[Federal Register: October 8, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 195)] [Notices] [Page 54132-54133] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr08oc98-75] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP96-153-004] Southern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Amended North Alabama Pipeline Project October 2, 1998. The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared this Final Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Supplement) for the North Alabama Pipeline Project. It addresses the environmental impact of the amended natural gas pipeline project proposed by Southern Natural Gas Company (Southern) in the above referenced docket. The staff prepared the Supplement to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that the Amended North Alabama Pipeline Project would result in limited adverse environmental impact if it is constructed as planned and with additional mitigation recommended in this Supplement. This document supplements the North Alabama Pipeline Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that was noticed in the Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 30, 1997. The Supplement only examines the route changes north of milepost 95.25 (about milepost 91.2 of the route previously studied in the FEIS). There are no changes in the facilities south of milepost 95.25. The Supplement assesses the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the following facilities proposed by Southern: about 27.1 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline (26.9 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline and 0.2 mile of 12-inch-diameter pipeline); and two new meter stations, and related facilities. Facilities required by two local distribution companies to receive natural gas from Southern are also examined. The purpose of Southern's proposed facilities would be to transport a total of 69 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to one existing and two new customers in northern Alabama. The Supplement has been placed in the public files of the FERC and is available for public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-1371. A limited number of copies are available at this location. Copies of the Supplement have been mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, public interest groups, interested individuals, newspapers, and parties to this proceeding. In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, no agency decision on a proposed action may be made until 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes a notice of availability of the Supplement. However, the CEQ regulations provide an exception to this rule when an agency decision is subject to a formal internal appeal process which allows other agencies or the public to make their views known. In such cases, the agency decision may be made at the same time that the notice of availability is issued by EPA, allowing both appeal periods to run concurrently. Should the FERC issue Southern a certificate for the proposed action, it would be subject to a 30-day rehearing period. Therefore, the FERC could issue its decision concurrently with the EPA's notice of availability. Additional information about the proposed project is available from Paul [[Page 54133]] McKee in the Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (202) 208- 1088. Linwood A. Watson, Jr., Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. 98-26932 Filed 10-7-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-M