[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17168-17170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9156]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP98-266-000]
Enogex Interstate Transmission L.L.C. and Ozark Gas Transmission,
L.L.C.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the
Proposed Ozark/NOARK Expansion Project and Request for Comments on
Environmental Issues
April 2, 1998.
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 construction and operation of
approximately 9.9 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline and other
appurtenant facilities, and the modification of two compressor stations
and a meter station, proposed in the Ozark/NOARK Expansion Project.\1\
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.
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\1\ Enogex Interstate Transmission L.L.C. and Ozark Gas
Transmission, L.L.C.'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 whose property will be crossed by the
proposed project, 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 may
seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement relative to land use
and access. However, if the project is approved by the Commission, the
pipeline has the right to use eminent domain. Therefore, if
negotiations fail to produce an agreement between the pipeline company
and landowner, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation
proceedings in accordance with state law. A fact sheet addressing a
number of typically asked questions, including the use of eminent
[[Page 17169]]
domain, is attached to this notice as 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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Summary of the Proposed Project
Enogex Interstate Transmission L.L.C. and Ozark Gas Transmission,
L.L.C. (Enogex) proposes to acquire the facilities of the Ozark Gas
Transmission System (Ozark); dedicate to interstate service the
facilities of NOARK Pipeline system, Limited Partnership (NOARK), and
intrastate pipeline; and expand and integrate the Ozark and NOARK
systems into a single interstate system.\3\ Once completed, the system
would be known as Ozark Gas Transmission, L.L.C., and would have a firm
transportation capacity of 330 million cubic feet per day.
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\3\ On March 5, 1998, under Docket No. CP98-265-000, Ozark Gas
Transmission System filed an application under section 7(b) of the
Natural Gas Act to abandon all of its facilities by sale to Enogex.
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To fully integrate the systems Enogex proposes to construct/install
the following facilities:
about 0.19 mile of 10-inch-diameter pipeline extending
from milepost (MP) 151.0 of Ozark's system to Southwestern Energy
Pipeline Company's Fort Chaffee Compressor Station which connects with
NOARK's system at about MP 0.0, all in Sebastian County, Arkansas;
about 4.86 miles of dual 20-inch-diameter pipeline loops
(totaling about 9.7 miles) from MP 123.1 on Ozark's system to the NOARK
Mainline Compressor Station at MP 26.4 on NOARK's system, all in
Franklin County, Arkansas;
two electrically driven compressor units totaling 5,500
horsepower (hp) and ancillary facilities including a pig launcher, a
pig receiver, a compressor building, piping, and appurtenances at the
existing NOARK Mainline Compressor Station;
about 2 miles of electric transmission line to provide
power for the new compressor additions at the existing NOARK Mainline
Compressor Station;
one 4,500-hp electrically driven compressor unit and
ancillary facilities including a compressor building, piping, and
appurtenances at the existing Ozark Lequire Compressor Station, located
on Ozark's system at MP 212.4 in Haskell County, Oklahoma;
about 1 mile of electric transmission line to provide
power for the new compressor addition at the existing Ozark Lequire
Compressor Station; and
two 8-inch-diameter meter runs, valves, and tie-in piping
to upgrade the receipt meter capacity at the existing Ozark-Enogex
Boiling Springs Meter Station, located on Ozark's system at MP 237.0 in
Latimer County, Oklahoma.
A general location map of the project facilities is shown in
appendix 2. If you are interested in obtaining detailed maps of a
specific portion of the project, contact the Office of External
Affairs.
Land Requirements for Construction
Construction of the proposed facilities would affect a total of
about 95.1 acres. Of this total, about 69.2 acres would be disturbed by
construction of the pipelines. An additional 14.0 acres would be
disturbed by installation of the compressor and meter facilities. The
remaining 11.9 acres would be disturbed by construction of an access
road and use of 25 extra work areas that would be needed at road,
railroad, and waterbody crossings.
The 4.86 miles of dual 20-inch-diameter pipelines would be
installed adjacent to an existing NOARK 12-inch-diameter pipeline using
a 115-foot-wide construction right-of-way. Following construction and
restoration of the right-of-way and temporary work spaces, Enogex would
retain a 50-foot-wide permanent pipeline right-of-way. For construction
of the 0.19 mile of 10-inch-diameter pipeline, Enogex would use a 65-
foot-wide construction right-of-way, of which it would retain a 25-
foot-wide strip as permanent pipeline right-of-way. Enogex would
install the compressor and meter facilities entirely within in the
fence lines of existing sites, requiring no additional temporary work
space.
Existing land uses on the disturbed areas, as well as most land
uses on the permanent rights-of-way, would be allowed to continue
following construction. Total land requirements for new permanent
rights-of-way would be about 30.1 acres.
Construction of the electric transmission line for the NOARK
Mainline Compressor Station would require a 2-mile-long, 70-foot-wide
right-of-way that would affect about 17.0 acres. For the Ozark Lequire
Compressor Station, a 1-mile-long, 80-foot-wide right-of-way would be
required, which would affect about 9.7 acres.
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. The EA we are
preparing will give the Commission the information to do that. NEPA
also requires us to discover and address concerns the public may have
about the proposal. We call this ``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.
We encourage state and local government representatives 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.
Public safety.
Land use.
Cultural resources.
Air quality and noise.
Socioeconomics.
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
these proceedings. 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 final recommendations to the Commission.
To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the
instructions in the public participation section on pages 5 and 6 of
this Notice.
Currently Identified Environmental Issues
We have already identified an issue that we think deserves
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and
the environmental information provided by Enogex. The number of issues
may increase or
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decrease based on your comments and our analysis.
There are 15 noise-sensitive areas that are in proximity
to the compressor stations.
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 routes,
and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impact. The more specific
your comments, the more useful they will be. Please follow the
instructions below to ensure that your comments are received and
properly recorded:
Reference Docket No. CP98-266-000.
Send two copies of your comments to: David P. Boergers,
Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St.,
NE, Washington, DC 20426.
Lable one copy for the attention of the Environmental
Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.1.
Please mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before May 8, 1998.
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 the
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy to all other parties
on the Commission's service lists for these proceedings. 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 3). Only intervenors have the right to seek
rehearing of the Commission's decision. You do not need intervenor
status to have your environmental comments considered.
Additional information about the proposed project is available from
Mr. Paul McKee of the Commission's Office of External Affairs at (202)
208-1088.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-9156 Filed 4-7-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
