[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 200 (Friday, October 16, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 55715-55716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26726]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
18 CFR Part 380
[Docket No. RM98-17-000]
Landowner Notification, Residential Area Designation, and Other
Environmental Filing Requirements; Notice of Technical Conference
September 30, 1998.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Technical Conference.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) intends
to hold a staff technical conference on December 9, 1998, at 9:00 AM,
in the Commission Meeting Room, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC,
to address its concerns regarding its present landowner notification
policies and its present environmental designation of residential
areas.
DATES: Comments are due November 16, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John S. Leiss, Office of Pipeline Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, D.C. 20426, (202) 208-
1106
Carolyn Van Der Jagt, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE,. Washington, DC 20426
(202) 208-2246.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of
this document during normal business hours in the Public Reference Room
at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS) provides access to
the texts of formal documents issued by the Commission. CIPS can be
accessed via Internet through FERC's Homepage (http://www.ferc.fed.us)
using the CIPS Link or the Energy Information Online icon. The full
text of this document will be available on CIPS in ASCII and
WordPerfect 6.1 format. CIPS is also available through the Commission's
electronic bulletin board service at no charge to the user and may be
accessed using a personal computer with a modem by dialing 202-208-
1397, if dialing locally, or 1-800-856-3920, if dialing long distance.
To access CIPS, set your communications software to 19200, 14400,
12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, or 1200 bps, full duplex, no parity, 8
data bits and 1 stop bit. User assistance is available at 202-208-2474
or by E-mail to [email protected]
This document is also available through the Commission's Records
and Information Management System (RIMS), an electronic storage and
retrieval system of documents submitted to and issued by the Commission
after November 16, 1981. Documents from November 1995 to the present
can be viewed and printed. RIMS is available in the Public Reference
Room or remotely via Internet through FERC's Homepage using the RIMS
link or the Energy Information Online icon. User assistance is
available at 202-208-2222, or by E-mail to rimsmaster@ferc.fed.us.
Finally, the complete text on diskette in WordPerfect format may be
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, RVJ International,
Inc. RVJ International, Inc., is located in the Public Reference Room
at 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
In the matter of: Landowner Notification, Residential Area
Designation, and Environmental Filing Requirements; Docket No. RM98-
17-000.
Notice of Technical Conference
September 30, 1998.
In Docket No. RM98-9-000, which is being issued concurrently with
this notice of technical conference, the Commission, among other
things, proposes to amend, consolidate, and clarify its current
environmental filing requirements for applications for certificates of
public convenience and necessity to construct pipeline facilities.
These requirements are necessary for the Commission to comply with the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).1 The
Commission believes that revising its existing regulations will lead to
more complete applications and to an expedited environmental review
process.
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\1\ 42 U.S.C. 4321. Specifically, NEPA requires that federal
agencies carefully weigh the potential environmental impact of all
their decisions and consult with federal and state agencies and the
public on serious environmental questions.
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However, in addition to the changes proposed in Docket No. RM98-9-
000, the Commission is interested in examining its existing landowner
notification policies and designation of residential areas. It is
concerned that its current regulations are not adequate to provide the
general public and potentially affected landowners with sufficient
opportunity for participation in the Commission's certificate process.
Increased public interest in several recently filed certificate
applications
[[Page 55716]]
suggests that the Commission should review its existing
procedures.2
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\2\ For example, in the pending Independence Pipeline Company
proceeding in Docket No. CP97-315-000, the Commission has received
in excess of 6,500 correspondences from concerned citizens.
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To open the process to the affected public, the Commission is
contemplating requiring that companies proposing a pipeline project
provide notification to the affected public prior to filing an
application with the Commission. For projects that do not require prior
notification to the Commission, we believe that the affected landowners
should be notified within a reasonable time prior to construction, to
reduce the potential for complaints that landowners were not aware of
the project. The Commission believes that early notification of a
proposed project will provide the public with a better opportunity to
participate in the proceeding.
We note that in a letter dated September 16, 1998, the Interstate
Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) also acknowledges the
concern over the landowner notification issue. In the letter, it
proposes a solution to the landowner notification problem which, among
other things, requires that the owner of record of property affected by
a pipeline project be notified of the project by certified mail. We
invite INGAA to present its proposal at the December 9, 1998 technical
conference. Additionally, we invite any other interested party to
present proposals at the technical conference.
The Commission is also considering some other changes to its
regulations which it feels may require expanded landowner notification
to ensure fairness for both the company and landowners. For example,
the Commission is considering expanding the definition of eligible
facility under section 157.202(b)(2) of its regulations to include
injection and withdrawal wells which do not alter the capacity of an
existing, certificated underground storage field. That change would
allow the addition of minor facilities designed to enhance existing
storage operations without case specific Commission review and
approval. However, the Commission is concerned about whether and how
the pipeline should be required to acquire consent from the landowner
prior to beginning construction.
The Commission would also like to revise section 2.55(b)(iii) and
(iv) of its regulations to allow the use of additional temporary work
space for replacement facilities. However, once again, the Commission
is concerned about how the pipeline should acquire landowner consent to
use the additional space as well as providing for appropriate
environmental safeguards.
Additionally, the Commission believes it is necessary to designate
residential areas as sensitive environmental areas defined under
section 157.202(b)(11).3 This change would bring the status
of residential areas in our regulations more in line with the existing
treatment of these areas as noise sensitive areas (section
157.206(d)(5)), as well as Commission practice to weigh project impact
on residential areas in the same way as the more traditional natural
resource areas, such as, for example, endangered species habitats,
historical places, wetlands, and designated wilderness areas.
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\3\ Section 157.206(d)(4) of the Commission's regulations
provides: ``Any transaction authorized under a blanket certificate
shall not have a significant impact on a sensitive environmental
area.''
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Finally the Commission is interested in obtaining comment on the
need to apply the same erosion control and stream and wetland crossing
mitigation measures it applies to filings under Subpart A of Part 157
to Subpart F blanket projects. This would provide more uniform
treatment of natural gas projects whether or not they are actually
reviewed by the Commission prior to construction.
In the past the Commission has used working groups to develop
proposals for improving upon the Commission's regulations.4
Here, the Commission is also considering using the negotiated
rulemaking procedure under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990
5 as an alternative to its traditional rulemaking process.
That act establishes a framework for conducting a negotiated rulemaking
and encourages agencies to use negotiated rulemaking to enhance the
rulemaking process. Negotiations would be conducted by a committee
chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.6 The
committee would include a Commission representative and would be
assisted by a neutral facilitator. The goal of the committee would be
to reach consensus on the language or issues involved in the rule. If
consensus is reached, the Commission undertakes to use the consensus as
the basis of the proposed rule.
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\4\ See Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural
Gas Pipelines, 60 FR 55,504 (Nov. 1, 1995), 73 FERC para. 61,104
(Oct. 25, 1995).
\5\ 5 U.S.C. 561-569.
\6\ 5 U.S.C. App. 2.
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The purpose of the staff technical conference is to discuss
potential changes to the Commission's regulations in the above
mentioned areas and to address the appropriateness of using working
groups or negotiated rulemaking for these changes. Additionally, the
Commission may entertain and discuss at the staff technical conference
suggestions concerning other areas of its environmental review process.
The Commission invites all interested persons to submit written
comments on these topics. Additionally, any persons wishing to make
comments or presentations at the conference should submit a request for
time and the topic(s) they want to address. The original and 14 copies
of such comments and requests must be received by the Commission before
5:00 p.m., November 16, 1998. Comments should be submitted to the
Office of the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street, NE., Washington DC 20426 and should refer to Docket No.
RM98-17-000. Commenters also can submit comments on computer diskette
in WordPerfect 6.1 or lower format or in ASCII format, with the name of
the filer and Docket No. RM98-17-000 on the outside of the diskette.
All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files and
will be available for inspection in the Commission's Public Reference
room at 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, during regular
business hours. Additionally, comments can be viewed and printed
remotely via the Internet through FERC's Homepage using the RIMS link
or the Energy Information Online icon. User assistance is available at
202-208-2222, or by E-mail to rimsmaster@ferc.fed.us.
By direction of the Commission.
David P. Boergers,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-26726 Filed 10-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
