Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Louisiana Line Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, 66770-66771 [E6-19323]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 221 (Thursday, November 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66770-66771]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-19323]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP07-3-000]


Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Louisiana Line 
Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

November 8, 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 operation of facilities for 
the Louisiana Line Expansion Project involving operation of facilities 
by Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (Natural) in Cameron Parish, 
Louisiana and Liberty and Montgomery Counties, Texas (Project).\1\ This 
EA will be used by the Commission in its decision-making process to 
determine whether the project is in the public convenience and 
necessity.
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    \1\ Natural'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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    A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' addresses a number 
of typically asked questions, including 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

    Natural seeks authorization to construct and operate:
    (a) A 36 inch diameter, 4.43 mile pipeline extension of the 
existing Louisiana Line 2 in northeast Cameron Parish, LA (the 
extension would include the 36 inch diameter pipeline, cross-over 
pipeline to connect the end of the proposed extension to the existing 
parallel Natural Louisiana Line 1, associated block valves, blowdowns 
and a pigging receiver attachment);
    (b) One 10,000 HP electric motor-driven compressor, 200 MMSCFD 
natural gas cooling unit and additional capacity in the electrical sub-
station to accommodate the increased electrical load from the motor-
driven compressor at Station 302 in Montgomery County, Texas;
    (c) One 11,000 HP electric motor-driven compressor with variable 
speed drive, one 600 MMSCFD natural gas cooling unit, and additional 
capacity in the electrical sub-station to accommodate the increased 
electrical load from the motor-driven compressor at Station 343 in 
Liberty County, Texas;
    (d) One Solar Taurus 60 combustion gas turbine-driven compressor 
operating at approximately 7,800 HP site-rated capacity; the re-
wheeling of one existing 4,200 HP Allison/Ingersoll-Rand combustion gas 
turbine-driven compressor and additional platform space at Station 342 
in Cameron Parish, Louisiana;
    (e) One Solar Centaur 50 combustion gas turbine driven compressor 
operating at approximately 6,200 HP site-rated capacity, the re-
wheeling of all existing compressor units, a 200 MMSCFD Gemini outlet 
filter separator and a 325 MMSCFD inlet filter separator at Station 346 
in Cameron Parish, Louisiana;
    (f) Turbine meters to replace three of the existing orifice meter 
tubes at the existing Henry Hub meter facility site in Vermilion 
Parish, Louisiana; and
    (g) Piping to provide bi-directional compression at Compressor 
Station 304 in Harrison County, Texas.
    Natural also proposes to abandon one 16W-330 Cooper-Bessemer 
reciprocating engine and three Solar Saturn combustion gas turbines 
having a combined rating of approximately 10,300 HP at the Station 343 
in Liberty County, Texas.
    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

    The Project would require a total of approximately 89.28 acres for 
construction. Approximately 30.33 acres would be permanently utilized 
for operation of the facilities.

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

[[Page 66771]]

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 project under these general 
headings:
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    \3\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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     Air quality and noise
     Cultural resources
     Fisheries
     Geology and soils
     Land use
     Public safety
     Water resources
     Wetlands
     Wildlife
    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 Natural.
     Air quality and noise
     Cultural resources
     Land use
     Public safety
     Water resources

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, 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 Gas 
Branch 3.
     Reference Docket No. CP07-3-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before December 11, 2006.
    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.
    If you do not want to send comments at this time but still want to 
remain on our mailing list, 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 or who own homes within distances 
defined in the Commission's regulations of certain aboveground 
facilities.

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. E6-19323 Filed 11-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P