2016-19570. Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Application

Take notice that on July 29, 2016, Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern), 1111 South 103rd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68124-1000, filed in Docket No. CP16-487-000 an application pursuant to section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), and Part 157 of the Commission's Regulations, requesting authorization to construct and operate 7.86-mile-long 20-inch-diameter pipeline with appurtenances located in Dakota County, Minnesota (Cedar Station Upgrade Project). Northern also requests a predetermination of rolled-in rate treatment, all as more fully set forth in the application which is on file with the Commission and open to public inspection.

The filing may also be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov using the “eLibrary” link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail] or toll free at [phone], or TTY, contact [phone].

Any questions concerning this application may be directed to Michael T. Loeffler, Senior Director, Certificates and External Affairs for Northern, 1111 South 103rd Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68124, or by calling [phone].

Specifically, Northern designed the Cedar Station Upgrade Project to increase the delivery pressure at Northern's existing Cedar Station located in Eagan, Minnesota, in accordance with a contractual obligation for Northern States Power Company (NSP-MN). The proposed pipeline will originate at Northern's existing Rosemount Junction facility in Rosemount, Minnesota and extend to its existing Cedar Station. Northern states that due to mainline constraints upstream of the branch line, the proposed project is not expected to generate incremental capacity that can be sold. The requested order date and proposed in-service date are March 17, 2017 and November 1, 2017 respectively. The project cost is estimated at $49,865,629.

On October 9, 2015, the Commission staff granted Northern's request to utilize the Pre-Filing Process and assigned Docket No. PF15-32-000 to staff activities involved in the above referenced project. Now, as of the filing of the July 29, 2016 application, the Pre-Filing Process for this project has ended. From this time forward, this proceeding will be conducted in Docket No. CP16-487-000, as noted in the caption of this Notice.

Pursuant to section 157.9 of the Commission's rules, 18 CFR 157.9, within 90 days of this Notice the Commission staff will either: Complete its environmental assessment (EA) and place it into the Commission's public record (eLibrary) for this proceeding; or issue a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review. If a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review is issued, it will indicate, among other milestones, the anticipated date for the Commission staff's issuance of the EA for this proposal. The filing of the EA in the Commission's public record for this proceeding or the issuance of a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review will serve to notify federal and state agencies of the timing for the completion of all necessary reviews, and the subsequent need to complete all federal authorizations within 90 days of the date of issuance of the Commission staff's EA.

There are two ways to become involved in the Commission's review of this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or before the comment date stated below, file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 385.211) and the Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person obtaining party status will be placed on the service list maintained by the Secretary of the Commission and will receive copies of all documents filed by the applicant and by all other parties. A party must submit five copies of filings made with the Commission and must mail a copy to the applicant and to every other party in the proceeding. Only parties to the proceeding can ask for court review of Commission orders in the proceeding.

However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project. The Commission will consider these comments in determining the appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. The Commission's rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to the project provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties directly involved in the protest.

Persons who wish to comment only on the environmental review of this project should submit an original and two copies of their comments to the Secretary of the Commission. Environmental commentors will be placed on the Commission's environmental mailing list, will receive copies of the environmental documents, and will be notified of meetings associated with the Commission's environmental review process. Environmental commentors will not be required to serve copies of filed documents on all other parties. However, the non-party commentors will not receive copies of all documents filed by other parties or issued by the Commission (except for the mailing of environmental documents issued by the Commission) and will not have the right to seek court review of the Commission's final order.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings of comments, protests and interventions in lieu of paper using the “eFiling” link at http://www.ferc.gov. Persons unable to file electronically should submit original and five copies of the protest or intervention to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.

Comment Date: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 1, 2016.

Dated: August 11, 2016.

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.