Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Fairburn Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, 15051-15053 [2017-05844]
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jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 56 / Friday, March 24, 2017 / Notices
Accession Number: 20170320–5155.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/10/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1248–000.
Applicants: Southern California
Edison Company.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:
Amended and Restated Service
Agreements with City of Victorville to
be effective 4/1/2017.
Filed Date: 3/17/17.
Accession Number: 20170317–5179.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/7/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1257–000.
Applicants: Southern California
Edison Company.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing: DSA
for Decade Dairy Digester Project, SA
No. 952 to be effective 5/22/2017.
Filed Date: 3/20/17.
Accession Number: 20170320–5154.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/10/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1258–000.
Applicants: Canadian Wood ProductsMontreal, Inc.
Description: Tariff Cancellation:
Cancellation filing to be effective
3/21/2017.
Filed Date: 3/20/17.
Accession Number: 20170320–5169.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/10/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1259–000.
Applicants: ITC Midwest LLC.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:
Filing of a Joint Use Agreement to be
effective 5/19/2017.
Filed Date: 3/20/17.
Accession Number: 20170320–5182.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/10/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1260–000.
Applicants: Wisconsin Public Service
Corporation.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:
Wisconsin Public Service Corporation’s
Annual PEB/PBOP Filing to be effective
4/1/2017.
Filed Date: 3/20/17.
Accession Number: 20170320–5184.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/10/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1261–000.
Applicants: Otter Tail Power
Company.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:
Filing of Certificate of Concurrence to be
effective 1/25/2017.
Filed Date: 3/20/17.
Accession Number: 20170320–5193.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/10/17.
Take notice that the Commission
received the following public utility
holding company filings:
Docket Numbers: PH17–12–000.
Applicants: Macquarie Sierra
Investment Holdings, In, Electrodes
Holdings, LLC, Watt Battery Holdings,
LLC, Battery Storage Holdings, LLC,
Sparks Battery Holdings, LLC, Sparks
Battery Holdings 2, LLC.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
13:56 Mar 23, 2017
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Description: Macquarie Sierra
Investment Holdings, Inc., et. al.
submits FERC 65–B Waiver Notification.
Filed Date: 3/17/17.
Accession Number: 20170317–5200.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/7/17.
Take notice that the Commission
received the following electric
reliability filings:
Docket Numbers: RD17–5–000.
Applicants: North American Electric
Reliability Corporation.
Description: Joint Petition of the
North American Electric Reliability
Corporation and Western Electricity
Coordinating Council for Approval of
Proposed Regional Reliability Standard
VAR–501–WECC–3.
Filed Date: 3/10/17.
Accession Number: 20170310–5318.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/19/17.
The filings are accessible in the
Commission’s eLibrary system by
clicking on the links or querying the
docket number.
Any person desiring to intervene or
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s
Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern
time on the specified comment date.
Protests may be considered, but
intervention is necessary to become a
party to the proceeding.
eFiling is encouraged. More detailed
information relating to filing
requirements, interventions, protests,
service, and qualifying facilities filings
can be found at: https://www.ferc.gov/
docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For
other information, call (866) 208–3676
(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659.
Dated: March 20, 2017.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017–05847 Filed 3–23–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
[Docket No. CP17–46–000]
Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC;
Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the
Proposed Fairburn Expansion Project
and Request for Comments on
Environmental Issues
The staff of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) will prepare an
environmental assessment (EA) that will
discuss the environmental impacts of
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15051
the Fairburn Expansion Project
involving construction and operation of
facilities by Southern Natural Gas
Company, LLC (Southern) in Clayton,
Cobb, Fayette, Fulton, and Monroe
Counties, Georgia. The Commission will
use this EA in its decision-making
process to determine whether the
project is in the public convenience and
necessity.
This notice announces the opening of
the scoping process the Commission
will use to gather input from the public
and interested agencies on the project.
You can make a difference by providing
us with your specific comments or
concerns about the project. Your
comments should focus on the potential
environmental effects, reasonable
alternatives, and measures to avoid or
lessen environmental impacts. Your
input will help the Commission staff
determine what issues they need to
evaluate in the EA. To ensure that your
comments are timely and properly
recorded, please send your comments so
that the Commission receives them in
Washington, DC on or before April 19,
2017.
If you sent comments on this project
to the Commission before the opening of
this docket on February 3, 2017, you
will need to file those comments in
Docket No. CP17–46–000 to ensure they
are considered as part of this
proceeding.
This notice is being sent to the
Commission’s current environmental
mailing list for this project. State and
local government representatives should
notify their constituents of this
proposed project and encourage them to
comment on their areas of concern.
If you are a landowner receiving this
notice, a pipeline company
representative may contact you about
the acquisition of an easement to
construct, operate, and maintain the
proposed facilities. The company would
seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable
agreement. However, if the Commission
approves the project, that approval
conveys with it the right of eminent
domain. Therefore, if easement
negotiations fail to produce an
agreement, the pipeline company could
initiate condemnation proceedings
where compensation would be
determined in accordance with state
law.
Southern provided landowners with a
fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled
‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On
My Land? What Do I Need To Know?’’.
This fact sheet addresses a number of
typically-asked questions, including the
use of eminent domain and how to
participate in the Commission’s
proceedings. It is also available for
E:\FR\FM\24MRN1.SGM
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15052
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 56 / Friday, March 24, 2017 / Notices
viewing on the FERC Web site
(www.ferc.gov).
Public Participation
For your convenience, there are three
methods you can use to submit your
comments to the Commission. The
Commission encourages electronic filing
of comments and has expert staff
available to assist you at (202) 502–8258
or efiling@ferc.gov. Please carefully
follow these instructions so that your
comments are properly recorded.
(1) You can file your comments
electronically using the eComment
feature on the Commission’s Web site
(www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. This is an easy
method for submitting brief, text-only
comments on a project;
(2) You can file your comments
electronically by using the eFiling
feature on the Commission’s Web site
(www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. With eFiling,
you can provide comments in a variety
of formats by attaching them as a file
with your submission. New eFiling
users must first create an account by
clicking on ‘‘eRegister.’’ If you are filing
a comment on a particular project,
please select ‘‘Comment on a Filing’’ as
the filing type; or
(3) You can file a paper copy of your
comments by mailing them to the
following address. Be sure to reference
the project docket number (CP17–46–
000) with your submission: Kimberly D.
Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street
NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Summary of the Proposed Project
Southern proposes to provide
approximately 343 million cubic feet
per day of new firm transportation
capacity to delivery points in Southern’s
Zone 2 and Zone 3 systems from a new
interconnection with an existing
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line
Company pipeline in Fayette County,
Georgia. Southern plans to begin
construction of the project in early 2018
for an anticipated in-service date of
October 2018. The Fairburn Expansion
project would include the following
facilities:
• One new 4.9-mile-long 30-inchdiameter Fairburn Lateral from the
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company
interconnect in Fayette County, Georgia,
to the proposed Fairburn Compressor
Station in Fulton County, Georgia;
• one 1.6-mile-long 30-inch-diameter
South Main 2nd Loop Line Extension
VerDate Sep<11>2014
13:56 Mar 23, 2017
Jkt 241001
looping 1 along with pig 2 receiver from
mileposts (MP) 373.6 to 375.2 on
Southern’s existing South Main Line
System in Monroe County, Georgia;
• acquisition of the 19.7-mile-long 30inch-diameter McDonough Lateral that
extends from Southern’s existing SNGto-McDonough Meter Station in Fulton
County, Georgia to the proposed Plant
McDonough Meter Station in Cobb
County, Georgia;
• a new Plant McDonough Meter
Station in Cobb County, Georgia, a SNGto-McDonough Meter Station
modification in Fulton County, Georgia;
and a new UPS Meter Station in Fulton
County, Georgia, all located on the
McDonough Lateral;
• one new Transco-to-SNG Meter
Station with pig launcher in Fayette
County, Georgia,
• one new 18,000-horsepower electric
Fairburn Compressor Station with pig
receiver in Fulton County, Georgia; and
• modification of the Jonesboro Meter
Station in Clayton County, Georgia.
A map depicting the general location
of the project facilities is included in
appendix 1.3
Land Requirements for Construction
Southern proposes to use 170 acres of
land for construction of the project, and
would retain 59 acres of new permanent
right-of-way for operations. The
Fairburn Lateral would require 65 acres
for construction, comprised of 34 acres
of temporary right-of-way to be restored
and allowed to revert to former uses,
and 31 acres of new permanent right-ofway retained for operations. The South
Main 2nd Loop Line Extension would
require 21 acres for construction,
comprised of 16 acres of temporary
right-of-way and 5 acres of new
permanent right-of-way. The Fairburn
Compressor Station would require 28
acres for construction, comprised of 13
acres of temporary workspace and 15
acres of new permanent operational
workspace. The five meter stations
would require 4.3 acres for construction
and Columbia would retain all of this
acreage within its proposed permanent
pipeline right-of-way for operations.
1 A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed
parallel to an existing pipeline to increase capacity.
2 A ‘‘pig’’ is a tool that the pipeline company
inserts into and pushes through the pipeline for
cleaning the pipeline, conducting internal
inspections, or other purposes.
3 The appendices referenced in this notice are not
being printed in the Federal Register. Copies of
appendices were sent to all those receiving this
notice in the mail and are available at www.ferc.gov
using the link called ‘‘eLibrary’’ or from the
Commission’s Public Reference Room, 888 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202)
502–8371. For instructions on connecting to
eLibrary, refer to the last page of this notice.
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Columbia would require six new
permanent access roads totaling 4.5
acres for construction and operation.
Columbia would require 8.5 acres of
temporary access roads and three
contractor yards totaling 39 acres for
construction, all of which would revert
to previous use following construction.
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 us 4 to
discover and address concerns the
public may have about proposals. This
process is referred to as ‘‘scoping.’’ The
main goal of the scoping process is to
focus the analysis in the EA on the
important environmental issues. By this
notice, the Commission requests public
comments on the scope of the issues to
address in the EA. We will consider all
filed comments during the preparation
of the EA.
In the EA we 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;
• cultural resources;
• vegetation, wildlife, threatened and
endangered species, and migratory
birds;
• land use and socioeconomics;
• air quality and noise;
• public safety; and
• cumulative impacts.
We will also evaluate reasonable
alternatives to the project or portions of
the project, and make recommendations
on how to lessen or avoid impacts on
the various resource areas.
The EA will present our independent
analysis of the issues. The EA will be
available in the public record through
eLibrary. Depending on the comments
received during the scoping process, we
may also publish and distribute the EA
to the public for an allotted comment
period. We will consider all comments
on the EA before making our
recommendations to the Commission.
To ensure we have the opportunity to
consider and address your comments,
please carefully follow the instructions
in the Public Participation section,
beginning on page 2.
With this notice, we are asking
agencies with jurisdiction by law and/
4 ‘‘We,’’ ‘‘us,’’ and ‘‘our’’ refer to the
environmental staff of the Commission’s Office of
Energy Projects.
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 56 / Friday, March 24, 2017 / Notices
or special expertise with respect to the
environmental issues of this project to
formally cooperate with us in the
preparation of the EA.5 Agencies that
would like to request cooperating
agency status should follow the
instructions for filing comments
provided under the Public Participation
section of this notice. Currently, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has
expressed intention to participate as a
cooperating agency in the preparation of
the EA to satisfy its NEPA
responsibilities related to this project.
Consultations Under Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act
In accordance with the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation’s
implementing regulations for section
106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, we are using this
notice to initiate consultation with
applicable State Historic Preservation
Office (SHPO), and to solicit their views
and those of other government agencies,
interested Indian tribes, and the public
on the project’s potential effects on
historic properties.6 We will define the
project-specific Area of Potential Effects
(APE) in consultation with the SHPO as
the project develops. On natural gas
facility projects, the APE at a minimum
encompasses all areas subject to ground
disturbance (examples include
construction right-of-way, contractor/
pipe storage yards, compressor stations,
and access roads). Our EA for this
project will document our findings on
the impacts on historic properties and
summarize the status of consultations
under section 106.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Environmental Mailing List
The environmental mailing list
includes federal, state, and local
government representatives and
agencies; elected officials;
environmental and public interest
groups; Native American Tribes; other
interested parties; and local libraries
and newspapers. This list also includes
all affected landowners (as defined in
the Commission’s regulations) who are
potential right-of-way grantors, whose
property may be used temporarily for
project purposes, or who own homes
within certain distances of aboveground
facilities, and anyone who submits
5 The Council on Environmental Quality
regulations addressing cooperating agency
responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
6 The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s
regulations are at Title 36, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 800. Those regulations define
historic properties as any prehistoric or historic
district, site, building, structure, or object included
in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register
of Historic Places.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
13:56 Mar 23, 2017
Jkt 241001
comments on the project. We will
update the environmental mailing list as
the analysis proceeds to ensure that we
send the information related to this
environmental review to all individuals,
organizations, and government entities
interested in and/or potentially affected
by the proposed project.
If we publish and distribute the EA,
copies will be sent to the environmental
mailing list for public review and
comment. If you would prefer to receive
a paper copy of the document instead of
the CD version or would like to remove
your name from the mailing list, please
return the attached Information Request
(appendix 2).
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA
scoping process, you may want to
become an ‘‘intervenor’’ which is an
official party to the Commission’s
proceeding. Intervenors play a more
formal role in the process and are able
to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be
heard by the courts if they choose to
appeal the Commission’s final ruling.
An intervenor formally participates in
the proceeding by filing a request to
intervene. Instructions for becoming an
intervenor are in the ‘‘Document-less
Intervention Guide’’ under the ‘‘e-filing’’
link on the Commission’s Web site.
Motions to intervene are more fully
described at https://www.ferc.gov/
resources/guides/how-to/intervene.asp.
Additional Information
Additional information about the
project is available from the
Commission’s Office of External Affairs,
at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC Web
site at 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 (i.e., CP17–46). Be sure you have
selected an appropriate date range. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online
Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov
or toll free at (866) 208–3676, or for
TTY, contact (202) 502–8659. 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 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 www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.asp.
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15053
Finally, public meetings or site visits
will be posted on the Commission’s
calendar located at www.ferc.gov/
EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along
with other related information.
Dated: March 20, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017–05844 Filed 3–23–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Combined Notice of Filings #1
Take notice that the Commission
received the following electric rate
filings:
Docket Numbers: ER17–1173–000.
Applicants: Midcontinent
Independent System Operator, Inc.,
Ameren Illinois Company.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:
2017–03–13_SA 2010 Amended
Ameren-SIPC WDS to be effective
2/9/2017.
Filed Date: 3/13/17.
Accession Number: 20170313–5262.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/3/17.
Docket Numbers: ER17–1174–000.
Applicants: Southern California
Edison Company.
Description: § 205(d) Rate Filing:
Amended IFA and Amended DSA
Between SCE and AEPCO, SA Nos. 179
& 180 to be effective 4/1/2017.
Filed Date: 3/13/17.
Accession Number: 20170313–5306.
Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 4/3/17.
The filings are accessible in the
Commission’s eLibrary system by
clicking on the links or querying the
docket number.
Any person desiring to intervene or
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s
Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214) on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern
time on the specified comment date.
Protests may be considered, but
intervention is necessary to become a
party to the proceeding.
eFiling is encouraged. More detailed
information relating to filing
requirements, interventions, protests,
service, and qualifying facilities filings
can be found at: https://www.ferc.gov/
docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For
other information, call (866) 208–3676
(toll free). For TTY, call (202) 502–8659.
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 56 (Friday, March 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15051-15053]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05844]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP17-46-000]
Southern Natural Gas Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Fairburn Expansion Project
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
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 Fairburn Expansion Project
involving construction and operation of facilities by Southern Natural
Gas Company, LLC (Southern) in Clayton, Cobb, Fayette, Fulton, and
Monroe Counties, Georgia. The Commission will use this EA in its
decision-making process to determine whether the project is in the
public convenience and necessity.
This notice announces the opening of the scoping process the
Commission will use to gather input from the public and interested
agencies on the project. You can make a difference by providing us with
your specific comments or concerns about the project. Your comments
should focus on the potential environmental effects, reasonable
alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts.
Your input will help the Commission staff determine what issues they
need to evaluate in the EA. To ensure that your comments are timely and
properly recorded, please send your comments so that the Commission
receives them in Washington, DC on or before April 19, 2017.
If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the
opening of this docket on February 3, 2017, you will need to file those
comments in Docket No. CP17-46-000 to ensure they are considered as
part of this proceeding.
This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental
mailing list for this project. State and local government
representatives should notify their constituents of this proposed
project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
If you are a landowner receiving this notice, a pipeline company
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to
construct, operate, and maintain the proposed facilities. The company
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement. However, if
the Commission approves the project, that approval conveys with it the
right of eminent domain. Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to
produce an agreement, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation
proceedings where compensation would be determined in accordance with
state law.
Southern provided landowners with a fact sheet prepared by the FERC
entitled ``An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I
Need To Know?''. This fact sheet addresses a number of typically-asked
questions, including the use of eminent domain and how to participate
in the Commission's proceedings. It is also available for
[[Page 15052]]
viewing on the FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov).
Public Participation
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic
filing of comments and has expert staff available to assist you at
(202) 502-8258 or efiling@ferc.gov. Please carefully follow these
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
(1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment
feature on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for submitting brief,
text-only comments on a project;
(2) You can file your comments electronically by using the eFiling
feature on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the link to
Documents and Filings. With eFiling, you can provide comments in a
variety of formats by attaching them as a file with your submission.
New eFiling users must first create an account by clicking on
``eRegister.'' If you are filing a comment on a particular project,
please select ``Comment on a Filing'' as the filing type; or
(3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to
the following address. Be sure to reference the project docket number
(CP17-46-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426.
Summary of the Proposed Project
Southern proposes to provide approximately 343 million cubic feet
per day of new firm transportation capacity to delivery points in
Southern's Zone 2 and Zone 3 systems from a new interconnection with an
existing Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company pipeline in Fayette
County, Georgia. Southern plans to begin construction of the project in
early 2018 for an anticipated in-service date of October 2018. The
Fairburn Expansion project would include the following facilities:
One new 4.9-mile-long 30-inch-diameter Fairburn Lateral
from the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company interconnect in Fayette
County, Georgia, to the proposed Fairburn Compressor Station in Fulton
County, Georgia;
one 1.6-mile-long 30-inch-diameter South Main 2nd Loop
Line Extension looping \1\ along with pig \2\ receiver from mileposts
(MP) 373.6 to 375.2 on Southern's existing South Main Line System in
Monroe County, Georgia;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed parallel to
an existing pipeline to increase capacity.
\2\ A ``pig'' is a tool that the pipeline company inserts into
and pushes through the pipeline for cleaning the pipeline,
conducting internal inspections, or other purposes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
acquisition of the 19.7-mile-long 30-inch-diameter
McDonough Lateral that extends from Southern's existing SNG-to-
McDonough Meter Station in Fulton County, Georgia to the proposed Plant
McDonough Meter Station in Cobb County, Georgia;
a new Plant McDonough Meter Station in Cobb County,
Georgia, a SNG-to-McDonough Meter Station modification in Fulton
County, Georgia; and a new UPS Meter Station in Fulton County, Georgia,
all located on the McDonough Lateral;
one new Transco-to-SNG Meter Station with pig launcher in
Fayette County, Georgia,
one new 18,000-horsepower electric Fairburn Compressor
Station with pig receiver in Fulton County, Georgia; and
modification of the Jonesboro Meter Station in Clayton
County, Georgia.
A map depicting the general location of the project facilities is
included in appendix 1.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of appendices were sent to
all those receiving this notice in the mail and are available at
www.ferc.gov using the link called ``eLibrary'' or from the
Commission's Public Reference Room, 888 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 502-8371. For instructions on
connecting to eLibrary, refer to the last page of this notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Land Requirements for Construction
Southern proposes to use 170 acres of land for construction of the
project, and would retain 59 acres of new permanent right-of-way for
operations. The Fairburn Lateral would require 65 acres for
construction, comprised of 34 acres of temporary right-of-way to be
restored and allowed to revert to former uses, and 31 acres of new
permanent right-of-way retained for operations. The South Main 2nd Loop
Line Extension would require 21 acres for construction, comprised of 16
acres of temporary right-of-way and 5 acres of new permanent right-of-
way. The Fairburn Compressor Station would require 28 acres for
construction, comprised of 13 acres of temporary workspace and 15 acres
of new permanent operational workspace. The five meter stations would
require 4.3 acres for construction and Columbia would retain all of
this acreage within its proposed permanent pipeline right-of-way for
operations. Columbia would require six new permanent access roads
totaling 4.5 acres for construction and operation. Columbia would
require 8.5 acres of temporary access roads and three contractor yards
totaling 39 acres for construction, all of which would revert to
previous use following construction.
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 us
\4\ to discover and address concerns the public may have about
proposals. This process is referred to as ``scoping.'' The main goal of
the scoping process is to focus the analysis in the EA on the important
environmental issues. By this notice, the Commission requests public
comments on the scope of the issues to address in the EA. We will
consider all filed comments during the preparation of the EA.
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\4\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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In the EA we 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;
cultural resources;
vegetation, wildlife, threatened and endangered species,
and migratory birds;
land use and socioeconomics;
air quality and noise;
public safety; and
cumulative impacts.
We will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the project or
portions of the project, and make recommendations on how to lessen or
avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
The EA will present our independent analysis of the issues. The EA
will be available in the public record through eLibrary. Depending on
the comments received during the scoping process, we may also publish
and distribute the EA to the public for an allotted comment period. We
will consider all comments on the EA before making our recommendations
to the Commission. To ensure we have the opportunity to consider and
address your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the
Public Participation section, beginning on page 2.
With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction by law
and/
[[Page 15053]]
or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues of this
project to formally cooperate with us in the preparation of the EA.\5\
Agencies that would like to request cooperating agency status should
follow the instructions for filing comments provided under the Public
Participation section of this notice. Currently, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers has expressed intention to participate as a cooperating
agency in the preparation of the EA to satisfy its NEPA
responsibilities related to this project.
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\5\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
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Consultations Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act
In accordance with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's
implementing regulations for section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, we are using this notice to initiate consultation
with applicable State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and to
solicit their views and those of other government agencies, interested
Indian tribes, and the public on the project's potential effects on
historic properties.\6\ We will define the project-specific Area of
Potential Effects (APE) in consultation with the SHPO as the project
develops. On natural gas facility projects, the APE at a minimum
encompasses all areas subject to ground disturbance (examples include
construction right-of-way, contractor/pipe storage yards, compressor
stations, and access roads). Our EA for this project will document our
findings on the impacts on historic properties and summarize the status
of consultations under section 106.
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\6\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's regulations
are at Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 800. Those
regulations define historic properties as any prehistoric or
historic district, site, building, structure, or object included in
or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic
Places.
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Environmental Mailing List
The environmental mailing list includes federal, state, and local
government representatives and agencies; elected officials;
environmental and public interest groups; Native American Tribes; other
interested parties; and local libraries and newspapers. This list also
includes all affected landowners (as defined in the Commission's
regulations) who are potential right-of-way grantors, whose property
may be used temporarily for project purposes, or who own homes within
certain distances of aboveground facilities, and anyone who submits
comments on the project. We will update the environmental mailing list
as the analysis proceeds to ensure that we send the information related
to this environmental review to all individuals, organizations, and
government entities interested in and/or potentially affected by the
proposed project.
If we publish and distribute the EA, copies will be sent to the
environmental mailing list for public review and comment. If you would
prefer to receive a paper copy of the document instead of the CD
version or would like to remove your name from the mailing list, please
return the attached Information Request (appendix 2).
Becoming an Intervenor
In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want
to become an ``intervenor'' which is an official party to the
Commission's proceeding. Intervenors play a more formal role in the
process and are able to file briefs, appear at hearings, and be heard
by the courts if they choose to appeal the Commission's final ruling.
An intervenor formally participates in the proceeding by filing a
request to intervene. Instructions for becoming an intervenor are in
the ``Document-less Intervention Guide'' under the ``e-filing'' link on
the Commission's Web site. Motions to intervene are more fully
described at https://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/how-to/intervene.asp.
Additional Information
Additional information about the project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the
FERC Web site at 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 (i.e., CP17-
46). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY,
contact (202) 502-8659. 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 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 www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.
Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the
Commission's calendar located at www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along with other related information.
Dated: March 20, 2017.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-05844 Filed 3-23-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P