Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Accident Storage Enhancement Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, 60330-60331 [E5-5654]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 199 (Monday, October 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60330-60331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-5654]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP05-392-000]


Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Accident Storage Enhancement 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

October 6, 2005.
    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 Accident Storage Enhancement 
Project involving construction and operation of facilities by Texas 
Eastern Transmission, LP (Texas Eastern) near the town of Accident in 
Garrett County, Maryland.\1\ The proposed facilities include new 
storage wells, field pipelines and appurtenances, reworking of wellhead 
valves, grounding and surge protection modifications, related 
facilities. This EA will be used by the Commission in its 
decisionmaking process to determine whether the project is in the 
public convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ Texas Eastern'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 receiving this notice, 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 would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 
agreement. However, if the project is approved by the Commission, 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 in accordance with 
State law.
    A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' was attached to the 
project notice Texas Eastern provided to landowners. 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 available for viewing on the FERC Internet Web site (https://
www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Texas Eastern is proposing to provide additional working gas 
capacity and increase reliability at its Accident Storage Field in 
Garrett County, Maryland by increasing injection capability, expanding 
the working gas capacity by 3.0 billion cubic feet and enhance 
withdrawal. Texas Eastern's proposed activities include:
     Reworking of 38 existing wells;
     Re-enter and drill-out horizontally, 7 wells;
     Installation of communication and grounding/surge 
protection on 54 wells;
     Replacement of wellhead valves on 15 wellheads;
     Installation of new slug catcher facilities on three field 
laterals;
     Drilling 2 new horizontal wells;
     Installing approximately 0.8 mile of gather pipeline; and
     Construction of 4 new access roads and appurtenant 
equipment.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 
1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other 
than Appendix 1 (maps), are available on the Commission's Website at 
the ``eLibrary'' link 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. Copies of the appendices were sent to all 
those receiving this notice in the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of all project facilities, including pipelines, well 
pads, access roads, a pipe storage yard and extra workspaces would 
impact approximately 21.43 acres.
    Following construction, about 6.32 acres would be maintained as new 
aboveground facility sites, access roads, or permanent pipeline right-
of-way. The remaining 15.11 acres of land would be restored and allowed 
to revert to its former use.

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 
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 of Intent, the Commission staff 
requests public comments on the scope of the issues to address in the 
EA. All comments received are considered during the preparation of the 
EA. State and local government representatives are encouraged to notify 
their constituents of this proposed action and encourage them to 
comment on their areas of concern.
    In the EA we \3\ will discuss impacts that could occur as a result 
of the construction and operation of the proposed project under these 
general headings:
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    \1\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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     Geology and soils;
     Water resources and wetlands;
     Fisheries, vegetation, and wildlife;
     Endangered and threatened species;
     Land use, recreation, and visual resources;
     Cultural resources;
     Air quality and noise; and
     Reliability and safety.
    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 
this proceeding. A comment period will

[[Page 60331]]

be allotted for review if the EA is published. We will consider all 
comments on the EA before we make our recommendations to the 
Commission.
    To ensure your comments are considered, please carefully follow the 
instructions in the public participation section beginning on page 4.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified several issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by Texas Eastern. This 
preliminary list of issues may be changed based on your comments and 
our analysis.
     Noise impacts due to well drilling on local residences.
     Wetland and stream impacts.
     Surface water quality in Youghiogheny River watershed.
     Construction and Operations Safety.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, 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 
locations/routes), and measures to avoid or lessen environmental 
impact. The more specific your comments, the more useful they will be. 
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 letter to: Magalie 
R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of OEP/
DG2E--Gas Branch 3.
     Reference Docket No. CP05-392-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before November 7, 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 https://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 on-line.
    We may mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in receiving 
it, please return the Information Request (Appendix 3). If you do not 
return the Information Request, you will be taken off the mailing list.

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the proceeding, or ``intervenor''. 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). Intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the 
Commission's decision. Motions to Intervene should be electronically 
submitted using the Commission's eFiling system at https://www.ferc.gov. 
Persons without Internet access should send an original and 14 copies 
of their motion to the Secretary of the Commission at the address 
indicated previously. Persons filing Motions to Intervene on or before 
the comment deadline indicated above must send a copy of the motion to 
the Applicant. All filings, including late interventions, submitted 
after the comment deadline must be served on the Applicant and all 
other intervenors identified on the Commission's service list for this 
proceeding. Persons on the service list with email addresses may be 
served electronically; others must be served a hard copy of the filing.
    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 environmental comments considered.

Environmental Mailing List

    An effort is being made to send this notice to all individuals, 
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially 
affected by the proposed project. This includes all landowners who are 
potential right-of-way grantors, whose property may be used temporarily 
for project purposes, or who own homes within distances defined in the 
Commission's regulations of certain aboveground facilities. By this 
notice we are also asking governmental agencies, especially those in 
Appendix 2, to express their interest in becoming cooperating agencies 
for the preparation of the EA.

Additional Information

    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 (https://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 
FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free at 1-866-208-3676, 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 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 https://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.
    Finally, public meetings or site visits will be posted on the 
Commission's calendar located at https://www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/
EventsList.aspx along with other related information.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-5654 Filed 10-14-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P