National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Heath Compressor Station Abandonment and Line FM-92 Refunctionalization Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, 92807-92808 [2016-30549]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2016 / Notices DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP17–2–000] mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Heath Compressor Station Abandonment and Line FM–92 Refunctionalization 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 Heath Compressor Station Abandonment and Line FM–92 Refunctionalization Project involving construction and operation of facilities by National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation (National Fuel) in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. 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 January 13, 2017. If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the opening of this docket on October 14, 2016, you will need to file those comments in Docket No. CP17–2–000 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. Public Participation For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit your comments to the Commission. The VerDate Sep<11>2014 19:36 Dec 19, 2016 Jkt 241001 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 (CP17–2– 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 National Fuel proposes to abandon the Heath Compressor Station and to refunctionalize its existing 3.0 mile, 12inch diameter Line FM–92 pipeline from a jurisdictional natural gas transmission pipeline to a nonjurisdictional natural gas gathering pipeline in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Existing above ground structures and piping, not required for gathering, would be removed. Underground pipelines associated with the compressor station would be abandoned in place. The purpose of the Project is to abandon the compressor station due to production decline rendering the facility idle. National Fuel would also install nonjurisdictional facilities, including 610 feet of new non-jurisdictional 12-inch diameter plastic pipeline to maintain gas flow along Line FM–92 and gathering compression facilities about 3.0 miles northwest of the Heath Compressor Station. The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 1.1 1 The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear 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 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 92807 Land Requirements for Construction The Project would disturb about 2.9 acres of land owned by National Fuel for the aboveground facilities removal and FM–92 refunctionalization. No new access roads or temporary work space will be utilized outside the existing right of way. National Fuel will remain in ownership of the land following project activities. 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 2 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; • Land use; • Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands; • Cultural resources; • Vegetation and wildlife; • Air quality and noise; • Endangered and threatened species; • Public 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. 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. 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. 2 ‘‘We,’’ ‘‘us,’’ and ‘‘our’’ refer to the environmental staff of the Commission’s Office of Energy Projects. E:\FR\FM\20DEN1.SGM 20DEN1 92808 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2016 / Notices 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/ or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues of this project to formally cooperate with us in the preparation of the EA.3 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. 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 the 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.4 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. mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD 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 3 The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1501.6. 4 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 19:36 Dec 19, 2016 Jkt 241001 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 of the EA 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., CP17–2). 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 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 summaries, and direct links to the documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/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: December 13, 2016. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2016–30549 Filed 12–19–16; 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 corporate filings: Docket Numbers: EC17–46–000. Applicants: Pio Pico Energy Center, LLC. Description: Application of Pio Pico Energy Center, LLC for Approval Under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act with Privileged Confidential Exhibit I. Filed Date: 12/12/16. Accession Number: 20161212–5289. Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 1/3/17. Take notice that the Commission received the following electric rate filings: Docket Numbers: ER12–569–013 ER10–1849–012; ER10–1887–012 ER10– 1920–014; ER10–1928–014; ER10–1952– 012 ER10–1961–012; ER10–1971–031; ER10–2720–014 ER11–2037–012; ER11– 4428–014; ER11–4462–022 ER12–1228– 014; ER12–1880–013; ER12–2227–012 ER12–895–012; ER13–2474–008; ER13– 712–014 ER14–2707–009; ER14–2708– 010; ER14–2709–009 ER14–2710–009; ER15–1925–006; ER15–2676–005 ER15– 30–007; ER15–58–007; ER16–1440–003; ER16–1672–003; ER16–2191–002; ER16–2240–002; ER16–2241–002; ER16–2275–002; ER16–2276–002; ER16–2297–002; ER16–2453–002. Applicants: Blackwell Wind, LLC, Brady Interconnection, LLC, Brady Wind II, LLC, Breckinridge Wind Project, LLC, Cedar Bluff Wind, LLC, Chaves County Solar, LLC, Cimarron Wind Energy, LLC, Elk City Wind, LLC, Elk City II Wind, LLC, Ensign Wind, LLC, FPL Energy Cowboy Wind, LLC, FPL Energy Oklahoma Wind, LLC, FPL Energy Sooner Wind, LLC, Gray County Wind Energy, LLC, High Majestic Wind Energy Center, LLC, High Majestic Wind II, LLC, Kingman Wind Energy I, LLC, Kingman Wind Energy II, LLC, E:\FR\FM\20DEN1.SGM 20DEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 92807-92808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30549]



[[Page 92807]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP17-2-000]


National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation; Notice of Intent To Prepare 
an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Heath Compressor Station 
Abandonment and Line FM-92 Refunctionalization 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 Heath Compressor Station 
Abandonment and Line FM-92 Refunctionalization Project involving 
construction and operation of facilities by National Fuel Gas Supply 
Corporation (National Fuel) in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. 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 January 13, 2017.
    If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the 
opening of this docket on October 14, 2016, you will need to file those 
comments in Docket No. CP17-2-000 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.

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 
(CP17-2-000) 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

    National Fuel proposes to abandon the Heath Compressor Station and 
to refunctionalize its existing 3.0 mile, 12-inch diameter Line FM-92 
pipeline from a jurisdictional natural gas transmission pipeline to a 
non-jurisdictional natural gas gathering pipeline in Jefferson County, 
Pennsylvania. Existing above ground structures and piping, not required 
for gathering, would be removed. Underground pipelines associated with 
the compressor station would be abandoned in place.
    The purpose of the Project is to abandon the compressor station due 
to production decline rendering the facility idle.
    National Fuel would also install non-jurisdictional facilities, 
including 610 feet of new non-jurisdictional 12-inch diameter plastic 
pipeline to maintain gas flow along Line FM-92 and gathering 
compression facilities about 3.0 miles northwest of the Heath 
Compressor Station.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
1.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear 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

    The Project would disturb about 2.9 acres of land owned by National 
Fuel for the aboveground facilities removal and FM-92 
refunctionalization. No new access roads or temporary work space will 
be utilized outside the existing right of way. National Fuel will 
remain in ownership of the land following project activities.

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 
\2\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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;
     Land use;
     Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands;
     Cultural resources;
     Vegetation and wildlife;
     Air quality and noise;
     Endangered and threatened species;
     Public 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.
    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.

[[Page 92808]]

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/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues of 
this project to formally cooperate with us in the preparation of the 
EA.\3\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing 
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 the 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.\4\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 of the EA 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-
2). 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: December 13, 2016.
Kimberly D. Bose,
 Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-30549 Filed 12-19-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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