E5-1638. Dominion Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Northeast Storage Project

March 31, 2005.

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 Dominion Transmission, Inc. (DTI) 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 natural gas pipeline and appurtenant facilities including:

1. Development of the Quinlan Storage Field from a nearly depleted production reservoir by drilling four new gas storage wells, and converting a production well to an observation well, and converting a test well to an injection/withdrawal well in Cattaraugus County, New York;

2. Construction of the new 21.3-mile-long, 20-inch-diameter TL-527 Pipeline in McKean and Potter Counties, Pennsylvania, and Cattaraugus County, New York;

3. Construction of the new 0.9-mile-long, 8-inch-diameter LN-2471-S Pipeline in Potter County, Pennsylvania;

4. Construction of the new 0.1-mile-long, 8-inch-diameter LN-15 CHG-1 Pipeline in Potter County, Pennsylvania;

5. Construction of the new 0.7-mile-long, 16-inch-diameter, QL-1 Pipeline in Cattaraugus County, New York;

6. Construction of five new 8-inch-diameter well pipelines (QL-3, QL-4, QL-5, QL-6, and QL-7) totaling 0.11 mile in Cattaraugus County, New York;

7. Construction of the new 0.5-mile-long (TL-533) and 0.1-mile-long (TL-534), 16-inch-diameter pipelines in Lewis County, West Virginia;

8. Construction of the new Sharon Measuring and Regulating (M&R) Facility in Potter County, Pennsylvania;

9. Relocation of the existing Wolcott M&R Facility in Potter County, Pennsylvania from MP 0.0 of the LN-15 Pipeline segment (see below) proposed for abandonment to about MP 2.3 of the proposed TL-527 Pipeline;

10. Replacement of orifice meters with ultrasonic meters at the Leidy Transco 1 M&R Facility in Clinton, County, Pennsylvania;

11. Construction of the new 4,740 hp Quinlan Compressor Station in Cattaraugus County, New York; and

12. Construction of the new 3,550 hp Wolf Run Compressor Station in Lewis County, West Virginia.

In addition, DTI proposed to abandon in place:

1. 1.76 miles of the existing 8-inch-diameter LN-15 Pipeline in Potter County, Pennsylvania; and

2. 0.1 mile of the existing 8-inch-diameter LN-250-S Pipeline in Potter County, Pennsylvania.

The purpose of the Northeast Storage Project is to provide additional storage of 9.4 Bcf of gas and additional winter season firm transportation of 163,017 dekatherms per day.

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 cooperating agencies, State agencies, a public interest group and a local newspaper. 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 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: 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. CP04-365-000; and
• Mail your comments so that they will be received in Washington, DC on or before April 30, 2005.

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 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.”

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.

Magalie R. Salas,

Secretary.

Footnotes

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