Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for The Proposed Northern Lights 2023 Expansion Project, 16432 [2023-05416]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 52 (Friday, March 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 16432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05416]


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

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP22-138-000]


Northern Natural Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for The Proposed Northern Lights 2023 
Expansion Project

    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) 
for the Northern Lights 2023 Expansion Project (Project), proposed by 
Northern Natural Gas Company (Northern) in the above-referenced docket. 
Northern requests authorization to abandon, construct, and operate 
certain interstate natural gas facilities in Freeborn, Washington, 
Scott, Sherburne, and Stearns Counties, Minnesota and Monroe County, 
Wisconsin. The proposed Project would allow Northern to provide up to 
44,222 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of natural gas in incremental winter 
peak day firm transportation service to its existing residential, 
commercial, and industrial customer market and 6,667 Dth/d of 
additional firm service that would allow enhanced reliability and 
flexibility in providing natural gas transportation capacity for 
electric generation.
    The final EIS assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of the Project in accordance with the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The FERC 
staff concludes that approval of the proposed Project, with the 
mitigation measures recommended in the final EIS, would result in 
limited adverse environmental impacts. Most adverse environmental 
impacts would be temporary or short-term during construction, but some 
long-term and permanent environmental impacts would occur on some 
forested lands. With the exception of climate change impacts that are 
not characterized in this final EIS as significant or insignificant, 
staff concludes that impacts would be reduced to less than significant 
levels through implementation of Northern's proposed avoidance, 
minimization, and mitigation measures, as well as staff's Project-
specific recommendations.
    The Project would involve six new pipeline segments (four pipeline 
extensions and two pipeline loops \1\), totaling 9.8 miles of pipe. The 
pipelines would range in size from 4 to 36 inches-in-diameter. Northern 
also proposes construction of four new valve settings and modifications 
at six existing aboveground facilities. Additionally, Northern proposes 
to abandon and remove two existing valve settings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Loop is parallel pipelines connected at both ends that 
allows more gas to flow through that segment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The final EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of the 
abandonment, construction and operation of the following Project 
facilities:
     construction of a 2.79-mile extension of 36-inch-diameter 
Ventura North E-line, Freeborn County, Minnesota;
     construction of a 1.07-mile, 30-inch-diameter loop of 20-
inch-diameter Elk River 1st and 2nd branch lines, Washington County, 
Minnesota;
     construction of a 1.14-mile extension of 24-inch-diameter 
Willmar D branch line, Scott County, Minnesota;
     construction of a 2.48-mile extension of 8-inch-diameter 
Princeton tie over loop, Sherburne County, Minnesota;
     construction of a 2.01-mile loop of 3-inch-diameter 
Paynesville branch line, Stearns County, Minnesota;
     construction of a 0.34-mile extension of 8-inch-diameter 
Tomah branch line loop, Monroe County, Wisconsin;
     construction or modification of aboveground facilities 
including; construction of one new pig launcher within an existing 
facility, construction of four new valve settings, replacement of 
valves and piping inside four existing facilities, and installation of 
two rupture-mitigation valves, associated piping, and building. 
Aboveground facilities would be in Freeborn, Washington, Scott, 
Sherburne, and Stearns County, Minnesota; and Monroe County, Wisconsin; 
and
     abandonment and removal of two valve settings and 
associated piping in Scott and Freeborn County, Minnesota.
    The Commission mailed a copy of this Notice of Availability to 
federal, state, and local government representatives and agencies; 
elected officials; regional non-governmental organizations, 
environmental and public interest groups; potentially interested Indian 
tribes; affected landowners; and newspapers and libraries in the 
project area. The final EIS is only available in electronic format. It 
may be viewed and downloaded from the 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 final EIS may be accessed by using the eLibrary link on 
the 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. CP22-138). 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.
    In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) 
regulations implementing NEPA, no agency decision on a proposed action 
may be made until 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes a notice of availability of the final EIS in the 
Federal Register. However, the CEQ regulations provide an exception to 
this rule when an agency decision is subject to a formal internal 
appeal process that allows other agencies or the public to make their 
views known. In such cases, the agency decision may be made at the same 
time the notice of the final EIS is published, allowing both periods to 
run concurrently. The Commission decision for this proposed action is 
subject to a 30-day rehearing period.
    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 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/ferc-online/overview to 
register for eSubscription.

    Dated: March 10, 2023.
Debbie-Anne A. Reese,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-05416 Filed 3-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P