[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 40 (Monday, March 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10214-10216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-5224]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP96-213-007]
Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation; Notice of Intent To
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Amended Market Expansion
Project (Lines VM-105, VM-106, and VM-109) and Request for Comments on
Environmental Issues
February 24, 1998.
The Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will
[[Page 10215]]
discuss the environmental impacts of the construction and operation of
facilities consisting of about 6.9 miles of 20- and 24-inch diameter
pipeline proposed in the Amended Market Expansion Project (Lines VM-
105, VM-106, and VM-109).\1\ The pipeline facilities are proposed
instead of certain compression which had previously been approved by
the Commission. The EA will be used by the Commission in its decision-
making process to determine whether the project is in the public
convenience and necessity.
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\1\ Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation'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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Summary of the Proposed Project
Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation (Columbia) proposes to amend
its Market Expansion Project authorized in a Commission Order dated May
14, 1997 (Order). Columbia states that due to a more detailed facility
design analysis, it has determined that certain compression facilities
approved in the Order are no longer required and certain other
facilities not approved in the Order will be needed. The effect of the
proposed facility revisions would be to decrease the overall cost of
the Market Expansion Project facilities by about $3,280,700.
The new facilities that Columbia proposes to construct and the
facilities its proposes to delete from the Market Expansion Project
(facilities approved but not yet constructed) are listed below:
New Proposed Facilities (Louisa County, Virginia)
Line VM-105 Loop--construct 0.3 mile of 20-inch-diameter
loop on the suction side of the Boswells Tavern compressor Station;
Line VM-106 Replacement--replace 0.6 mile of 12-inch-
diameter pipeline with 24-inch-diameter pipeline on the discharge side
of the Boswells Tavern Compressor Station;
Upgrade a meter station within the Boswells Tavern
Compressor Station; and
Line VM-109--construct 6.0 miles of 24-inch-diameter
pipeline loop from its mainline valve 3 to its Louisa Compressor
Station.
Canceled Market Expansion Project Facilities
The following facilities are portions of the previously approved
Market Expansion Project but have not yet been constructed. In this
proposal, Columbia wishes to cancel these items in lieu of the new
proposed facilities listed above.
Louisa Compressor Station--a new 1,350 horsepower (hp)
unit at the existing compressor station in Louisa County, Virginia and
a relocated 1,140 hp unit from the Petersburg Compressor Station in
Prince George County, Virginia.
Petersburg Compressor Station--a new 1,100 hp unit at the
existing compressor station in Prince George County, Virginia.
Hamlin Compressor Station--a new 3,175 hp compressor
station in Lincoln County, West Virginia and a relocated 825 hp unit
from the Dungannon Compressor Station in Columbiana County, Ohio.
The 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 are available from the
Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888
First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, or call (202) 208-1371.
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 the
disturbance of about 85 acres of land. Following construction, about 14
acres would be maintained as new permanent right-of-way. The remaining
71 acres of land 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 use
to discover and address concerns the public may have about proposals.
We call this ``scoping.'' The mail 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.
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
Public safety
Land use
Cultural resources
Air quality and noise
Hazardous waste
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 resources 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.
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 Columbia. This preliminary
list of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
About 0.46 acre of forested wetland would be permanently
converted to emergent wetland in the project area.
A total of 5.4 miles of the Line VM-109 Loop would cross
the Green Springs Rural Historic District which is listed as a National
Historic Landmark.
Public Participation
You can make a difference by sending a letter addressing your
specific comments or concerns about the project. You should focus on
the potential environmental effects of the proposal, alternatives to
the proposal (including alternative 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:
Send two copies of your letter to: David P. Boergers,
Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St.,
N.E., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the
Environmental
[[Page 10216]]
Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.2
Reference Docket No. CP96-213-007; and
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before March 26, 1998.
If you are interested in obtaining procedural information, please
write to the Secretary of the Commission.
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want
to become an official party to the proceeding or become an
``intervenor.'' 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 copies of its
filings to all other parties. 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).
The date for filing timely motions to intervene in this proceeding
has passed. Therefore, parties now seeking to file late interventions
must show good cause, as required by section 385.214(b)(3), why this
time limitation should be waived. Environmental issues have been viewed
as good cause for late intervention.
You do not need intervenor status to have your environmental
comments considered.
David P. Boergers,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-5224 Filed 2-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
