[Federal Register: February 5, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 24)]
[Notices]
[Page 5533-5535]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05fe04-64]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP04-51-000]
ANR Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Eastleg Expansion Project and
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues and Notice of Site Visit
January 29, 2004.
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 Eastleg Expansion Project
involving construction and operation of facilities by ANR Pipeline
Company (ANR) in Washington, Brown and Ontoco Counties, Wisconsin.\1\
These facilities would consist of about 8 miles of various diameter
pipelines and one gas cooler at a compressor station. This EA will be
used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine
whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity.
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\1\ ANR's application was filed with the Commission under
section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and part 157 of the Commission's
regulations.
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If you are a landowner receiving this notice, you may be contacted
by a pipeline company representative about the acquisition of an
easement to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities.
The pipeline company would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable
agreement. However, if the project is approved by the Commission, that
approval conveys with it the right of eminent domain. Therefore, if
easement negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the pipeline
company could initiate condemnation proceedings in accordance with
State law.
A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' was attached to the
project notice ANR provided to landowners. This fact sheet addresses a
number of typically asked questions, including the use of eminent
domain and how to participate in the Commission's proceedings. It is
available for viewing on the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov
).
Summary of the Proposed Project
ANR wants to expand the capacity of its natural gas pipeline
facilities to transport an additional 143,400 million British Thermal
Units per day of natural gas along its 30-inch-diameter mainline in
Wisconsin that would in turn serve two recently approved power plants
under construction. ANR seeks authority to construct and operate:
4.7 miles of 30-inch-diameter pipeline to
replace 4.7 miles of 14-inch-diameter pipeline, to be abandoned by
removal, in Washington County, Wisconsin, including one new pig
launcher and two new pig receivers (Mainline Replacement);
3.5 miles of 8-inch-diameter pipeline looping in
Brown County, Wisconsin, including one new pig launcher and receiver
and two tie-in facilities (Denmark Lateral Loop); and
Modifications on its existing Mountain
Compressor Station in Ontoco County, Wisconsin, including re-wheeling
of a compressor unit and addition of a gas cooler and new piping and
appurtenant facilities.
The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix
1.\2\
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\2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other
than appendix 1 (maps), are available on the Commission's Web site
at the ``eLibrary'' link 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 page 6
of this notice. Copies of the appendices were sent to all those
receiving this notice in the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction
Construction of the proposed facilities would require about 125
acres of land, of which 38 acres is currently in permanent right-of-way
(ROW) easement and 87 acres would be temporary ROW easement. Following
construction, about 10 acres of the temporary ROW easement would be
converted to new permanent right-of-way for maintenance of the Denmark
Lateral Loop. The remaining 77 acres of
[[Page 5534]]
temporary ROW would be restored and allowed to revert to its former
use.
The EA Process
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the
Commission to take into account the environmental impacts that could
result from an action whenever it considers the issuance of a
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. NEPA also requires us
\3\ to discover and address 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 of Intent, the Commission requests
public comments on the scope of the issues it will address in the EA.
All comments received are considered during the preparation of the EA.
State and local government representatives are encouraged to notify
their constituents of this proposed action and encourage them to
comment on their areas of concern.
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\3\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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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 and soils
Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands
Vegetation and wildlife
Endangered and threatened species
Cultural resources
Air quality and noise
Hazardous waste
Public safety
Land use
We will not discuss impacts to the following resource areas since
they are not present in the project area, or would not be affected by
the proposed facilities:
Sole source aquifers
Prime farmland
We will also evaluate possible 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.
Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending
on the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be
published and mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, public
interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners,
newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's official service list for
this proceeding. A comment period will be allotted for review if the EA
is published. We will consider all comments on the EA before we make
our recommendations to the Commission.
To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the
instructions in the public participation section beginning on this
page.
Currently Identified Environmental Issues
We have already identified several issues that we think deserve
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and
the environmental information provided by ANR. This preliminary list of
issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
Four state-protected aquifers occur in the
project area, including the Sand and Gravel Aquifer, the Eastern
Dolomite Aquifer, the Sandstone Aquifer, and the Crystalline Bedrock
Aquifer.
Approximately twenty water wells may be within
150 feet of the construction work area.
Approximately 5.5 miles of cropland would be
crossed by the pipelines.
Approximately 2,000 feet of wetlands would be
crossed by the pipelines.
The Fox River would be crossed by drilling
underneath the river.
Two federally threatened species may occur in
the proposed project area.
Residential subdivisions occur along the
pipeline replacement and looping, with at least 12 residences within 50
feet of the construction work area.
Public Participation
You can make a difference by providing us with your specific
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commenter, your
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission.
You should focus on the potential environmental effects of the
proposal, alternatives to the proposal, including alternative pipeline
alignments, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impact. The
more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. Please
carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your comments are
received in time and properly recorded:
Send an original and two copies of your letter
to: Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Label one copy of the comments for the attention
of Gas Branch 2.
Reference Docket No. CP04-051-000.
Mail your comments so that they will be received
in Washington, DC on or before March 1, 2004.
Please note that we are continuing to experience delays in mail
deliveries from the U.S. Postal Service. As a result, we will include
all comments that we receive within a reasonable time frame in our
environmental analysis of this project. However, the Commission
strongly encourages electronic filing of any comments or interventions
or protests to this proceeding. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the
instructions on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under
the ``e-Filing'' link and the link to the User's Guide. Before you can
file comments you will need to create a free account which can be
created on-line.
If you do not want to send comments at this time but still want to
remain on our mailing list, please return the Information Request
(appendix 4). If you do not return the Information Request, you will be
taken off the mailing list.
Notice of Site Visit
The OEP staff will conduct a site visit on February 17 and February
18, 2004, to inspect ANR's proposed pipeline replacement and looping
for the Eastleg Expansion Project. The areas will be inspected by
automobile. Representatives of ANR will accompany the OEP staff. Anyone
interested in participating in the February 17 site visit for the
Mainline Replacement in Washington County should meet at the Hawthorn
Inn & Suites, W227 N16890 Tillie Lake Court, Jackson, Wisconsin 53037,
at 2 p.m. Anyone interested in participating in the February 18 site
visit for the Denmark Lateral Loop in Brown County should meet at the
Riverside Shell gas station, 1010 S Broadway, DePere, Wisconsin 54115,
at 12 p.m. Participants must provide their own transportation.
For additional information, contact the Commission's Office of
External Affairs at 1-866-208-FERC.
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want
to become an official party to the proceeding known as an
``intervenor''. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process.
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of
case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors.
Likewise, each intervenor must provide 14 copies of its filings to
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the Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to
all other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding.
If you want to become an intervenor you must file a motion to intervene
according to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and
Procedure (18 CFR 385.214) (see appendix 2).\4\ Only intervenors have
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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\4\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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Affected landowners and parties with environmental concerns may be
granted intervenor status upon showing good cause by stating that they
have a clear and direct interest in this proceeding which would not be
adequately represented by any other parties. You do not need intervenor
status to have your environmental comments considered.
Environmental Mailing List
An effort is being made to send this notice to all individuals,
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially
affected by the proposed project. This includes all landowners who are
potential right-of-way grantors, whose property may be used temporarily
for project purposes, or who own homes within distances defined in the
Commission's regulations of certain aboveground facilities. By this
notice we are also asking governmental agencies, especially those in
appendix 3, to express their interest in becoming cooperating agencies
for the preparation of the EA.
Additional Information
Additional information about the project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the
FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link.
Click on the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and enter the
docket number excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number
field. Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For
assistance with eLibrary, the eLibrary helpline can be reached at 1-
866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-8659, or at FERCOnLineSupport@ferc.gov The
eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web site also provides access to the
texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders,
notices, and rulemakings.
In addition, the Commission now 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 http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the
Commission's calendar located at http://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx
along with other related information.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E4-187 Filed 2-4-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P