E9-4722. Northern Lights 2009-2010 Zone EF Expansion Project; Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Northern Lights 2009-2010 Zone EF Expansion Project

February 27, 2009.

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) on the natural gas pipeline facilities proposed by Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern) in the above-referenced docket.

The EA was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that approval of the proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.

The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the proposed pipeline facilities including:

• An approximately 6.37-mile-long extension of the 30-inch-diameter Faribault-Farmington D-Line in Rice and Dakota Counties, Minnesota;
• An approximately 6.06-mile-long extension of the 20-inch-diameter Farmington-North Branch C-Line in Washington County, Minnesota;
• An approximately 6.04-mile-long extension of the 20-inch-diameter Elk River loop in Anoka County, Minnesota;
• The replacement of approximately 9.32 miles of the 3- and 2-inch-diameter Rockford Branch Line with 22.95 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline in Carver, Wright, and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota;
• An approximately 11.21 miles of the 16-inch-diameter greenfield Corcoran Branch Line in Hennepin County, Minnesota;
• A new 15,000 horsepower ISO-rated greenfield compressor station located near Albert Lea, Minnesota in Freeborn County, Minnesota; and
• A new meter station in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Northern proposes to expand the capacity of its facilities in these areas to transport an additional 135,000 decatherms per day of natural gas for incremental firm winter service.

The EA has been placed in the public files of the FERC. A limited number of copies of the EA are available for distribution and public inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, [phone].

Copies of the EA have been mailed to federal, state and local agencies, public interest groups, interested individuals, newspapers, and parties to this proceeding.

Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. To ensure consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is important that we receive your comments before the date specified below.

Please note that 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 by clicking on “Sign-up.”

If you are filing written comments, 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 comments to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
• Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the Gas Branch 3, PJ11.3.
• Reference Docket No. CP09-11-000; and
• Mail your comments so that they will be received in Washington, DC on or before March 30, 2009.

Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR 385.214).^[1] Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.

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 comments considered.

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, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail] or toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, contact [phone]. The eLibrary link 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.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Interventions may also be filed electronically via the Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing comments electronically.