WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wahpeton Expansion Project, 67681-67682 [2022-24442]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 216 / Wednesday, November 9, 2022 / Notices proceeding on August 23, 2022, October 4, 2022, and October 28, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) will convene its annual Commissioner-led Reliability Technical Conference in the above-referenced proceeding on Thursday, November 10, 2022, from approximately 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. The conference will be held in-person at the Commission’s headquarters at 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426 in the Commission Meeting Room. The purpose of this conference is to discuss policy issues related to the reliability and security of the BulkPower System. The conference will be open for the public to attend, and there is no fee for attendance. Information about this technical conference can be found on the Events Calendar on the Commission’s website, www.ferc.gov. The conference will also be transcribed. Transcripts will be available for a fee from Ace Reporting, (202) 347–3700. Commission conferences are accessible under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For accessibility accommodations, please send an email to accessibility@ferc.gov, call toll-free (866) 208–3372 (voice) or (202) 208–8659 (TTY), or send a fax to (202) 208–2106 with the required accommodations. For more information about this technical conference, please contact Lodie White at Lodie.White@ferc.gov or (202) 502–8453. For information related to logistics, please contact Sarah McKinley at Sarah.Mckinley@ferc.gov or (202) 502–8368. Dated: November 3, 2022. Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2022–24441 Filed 11–8–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES [Docket No. CP22–466–000] WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wahpeton Expansion Project The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Wahpeton Expansion Project, proposed by WBI Energy Transmission, Inc. (WBI Energy) in the above- VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:09 Nov 08, 2022 Jkt 259001 referenced docket. WBI Energy requests authorization to construct and operate the Wahpeton Expansion Project, which would provide an incremental 20,600 equivalent dekatherms per day of firm natural gas transportation capacity from WBI Energy’s existing Mapleton Compressor Station to the proposed Montana Dakota Utilities (MDU)Kindred and MDU-Wahpeton Border Stations to provide natural gas services to the communities of Kindred and Wahpeton, North Dakota. The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the Wahpeton Expansion Project in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Commission staff concludes that approval of the proposed project, with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would result in some adverse environmental impacts. Most of these impacts would be temporary and occur during construction (e.g., impacts on wetlands, land use, traffic, and noise). With the exception of climate change impacts that are not characterized in the EIS as significant or insignificant, Commission staff conclude that project effects would not be significant. As part of the analysis, Commission staff developed specific mitigation measures (included in the draft EIS as recommendations). Staff recommend that these mitigation measures be attached as conditions to any authorization issued by the Commission. The Wild Rice River Route Alternative—Milepost (MP) 55 would affect landowners that have not been part of the FERC’s environmental scoping process, as further discussed on page 4. Therefore, by this letter we are notifying these parties of our evaluation and requesting comments about this route alternative presented in section 3.3.1 of the draft EIS. The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the construction and operation of the following project facilities, in Cass and Richland Counties, North Dakota: • a new 60.5-mile-long, 12-inchdiameter natural gas pipeline; • minor modifications to WBI Energy’s existing Mapleton Compressor Station; • a new MDU-Wahpeton Border Station; • a new MDU-Kindred Border Station; • seven new block valve settings; • four new pig launcher/receiver settings; and • ancillary facilities. PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 67681 The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the draft EIS to federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies; elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; Native American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other interested individuals and groups; and newspapers and libraries in the project area. The draft EIS is only available in electronic format. It may be viewed and downloaded from FERC’s website (www.ferc.gov), on the natural gas environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/ natural-gas/environment/ environmental-documents). In addition, the draft EIS may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on FERC’s website. Click on the eLibrary link (https:// elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search), select ‘‘General Search’’ and enter the docket number in the ‘‘Docket Number’’ field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., CP22–466). 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 draft EIS is not a decision document. It presents Commission staff’s independent analysis of the environmental issues for the Commission to consider when addressing the merits of all issues in this proceeding. Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. Your comments should focus on draft EIS’s disclosure and discussion of potential environmental effects, measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts, and the completeness of the submitted alternatives, information and analyses. To ensure consideration of your comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is important that the Commission receive your comments on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on December 27, 2022. For your convenience, there are four methods you can use to submit your comments to the Commission. The Commission will provide equal consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form or provided verbally. The Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208–3676 or FercOnlineSupport@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 website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to FERC E:\FR\FM\09NON1.SGM 09NON1 67682 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 216 / Wednesday, November 9, 2022 / Notices Online. 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 website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to FERC Online. With filing, 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 Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP22–466–000) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 Date and time Location Tuesday, November 29, 2022, 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m ................................ Wahpeton City Hall, 1900 4th Street N, Wahpeton, ND 58075, (701) 591–2110. Kindred High School, 225 Dakota Street, Kindred, ND 58051, (701) 428–3177. Wednesday, November 30, 2022, 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m ........................... khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852. 4. In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the Commission invites you to attend one of the public comment sessions its staff will conduct in the project area to receive comments on the draft EIS, scheduled as follows: The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify the specific environmental issues and concerns with the draft EIS. Individual verbal comments will be taken on a oneon-one basis with a court reporter. This format is designed to receive the maximum amount of verbal comments, in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted. Each comment session is scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. You may arrive at any time after 5:00 p.m. There will not be a formal presentation by Commission staff when the session opens. Comments will be taken until 7:00 p.m. Please see appendix 1 for additional information on the session format and conduct.1 Your verbal comments will be recorded by the court reporter (with FERC staff or representative present) and become part of the public record for this proceeding. Transcripts will be publicly available on FERC’s eLibrary system (see page 2 for instructions on using eLibrary). If a significant number of people are interested in providing verbal comments in the one-on-one settings, a time limit of 5 minutes may be implemented for each commentor. Although there will not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be available throughout the comment session to answer your questions about the environmental review process. It is important to note that the Commission provides equal consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form or provided orally at a comment session. 1 The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in the Federal Register. Copies of the 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 call (202) 502– 8371. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:09 Nov 08, 2022 Jkt 259001 Any person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedures (18 CFR part 385.214). Motions to intervene are more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/howintervene. Only intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of the Commission’s decision. The Commission grants affected landowners and others with environmental concerns intervenor status upon showing good cause by stating that they have a clear and direct interest in this proceeding which no other party can adequately represent. Simply filing environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, but you do not need intervenor status to have your comments considered. Route Alternative As indicated on page 1, some landowners are receiving this draft EIS because their property has been identified as potentially being affected by the Wild Rice River Route Alternative—MP 55, which is recommended by FERC staff to avoid or lessen environmental impacts along WBI Energy’s proposed pipeline route. Section 3.3.1 of the draft EIS contains our analysis and discussion of this alternative. The Commission staff wants to ensure that all potentially affected landowners have the opportunity to participate in the environmental review process, thus staff is soliciting comments to assist with the environmental analysis of this route alternative, which will be presented in the final EIS. Questions? Additional information about the project is available from the Commission’s Office of External Affairs, PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC website (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. The eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of all formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings. In addition, the Commission offers a free service called eSubscription that 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/ ferc-online/overview to register for eSubscription. Dated: November 3, 2022. Debbie-Anne A. Reese, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2022–24442 Filed 11–8–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Combined Notice of Filings Take notice that the Commission has received the following Natural Gas Pipeline Rate and Refund Report filings: Filings in Existing Proceedings Docket Numbers: RP23–53–001. Applicants: Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P. Description: Tariff Amendment: 11.3.22 Negotiated Rate—Shell Energy North America (U.S.), L.P. R–2170–22 to be effective 11/1/2022. Filed Date: 11/3/22. Accession Number: 20221103–5059. Comment Date: 5 p.m. ET 11/10/22. E:\FR\FM\09NON1.SGM 09NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67681-67682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24442]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-466-000]


WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.; Notice of Availability of the 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Wahpeton 
Expansion Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Wahpeton Expansion Project, proposed by WBI Energy 
Transmission, Inc. (WBI Energy) in the above-referenced docket. WBI 
Energy requests authorization to construct and operate the Wahpeton 
Expansion Project, which would provide an incremental 20,600 equivalent 
dekatherms per day of firm natural gas transportation capacity from WBI 
Energy's existing Mapleton Compressor Station to the proposed Montana 
Dakota Utilities (MDU)-Kindred and MDU-Wahpeton Border Stations to 
provide natural gas services to the communities of Kindred and 
Wahpeton, North Dakota.
    The draft EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Wahpeton Expansion Project in 
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA). Commission staff concludes that approval of the proposed 
project, with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would 
result in some adverse environmental impacts. Most of these impacts 
would be temporary and occur during construction (e.g., impacts on 
wetlands, land use, traffic, and noise). With the exception of climate 
change impacts that are not characterized in the EIS as significant or 
insignificant, Commission staff conclude that project effects would not 
be significant. As part of the analysis, Commission staff developed 
specific mitigation measures (included in the draft EIS as 
recommendations). Staff recommend that these mitigation measures be 
attached as conditions to any authorization issued by the Commission.
    The Wild Rice River Route Alternative--Milepost (MP) 55 would 
affect landowners that have not been part of the FERC's environmental 
scoping process, as further discussed on page 4. Therefore, by this 
letter we are notifying these parties of our evaluation and requesting 
comments about this route alternative presented in section 3.3.1 of the 
draft EIS.
    The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the following project facilities, in Cass 
and Richland Counties, North Dakota:
     a new 60.5-mile-long, 12-inch-diameter natural gas 
pipeline;
     minor modifications to WBI Energy's existing Mapleton 
Compressor Station;
     a new MDU-Wahpeton Border Station;
     a new MDU-Kindred Border Station;
     seven new block valve settings;
     four new pig launcher/receiver settings; and
     ancillary facilities.
    The Commission mailed a copy of the Notice of Availability of the 
draft EIS to federal, state, and local government representatives and 
agencies; elected officials; environmental and public interest groups; 
Native American tribes; potentially affected landowners and other 
interested individuals and groups; and newspapers and libraries in the 
project area. The draft EIS is only available in electronic format. It 
may be viewed and downloaded from FERC's website (www.ferc.gov), on the 
natural gas environmental documents page (https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/natural-gas/environment/environmental-documents). In 
addition, the draft EIS may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on 
FERC's website. Click on the eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search), select ``General Search'' and enter the docket number 
in the ``Docket Number'' field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., 
CP22-466). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For 
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll free at (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, 
contact (202) 502-8659.
    The draft EIS is not a decision document. It presents Commission 
staff's independent analysis of the environmental issues for the 
Commission to consider when addressing the merits of all issues in this 
proceeding. Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. 
Your comments should focus on draft EIS's disclosure and discussion of 
potential environmental effects, measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impacts, and the completeness of the submitted 
alternatives, information and analyses. To ensure consideration of your 
comments on the proposal in the final EIS, it is important that the 
Commission receive your comments on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 
December 27, 2022.
    For your convenience, there are four methods you can use to submit 
your comments to the Commission. The Commission will provide equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form 
or provided verbally. The Commission encourages electronic filing of 
comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-3676 or 
[email protected]. 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 website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC

[[Page 67682]]

Online. 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 website (www.ferc.gov) under the link to 
FERC Online. With filing, 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 Commission. Be sure to reference the project docket number (CP22-
466-000) on your letter. Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service 
must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 
20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be addressed to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.
    4. In lieu of sending written or electronic comments, the 
Commission invites you to attend one of the public comment sessions its 
staff will conduct in the project area to receive comments on the draft 
EIS, scheduled as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date and time                           Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, November 29, 2022, 5:00 p.m.-   Wahpeton City Hall, 1900 4th
 7:00 p.m.                                Street N, Wahpeton, ND 58075,
                                          (701) 591-2110.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022, 5:00 p.m.- Kindred High School, 225 Dakota
 7:00 p.m.                                Street, Kindred, ND 58051,
                                          (701) 428-3177.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify 
the specific environmental issues and concerns with the draft EIS. 
Individual verbal comments will be taken on a one-on-one basis with a 
court reporter. This format is designed to receive the maximum amount 
of verbal comments, in a convenient way during the timeframe allotted.
    Each comment session is scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 
Central Standard Time. You may arrive at any time after 5:00 p.m. There 
will not be a formal presentation by Commission staff when the session 
opens. Comments will be taken until 7:00 p.m. Please see appendix 1 for 
additional information on the session format and conduct.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear in 
the Federal Register. Copies of the 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 call (202) 502-
8371.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Your verbal comments will be recorded by the court reporter (with 
FERC staff or representative present) and become part of the public 
record for this proceeding. Transcripts will be publicly available on 
FERC's eLibrary system (see page 2 for instructions on using eLibrary). 
If a significant number of people are interested in providing verbal 
comments in the one-on-one settings, a time limit of 5 minutes may be 
implemented for each commentor. Although there will not be a formal 
presentation, Commission staff will be available throughout the comment 
session to answer your questions about the environmental review 
process.
    It is important to note that the Commission provides equal 
consideration to all comments received, whether filed in written form 
or provided orally at a comment session.
    Any person seeking to become a party to the proceeding must file a 
motion to intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedures (18 CFR part 385.214). Motions to intervene are 
more fully described at https://www.ferc.gov/how-intervene. Only 
intervenors have the right to seek rehearing or judicial review of the 
Commission's decision. The Commission grants affected landowners and 
others with environmental concerns intervenor status upon showing good 
cause by stating that they have a clear and direct interest in this 
proceeding which no other party can adequately represent. Simply filing 
environmental comments will not give you intervenor status, but you do 
not need intervenor status to have your comments considered.

Route Alternative

    As indicated on page 1, some landowners are receiving this draft 
EIS because their property has been identified as potentially being 
affected by the Wild Rice River Route Alternative--MP 55, which is 
recommended by FERC staff to avoid or lessen environmental impacts 
along WBI Energy's proposed pipeline route. Section 3.3.1 of the draft 
EIS contains our analysis and discussion of this alternative. The 
Commission staff wants to ensure that all potentially affected 
landowners have the opportunity to participate in the environmental 
review process, thus staff is soliciting comments to assist with the 
environmental analysis of this route alternative, which will be 
presented in the final EIS.

Questions?

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at (866) 208-FERC, or on the 
FERC website (www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of all formal documents issued by the 
Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission offers a free service called 
eSubscription that 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/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: November 3, 2022.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-24442 Filed 11-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
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