MoBay Storage Hub, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed MoBay Storage Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, 47801-47803 [E6-13760]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 160 / Friday, August 18, 2006 / Notices
47801
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Filed Date: 08/10/2006.
Accession Number: 20060811–0194.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time
on Thursday, August 31, 2006.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Any person desiring to intervene or to
protest in any of the above proceedings
must file in accordance with Rules 211
and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of
Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211
and 385.214) on or before 5 p.m. Eastern
time on the specified comment date. It
is not necessary to separately intervene
again in a subdocket related to a
compliance filing if you have previously
intervened in the same docket. Protests
will be considered by the Commission
in determining the appropriate action to
be taken, but will not serve to make
protestants parties to the proceeding.
Anyone filing a motion to intervene or
protest must serve a copy of that
document on the Applicant. In reference
to filings initiating a new proceeding,
interventions or protests submitted on
or before the comment deadline need
not be served on persons other than the
Applicant.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper, using the
FERC Online links at https://
www.ferc.gov. To facilitate electronic
service, persons with Internet access
who will eFile a document and/or be
listed as a contact for an intervenor
must create and validate an
eRegistration account using the
eRegistration link. Select the eFiling
link to log on and submit the
intervention or protests.
Persons unable to file electronically
should submit an original and 14 copies
of the intervention or protest to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First St. NE., Washington, DC
20426.
The filings in the above proceedings
are accessible in the Commission’s
eLibrary system by clicking on the
appropriate link in the above list. They
are also available for review in the
Commission’s Public Reference Room in
Washington, DC. There is an
eSubscription link on the Web site that
enables subscribers to receive e-mail
notification when a document is added
to a subscribed docket(s). For assistance
with any FERC Online service, please email FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or
call (866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY,
call (202) 502–8659.
[Project No. 12629–000–Maine]
[Docket No. CP06–398–000]
F & B Wood Corp.; Notice of
Availability of Environmental
Assessment
MoBay Storage Hub, Inc.; Notice of
Intent To Prepare an Environmental
Assessment for the Proposed MoBay
Storage Project and Request for
Comments on Environmental Issues
In accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and
the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission’s regulations, 18 CFR part
380 (Order No. 486, 52 FR 47879), the
Office of Energy Projects has reviewed
the application for exemption from
licensing for the Corriveau Project, to be
located on the Swift River, near the
town of Mexico, Oxford County, Maine,
and has prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA). In the EA,
Commission staff analyze the potential
environmental impacts of the project
and conclude that exempting the project
from licensing, with appropriate
environmental measures, would not
constitute a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the
human environment.
A copy of the EA is on file with the
Commission and is available for public
inspection. The EA may also be viewed
on the Commission’s Web site at
https://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, contact FERC
Online Support at
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or tollfree at 1–866–208–3676, or for TTY,
(202) 502–8659.
Any comments should be filed within
30 days from the issuance date of this
notice, and should be addressed to the
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE.,
Room 1–A, Washington, DC 20426.
Please affix ‘‘Corriveau Project No.
12629’’ to all comments. Comments may
be filed electronically via Internet in
lieu of paper. The Commission strongly
encourages electronic filings. See 18
CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the
instructions on the Commission’s Web
site under the ‘‘eFiling’’ link. For further
information, contact Michael Spencer at
(202) 502–6093.
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–13629 Filed 8–17–06; 8:45 am]
Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6–13768 Filed 8–17–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
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August 1, 2006.
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 MoBay Storage Project involving
construction and operation of facilities
by MoBay Storage Hub, Inc. (MoBay) in
offshore Alabama waters and in Mobile
County, Alabama.1 These facilities
would consist of injection/withdrawal
storage wells, observation wells, various
diameter offshore and onshore pipeline,
two 8,500 horsepower (hp) offshore
compressor units, one 37,880 hp
onshore compressor station, and meter
stations. This EA will be used by the
Commission in its decisionmaking
process to determine whether the
project is in the public convenience and
necessity.
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 Caledonia 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).
1 MoBay’s application was filed with the
Commission under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act
and part 157 of the Commission’s regulations.
E:\FR\FM\18AUN1.SGM
18AUN1
47802
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 160 / Friday, August 18, 2006 / Notices
Summary of the Proposed Project
MoBay proposes to build and operate
a high-deliverability, multi-cycle natural
gas storage facility and appurtenant
facilities in Mobile Bay in offshore
Alabama waters and in Mobile County,
Alabama, to provide a working gas
capacity of approximately 50 billion
cubic feet (BCF), and maximum daily
injection and withdrawal capabilities of
up to one BCF per day. The proposed
storage facility would be converted from
three offshore substantially-depleted
natural gas reservoirs: the North
Dauphin Island (NDI), Northwest
Dauphin Island (NWDI), and Northeast
Petit Bois (NEPB) fields.
MoBay seeks authority to construct
and operate:
• 30 offshore injection and
withdrawal wells supported by 10
caissons;
• 14 observation wells within the
three reservoirs;
• two offshore 8,500 hp compressor
units on the NDI platform;
• 7.4 miles of 8- to 16-inch-diameter
offshore pipeline connecting the 30
wells to the NDI and NWDI platforms;
• 12.1 miles of 36-inch-diameter
offshore pipeline from the NDI platform
to the Bayou Coden Valve Station at
landfall just east of the mouth of Bayou
Coden at milepost 0.0;
• the 37,880 hp MoBay Compressor
Station near the Gulfstream Compressor
Station 410 on Rock Road in Mobile
County, Alabama;
• the Gulfstream Interconnect, the
Transco Interconnect, and the Gulf
South Pipe Line Interconnect Meter
Stations; and
• the Coden Valve at milepost 0.04.
MoBay requests certification by
November 1, 2006, to enable
commencement of construction in late
2006 for a targeted in-service date of
October 1, 2007.
The location of the project facilities is
shown in Appendix 1.2
Land Requirements for Construction
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Construction of the proposed facilities
would require disturbance of 14 acres of
land offshore and 93 acres of land
onshore (18 acres in extra workspaces
and pipe yard) for a total of 107 acres.
Following construction, 14 acres of
offshore land and 33 acres of onshore
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 Web site 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.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:35 Aug 17, 2006
Jkt 208001
land would be restored to previous use,
leaving 60 acres of onshore land under
permanent easement for operation.
MoBay would use a 100-foot-wide
construction ROW and a 75-foot-wide
operational ROW for the onshore
pipelines. MoBay would open a 5-footwide seafloor trench for offshore
pipeline 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 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:
• Geology and soils;
• Water resources;
• Wetlands and fisheries;
• Vegetation and wildlife;
• Threatened and endangered
species;
• Land use;
• Cultural resources;
• Air quality and noise;
• Reliability and safety, and
• Cumulative impacts.
We will also evaluate reasonable
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
3 ‘‘We’’, ‘‘us’’, and ‘‘our’’ refer to the
environmental staff of the Office of Energy Projects
(OEP).
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Sfmt 4703
this proceeding. 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 recommendations to the
Commission.
To ensure your comments are
considered, please carefully follow the
instructions in the public participation
section below.
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
MoBay. This preliminary list of issues
may be changed based on your
comments and our analysis.
• Open-cut crossing of three
perennial waterways, including Bayou
Jonas and Bayou Como;
• Disturbance of cypress trees
associated with Jonas Bayou;
• Sedimentation in the Mississippi
Sound from underwater pipeline and
well installation;
• Disturbance of 102 acres of
wetlands, including conversion of 35
acres of palustrine forested wetlands to
emergent wetlands;
• Open-cut pipeline installation
across 15 miles of the Intercoastal
Waterway;
• Visual impacts of 10 injection/
withdrawal well caissons and 14
observation well caissons;
• Crossing within 0.03 mile of
Ralston Park at milepost 0.70;
• Crossing of the Dauphin IslandBayou LaBatre Loop of the Alabama
Coastal Birding Trail at milepost 1.12;
• Noise impacts to three noise
sensitive areas (i.e. residences) located
from 1,800 to 4,300 feet from the
proposed MoBay Compressor Station.
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,
E:\FR\FM\18AUN1.SGM
18AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 160 / Friday, August 18, 2006 / Notices
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room
1A, Washington, DC 20426.
• Label one copy of the comments for
the attention of Gas 2.
• Reference Docket No. CP06–398–
000.
• Mail your comments so that they
will be received in Washington, DC on
or before August 31, 2006.
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 online.
We may mail the EA for comment. If
you are interested in receiving it, please
return the Information Request
(Appendix 4). If you do not return the
Information Request, you will be taken
off the mailing list.
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
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 send one electronic copy (using
the Commission’s eFiling system) or 14
paper copies of its filings to the
Secretary of the Commission and must
send a copy of its filings to all other
parties on the Commission’s service list
for this proceeding. 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 2).4 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
4 Interventions may also be filed electronically via
the Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous
discussion on filing comments electronically.
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18:35 Aug 17, 2006
Jkt 208001
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-ofway 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
3, 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 (3372) or on the
FERC Internet website (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
(i.e., enter PF06–398) 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. E6–13760 Filed 8–17–06; 8:45 am]
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47803
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
Notice of Application Tendered for
Filing With the Commission,
Establishing Procedural Schedule for
Relicensing, and a Deadline for
Submission of Final Amendments
August 14, 2006.
Take notice that the following
hydroelectric application has been filed
with the Commission and is available
for public inspection.
a. Type of Application: New Major
License.
b. Project No.: 659–014.
c. Date Filed: August 3, 2006.
d. Applicant: Crisp County Power
Commission.
e. Name of Project: Lake Blackshear
Hydroelectric Project.
f. Location: On the Flint River in
Worth, Lee, Sumter, Dooly, and Crisp
Counties, near Cordele, Georgia. The
project does not occupy Federal lands.
g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power
Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)–825(r).
h. Applicant Contact: Steve Rentfrow,
General Manager, Crisp County Power
Commission, 202 South 7th Street,
Cordele, GA 31015, Phone: 229–273–
3811.
i. FERC Contact: Lee Emery at 202–
502–8379 or e-mail at
lee.emery@ferc.gov.
j. Cooperating agencies: We are asking
Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies
with jurisdiction and/or special
expertise with respect to environmental
issues to cooperate with us in the
preparation of the environmental
document. Agencies who would like to
request cooperating status should follow
the instructions for filing such requests
described in item k below. Cooperating
agencies should note the Commission’s
policy that agencies that cooperate in
the preparation of the environmental
document cannot also intervene. See, 94
FERC ¶ 61,076 (2001).
k. Deadline for filing requests for
cooperating agency status: October 2,
2006.
All documents (original and eight
copies) should be filed with: Magalie R.
Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First
Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426.
Requests for cooperating agency status
may be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. The
Commission strongly encourages
electronic filings. See 18 CFR
385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions
on the Commission’s Web site (https://
www.ferc.gov) under the ‘‘e-Filing’’ link.
E:\FR\FM\18AUN1.SGM
18AUN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 160 (Friday, August 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47801-47803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13760]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP06-398-000]
MoBay Storage Hub, Inc.; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed MoBay Storage Project and
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
August 1, 2006.
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 MoBay Storage Project
involving construction and operation of facilities by MoBay Storage
Hub, Inc. (MoBay) in offshore Alabama waters and in Mobile County,
Alabama.\1\ These facilities would consist of injection/withdrawal
storage wells, observation wells, various diameter offshore and onshore
pipeline, two 8,500 horsepower (hp) offshore compressor units, one
37,880 hp onshore compressor station, and meter stations. This EA will
be used by the Commission in its decisionmaking process to determine
whether the project is in the public convenience and necessity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ MoBay's application was filed with the Commission under
section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and part 157 of the Commission's
regulations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Caledonia 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).
[[Page 47802]]
Summary of the Proposed Project
MoBay proposes to build and operate a high-deliverability, multi-
cycle natural gas storage facility and appurtenant facilities in Mobile
Bay in offshore Alabama waters and in Mobile County, Alabama, to
provide a working gas capacity of approximately 50 billion cubic feet
(BCF), and maximum daily injection and withdrawal capabilities of up to
one BCF per day. The proposed storage facility would be converted from
three offshore substantially-depleted natural gas reservoirs: the North
Dauphin Island (NDI), Northwest Dauphin Island (NWDI), and Northeast
Petit Bois (NEPB) fields.
MoBay seeks authority to construct and operate:
30 offshore injection and withdrawal wells supported by 10
caissons;
14 observation wells within the three reservoirs;
two offshore 8,500 hp compressor units on the NDI
platform;
7.4 miles of 8- to 16-inch-diameter offshore pipeline
connecting the 30 wells to the NDI and NWDI platforms;
12.1 miles of 36-inch-diameter offshore pipeline from the
NDI platform to the Bayou Coden Valve Station at landfall just east of
the mouth of Bayou Coden at milepost 0.0;
the 37,880 hp MoBay Compressor Station near the Gulfstream
Compressor Station 410 on Rock Road in Mobile County, Alabama;
the Gulfstream Interconnect, the Transco Interconnect, and
the Gulf South Pipe Line Interconnect Meter Stations; and
the Coden Valve at milepost 0.04.
MoBay requests certification by November 1, 2006, to enable
commencement of construction in late 2006 for a targeted in-service
date of October 1, 2007.
The location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 1.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\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 Web site
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Land Requirements for Construction
Construction of the proposed facilities would require disturbance
of 14 acres of land offshore and 93 acres of land onshore (18 acres in
extra workspaces and pipe yard) for a total of 107 acres. Following
construction, 14 acres of offshore land and 33 acres of onshore land
would be restored to previous use, leaving 60 acres of onshore land
under permanent easement for operation. MoBay would use a 100-foot-wide
construction ROW and a 75-foot-wide operational ROW for the onshore
pipelines. MoBay would open a 5-foot-wide seafloor trench for offshore
pipeline 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
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:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
Geology and soils;
Water resources;
Wetlands and fisheries;
Vegetation and wildlife;
Threatened and endangered species;
Land use;
Cultural resources;
Air quality and noise;
Reliability and safety, and
Cumulative impacts.
We will also evaluate reasonable 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 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 below.
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 MoBay. This preliminary list
of issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
Open-cut crossing of three perennial waterways, including
Bayou Jonas and Bayou Como;
Disturbance of cypress trees associated with Jonas Bayou;
Sedimentation in the Mississippi Sound from underwater
pipeline and well installation;
Disturbance of 102 acres of wetlands, including conversion
of 35 acres of palustrine forested wetlands to emergent wetlands;
Open-cut pipeline installation across 15 miles of the
Intercoastal Waterway;
Visual impacts of 10 injection/withdrawal well caissons
and 14 observation well caissons;
Crossing within 0.03 mile of Ralston Park at milepost
0.70;
Crossing of the Dauphin Island-Bayou LaBatre Loop of the
Alabama Coastal Birding Trail at milepost 1.12;
Noise impacts to three noise sensitive areas (i.e.
residences) located from 1,800 to 4,300 feet from the proposed MoBay
Compressor Station.
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,
[[Page 47803]]
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE.,
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 2.
Reference Docket No. CP06-398-000.
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before August 31, 2006.
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 online.
We may mail the EA for comment. If you are interested in receiving
it, please return the Information Request (Appendix 4). 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 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 send one electronic copy (using the
Commission's eFiling system) or 14 paper copies of its filings to the
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all
other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. 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 2).\4\ Only intervenors have
the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's decision.
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\4\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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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 3, 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 (3372) or on
the FERC Internet website (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 (i.e., enter PF06-
398) 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. E6-13760 Filed 8-17-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P