[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 87 (Monday, May 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26354-26356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10613]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket Nos. CP13-132-000; CP13-36-000]
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent to
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Northeast
Connector Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) will discuss the potential environmental effects of the
Northeast Connector Project, involving construction and operation of
natural gas facilities by Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company, LLC
(Transco), in the Commission's environmental impact statement (EIS)
currently under preparation for the Rockaway Delivery Lateral Project
(Rockaway Project) in Docket No. CP13-36-000. Under the proposed
Northeast Connector Project, Transco would modify three existing
compressor stations located in York County, Pennsylvania and Mercer and
Middlesex Counties, New Jersey to deliver an additional 100,000
dekatherms per day of natural gas into the New York City region. 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.
The additional service proposed in the Northeast Connector Project
would utilize transportation on Transco's proposed Rockaway Project, a
3.2-mile-long pipeline in Queens and Kings Counties, New York. The
Commission approved Transco's request to begin the pre-filing review
process for the Rockaway Project on March 25, 2009. Commission staff
previously held a scoping period for the Rockaway Project from May 25,
2012 through June 25, 2012. Transco filed an application for the
Rockaway Project on January 7, 2013. Because the Northeast Connector
Project is operationally dependent on the Rockaway Project to provide
the intended service, and the two projects have similar projected
construction and in-service dates, the Commission staff will evaluate
the two projects jointly in the EIS. This EIS will be used by the
Commission in its decision-making process to determine whether the
Rockaway and Northeast Connector Projects are in the public convenience
and necessity.
Comments on the Northeast Connector Project may be submitted to the
FERC either electronically or by mail. Further details on how to submit
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comments are provided in the Public Participation section of this
notice. Please note that the scoping period for the Northeast Connector
Project will close on May 27, 2013.
This notice is being sent to the Commission's current environmental
mailing list for both the Rockaway and Northeast Connector Projects.
State and local government representatives are asked to notify their
constituents of the Northeast Connector Project and encourage them to
comment on their areas of concern. This scoping period is established
to receive comments on the Northeast Connector Project, and comments
previously filed with the FERC regarding the Rockaway Project should
not be refiled under the Northeast Connector Project docket.
Summary of the Proposed Northeast Connector Project
The Northeast Connector Project would be constructed on lands owned
by Transco within existing compressor station sites. No other
landowners would be directly affected by the Northeast Connector
Project facilities.
Transco proposes to:
Add an incremental 6,540 horsepower (hp) of compression at
its existing Compressor Station 195 in York County, Pennsylvania by:
installing a new 35 kilovolt substation, variable frequency drive
building, and associated coolers; replacing three existing natural gas-
fired reciprocating engines and appurtenant facilities with two new
electric motor drives; modifying the existing compressor units to be
driven by the new electric motors; and modifying station piping and
valves;
Add an incremental 5,000 hp of compression at its existing
Compressor Station 205 in Mercer County, New Jersey by uprating two
existing electric motor drives and modifying the associated compressor
units; and
Add an incremental 5,400 hp of compression at its existing
Compressor Station 207 in Middlesex County, New Jersey by uprating two
existing electric motor drives and modifying associated gearboxes.
The modifications to the compressor stations would allow Transco to
deliver an additional 100,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas to
Brooklyn Union Gas Company, doing business as National Grid New York
via an interconnect between Transco's existing Lower New York Bay
Lateral and the proposed Rockaway Project. Overview and site-specific
maps depicting the location of the proposed Northeast Connector Project
are provided in Appendix 1.\1\
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\1\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being
printed 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.
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Land Requirements for Construction
Construction of the Northeast Connector facilities would disturb a
total of 25.2 acres of land within the existing yard at Compressor
Station 195, which is owned by Transco. Construction activities at
Compressor Stations 205 and 207 would occur within the existing
compressor buildings at these sites and would not disturb any
additional land.
The EIS 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 proposed
projects. This process is referred to as scoping. The main goal of the
scoping process is to focus the analysis in the EIS on important
environmental issues. By this notice, the Commission requests public
comments on the scope of issues associated with the Northeast Connector
Project to address in the EIS. We will consider all filed comments
during the preparation of the EIS.
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\2\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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In the EIS, we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of
the construction and operation of the Northeast Connector Project under
these general headings:
geology;
soils;
water resources;
vegetation;
wildlife and aquatic resources;
fisheries and aquatic resources;
threatened, endangered, and other special-status species;
land use, recreation, special interest areas, and visual
resources;
socioeconomics;
cultural resources;
air quality and noise;
reliability and safety; and
cumulative environmental impacts.
We will also evaluate possible 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 FERC staff is in the process of preparing an EIS for the
Rockaway Project. Five other agencies are participating as cooperating
agencies in the preparation of this EIS: the National Park Service,
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National
Marine Fisheries Service, and New York City Mayor's Office of
Environmental Coordination. With this notice, we are asking other
agencies with jurisdiction by law and/or special expertise with respect
to environmental issues related to the Northeast Connector Project to
formally cooperate with us in the preparation of the EIS.\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.
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\3\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 1501.6.
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The EIS will present our independent analysis of the issues. We
will publish and distribute the draft EIS for public comment. After the
comment period, we will consider all timely comments and revise the
document, as necessary, before issuing a final EIS. To ensure we have
the opportunity to consider and address your comments, please carefully
follow the instructions in the Public Participation section below.
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 Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Historic Preservation
Offices (SHPOs), 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\ The EIS will
document our findings on the impacts on historic properties and
summarize the status of consultations under Section 106. We note that
Transco has signed categorical exclusions with both the Pennsylvania
and New Jersey SHPOs exempting work
[[Page 26356]]
activities within existing facilities from further review by the SHPOs.
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\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.
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Public Participation
You can make a difference by providing us with your specific
comments or concerns about the Northeast Connector Project. Your
comments should focus on the potential environmental effects,
reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental
impacts. The more specific your comments, the more useful they will be.
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 May 27, 2013.
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit
your comments to the Commission. In all instances, please reference the
project docket number (CP13-132-000) with your submission. The
Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has expert
staff available to assist you at (202) 502-8258 or [email protected].
(1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment
feature located on the Commission's Web site (www.ferc.gov) under the
link to Documents and Filings. This is an easy method for interested
persons to submit brief, text-only comments on a project;
(2) You can file your comments electronically using the eFiling
feature located 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.'' You must select the type of filing you are making. If
you are filing a comment on a particular project, please select
``Comment on a Filing''; or
(3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to
the following address.
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
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 for both the Northeast Connector and
Rockaway Projects, including those 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
planned project.
Copies of the completed draft EIS 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 a CD version or would
like to remove your name from the mailing list, please return the
attached Information Request (appendix 2). If you previously sent the
Commission an ``Information Request'' for the Rockaway Project, you do
not need to resubmit your request.
Becoming an Intervenor
You may want to become an ``intervenor'', which is an official
party to the Commission's proceeding on a project. 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 included in the ``For Citizens'' section of the
Commission's Web site, under the ``Get Involved'' link (http://www.ferc.gov/for-citizens/get-involved.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 (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., CP13-
132). 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 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/esubscribenow.htm.
Finally, Transco has established a toll-free phone number (1-866-
455-9103) so that parties can call them directly with questions about
the project and an email support address
([email protected]).
Dated: April 26, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-10613 Filed 5-3-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P