[Federal Register: March 26, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 58)]
[Notices]
[Page 14613-14615]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26mr03-64]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP01-5-003]
Algonquin Gas Transmission Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare
an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Everett Extension Project,
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of a Public
Scoping Meeting and Site Visit
March 19, 2003.
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 proposed Everett Extension
Project. On February 5, 2003, Algonquin Gas Transmission Company (AGT)
filed an application to amend its Certificate of Public Convenience and
Necessity for authorization to construct and operate facilities in
Suffolk County, Massachusetts. This EA will be used by the Commission
in its decision-making process to determine whether the project is in
the public convenience and necessity. A decision whether an
environmental impact statement is needed has not been made yet, and
will be based on the comments and information received during the
scoping process. Agencies listed in Appendix 3 are hereby asked to
indicate whether they want to be cooperating agencies for preparing the
EA.
The application, and other supplemental filings in this docket are
available for viewing on the FERC Internet Web site (http://
www.ferc.gov
). Click on the ``FERRIS'' link, select ``General Search''
www.ferc.gov). Click on the ``FERRIS'' link, select ``General Search''
from the FERRIS menu, and follow the instructions, being sure to input
the correct docket number (CP01-5-003).
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 and under certain
circumstances the pipeline company could initiate condemnation
proceedings in accordance with Florida 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 that AGT 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
).
www.ferc.gov).
Summary of the Proposed Project
AGT would construct 6.64 miles of 24-inch-diameter pipeline, 0.31
miles of 8-inch-diameter pipeline, three meter stations, and
appurtenant facilities. The proposal would extend the 24-inch-diameter
Deer Island Lateral pipeline (approved on June 4, 2002, in Docket No.
CP01-5-002, but unbuilt yet). The proposal would provide 110,000
dekatherms per day of firm transportation service. AGT requests final
authorization for the proposed facilities by December 15, 2003, and
would construct its facilities in 2004 during the summer and fall, so
that it could place the facilities in service by June 1, 2005. The
general locations of the project facilities are shown in Appendix 1.\1\
If you are interested in obtaining detailed maps of a specific portion
of the project, send in your request using the form in Appendix 4.
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\1\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being
printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available on the
Commission's Web site at the ``FERRIS'' link or from the
Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 502-8371. For
instructions on connecting to FERRIS refer to the last page 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 Everett Extension Project would temporarily
disturb a total of about 72.70 acres of land. This includes about 22.9
acres offshore and 36.2 acres onshore for the pipeline construction
right-of-way (ROW), and 13.6 acres for extra workspace and contractor
staging areas. The total land requirements for the permanent ROW would
be about 14.14 acres, including 1.35 acres of land for operation of the
new permanent aboveground facilities. The remaining 58.56 acres of land
affected by construction would be restored and allowed to revert to its
former use.
Approximately 3.86 miles of the pipeline would be built onshore,
and 3.09 miles would be offshore. The offshore construction would
include about 2.25 miles of horizontal directional drilling, and about
0.84 miles of shallow water dredging. The offshore disturbance would
include about 8.67 acres for trench excavation and 14.22 acres for
temporarily storing the side-cast trench spoil. AGT states that most
(69%) of the proposed onshore route would not require AGT to obtain a
ROW easement, since 60% of the route would be located within existing
roads or utility ROW, and 9% would be on property owned by proposed
customers. AGT would typically use a 50- to 75-foot-wide construction
ROW. Temporary extra workspaces are often needed for waterbody,
highway, and railroad crossings; additional topsoil storage; and pipe
storage and equipment yards.
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
\2\ to discover and address concerns the
[[Page 14614]]
public may have about proposals. This is called ``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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\2\ ``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:
[sbull] Water resources.
[sbull] Wetlands.
[sbull] Fisheries and essential fish habitat.
[sbull] Vegetation and wildlife.
[sbull] Endangered and threatened species.
[sbull] Land use, recreation, and visual resources.
[sbull] Cultural resources.
[sbull] Socioeconomics.
[sbull] Geologic and soil resources.
[sbull] Air and noise quality.
[sbull] Reliability and safety.
[sbull] System or route alternatives.
Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. The EA
will be 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 45-day comment period will be allotted for review of the
EA. We will consider all comments on the EA and revise the document, as
necessary, before issuing a Final EA. The Final EA will include our
responses to comments received and will be used by the Commission in
its decision-making process to determine whether to approve the
project.
To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the
instructions in the Public Participation and Scoping Meeting section of
this Notice of Intent.
Currently Identified Environmental Issues
The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the
construction and operation of the proposed project. We have already
identified a number of issues that deserve attention based on a
preliminary review of the proposed facilities, the environmental
information provided by AGT, and early input from intervenors. Some of
these issues are listed below. This list is preliminary and may be
changed based on your comments and our analysis.
[sbull] Effect of construction on groundwater or surface water
supplies;
[sbull] Potential failure of the HDD segments, or inadvertent
releases of drilling lubricant or hazardous materials during the
drilling activities;
[sbull] Extent and effects of turbidity and sedimentation that may
result from pipeline trenching or directional drilling in shallow
waters;
[sbull] Potential fuel spills from the pipelay barges and
associated vessel traffic;
[sbull] Construction and operational effects on marine and
estuarine habitats that support commercial or recreational fisheries;
[sbull] Potential effects to wildlife and fisheries, including
essential fish habitat and other fishery resource of concern, and other
biological resources of concern;
[sbull] Potential effects on federally endangered and threatened
species including the piping plover, northern right whale, humpback
whale, fin whale, loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, hawksbill
sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea turtle, and leatherback sea turtle;
[sbull] Potential effects to onshore and offshore submerged
cultural resources;
[sbull] Noise generated as a result of pipeline construction;
[sbull] Temporary disruption of local roadways and recreational
trails during construction;
[sbull] Potential effect of the project on Logan Airport
operations;
[sbull] Cumulative impacts and temporal loss of habitat function
from additive effects of the proposed project with other projects,
including natural gas pipelines and other utilities, which have been
recently constructed or are proposed to be built in the same region;
[sbull] Public Safety in the vicinity of the proposed facilities.
Public Participation and Scoping Meeting
You can make a difference by providing us with your specific
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, 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
locations/routes), 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:
[sbull] 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.
[sbull] Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the Gas
2 Branch.
[sbull] Reference Docket No. CP01-5-003.
[sbull] Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before April 18, 2003.
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
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 by clicking on ``Login to File'' and then ``New User Account.''
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.
In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, we invite
you to attend a public scoping meeting. The FERC will conduct this
public meeting together with the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting
Board, at the time and location listed below:
Time: Wednesday April 9, 2003, at 7 PM, Location: Curtis Guild
Elementary School, 195 Leyden Street, East Boston, MA 02128.
The public meeting is designed to provide you with more detailed
information and another opportunity to offer your comments on the
proposed project. Prior to the start of the meeting, company
representatives will be available to informally discuss the project.
Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend the meeting
and to present comments on the environmental issues they believe should
be addressed in the EA. A transcript of the meeting will be made so
that your comments will be accurately recorded.
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want
to become an official party to the
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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 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).\3\ Only
intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's
decision.
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\3\ 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. The deadline for
requesting to be an intervenor is April 7, 2003, but you may still
request consideration to be an intervenor after that, if you can
demonstrate why you should be granted intervenor status. You do not
need intervenor status to have your environmental comments considered.
Environmental Mailing List
This notice is being sent to individuals, organizations, and
government entities interested in and/or potentially affected by the
proposed project. It is also being sent to all identified potential ROW
grantors. 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 FERRIS link.
FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the FERRIS link.
Click on the FERRIS link, 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 FERRIS, the FERRIS helpline
can be reached at 1-866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-8659, or at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. The FERRIS 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.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-7209 Filed 3-25-03; 8:45 am]
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