and the correct address. If you are requesting to 
delete your address from the mailing list, please include your name and 
address as it appeared on this notice. This email address is unable to 
accept comments.
    OR
    (2) 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. 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 https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/events along with 
other related information.

    Dated: October 30, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P

Appendix 1

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN03NO23.029

Appendix 2

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN03NO23.030

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN03NO23.031

[FR Doc. 2023-24316 Filed 11-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-C