[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54886-54888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21670]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. PF13-15-000]
Texas Eastern Transmission, LP; Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment for the Planned Ohio Pipeline Energy Network
Project, Request for Comments on Environmental Issues, and Notice of
Public Scoping Meetings
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 Ohio Pipeline Energy Network
Project (Project) involving construction and operation of facilities by
Texas Eastern Transmission, LP (Texas Eastern) in Belmont, Carroll,
Columbiana, Jefferson, and Monroe Counties, Ohio. 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. Your input will help the Commission staff
determine what issues they need to evaluate in the EA. Please note that
the scoping period will close on September 30, 2013.
You may submit comments in written form or verbally. Further
details on how to submit written comments are in the Public
Participation section of this notice. In lieu of or in addition to
sending written comments, the Commission invites you to attend either
of the FERC public scoping meetings scheduled for the Project as
follows:
Monday, September 16, 2013, 7:00 PM EDT,
Edison High School, 9890 State Route 152, Richmond, OH 43944.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013, 7:00 PM EDT,
J.B. Martin Recreation Center, 102 Fair Avenue, St. Clairsville, OH
43650.
The public meetings are designed to provide you with more detailed
information and another opportunity to offer your comments on the
planned project. Texas Eastern representatives will be present one hour
before each meeting to describe their proposal, present maps, and
answer questions. Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to
attend the meetings and to present comments on the issues they believe
should be addressed in the EA. A transcript of each meeting will be
made so that your comments will be accurately recorded.
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 planned
Project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern. If you
are a landowner receiving this notice, a pipeline company
representative may contact you about the acquisition of an easement to
construct, operate, and maintain the planned facilities. The company
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement. However, if
the Commission approves the Project, that approval conveys with it the
right of eminent domain. Therefore, if easement negotiations fail to
produce an agreement, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation
proceedings where compensation would be determined in accordance with
state law.
A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' is available for
viewing on the FERC Web site (www.ferc.gov). This fact sheet addresses
a number of typically-asked questions, including the use of eminent
domain and how to participate in the Commission's proceedings.
Summary of the Planned Project
Texas Eastern plans to expand its existing Texas Eastern system by
constructing 73.44 miles of new 30-inch-diameter pipeline to provide
additional natural gas transportation to markets in the Midwest,
Southeast, and Gulf Coast. The planned Project would provide an
additional 550,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas from Texas
Eastern's proposed Kensington Receipt Meter and Regulator Station in
Columbiana County, Ohio to the proposed terminus where it would tie
into Texas Eastern Lines 25 and 30.
The Project would include construction and operation of the
following facilities:
Approximately 73.44 miles of new 30-inch-diameter natural
gas pipeline in Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Jefferson, and Monroe
Counties, Ohio;
One new compressor station and one new meter & regulator
station in Jefferson County, Ohio;
Two new meter & regulator stations in Columbiana County,
Ohio;
One new regulator station in Monroe County, Ohio;
Modifications to existing compressor stations to allow bi-
directional flow on Texas Eastern's system in Scioto County, OH, Monroe
County, KY, Hinds and Jefferson Counties, MS, and West Feliciana
Parish, LA; and
Other appurtenant and ancillary facilities.
The general location of the Project facilities is shown in Appendix
1.\1\
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\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 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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Texas Eastern plans to file an application with FERC in January of
2014, and to initiate construction of the Project in February 2015 and
complete construction in November 2015.
Land Requirements for Construction
Construction of the planned facilities would disturb about 1,300
acres of land for the pipeline and aboveground facilities.\2\ Following
construction, Texas Eastern would maintain about 445 acres for
permanent operation of the Project's facilities; the remaining acreage
would be restored and revert to former uses. About 46 percent, or 33.6
miles, of the proposed new pipeline would be collocated with an
existing transmission line or pipeline corridors, maximizing the use of
previously
[[Page 54887]]
disturbed rights-of-way to the extent practicable.
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\2\ Texas Eastern is still evaluating the need for temporary and
permanent access roads; therefore, additional lands disturbed for
these project components would be in addition to that reported
within this notice.
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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
\3\ 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.
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\3\ ``We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff
of the Commission's Office of Energy Projects.
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In the EA, we will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of
the construction and operation of the planned Project under these
general headings:
Geology and soils;
Water resources;
Wetlands and vegetation;
Fish and wildlife;
Threatened and endangered species;
Land use, recreation, and visual resources;
Air quality and noise;
Cultural resources;
Socioeconomics;
Reliability and safety; and
Cumulative environmental impacts.
We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the planned Project
or portions of the Project, and make recommendations on how to lessen
or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
Although no formal application has been filed, we have already
initiated our NEPA review under the Commission's pre-filing process.
The purpose of the pre-filing process is to encourage early involvement
of interested stakeholders and to identify and resolve issues before
the FERC receives an application. As part of our pre-filing review, we
have begun to contact federal and state agencies to discuss their
involvement in the scoping process and the preparation of the EA.
Our independent analysis of the issues will be presented in the EA.
The EA will be placed in the public record and, depending on the
comments received during the scoping process, may be published and
distributed to the public. A comment period will be allotted if the EA
is published for review. 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 beginning on page 6.
With this notice, we are asking agencies with jurisdiction by law
and/or special expertise with respect to the environmental issues
related to this Project to formally cooperate with us in the
preparation of the EA.\4\ 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. Currently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has expressed
their intention to participate as a cooperating agency in the
preparation of the EA to satisfy their NEPA responsibilities related to
this Project.
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\4\ The Council on Environmental Quality regulations addressing
cooperating agency responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations, Sec. 1501.6.
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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 Ohio Historic Preservation Office, 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.\5\ We will define the Project-specific Area of Potential
Effect in consultation with the State Historic Preservation Officer
(SHPO) as the Project develops. On natural gas facility projects, the
Area of Potential Effect at a minimum encompasses all areas subject to
ground disturbance (examples include the 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.
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\5\ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 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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Currently Identified Environmental Issues
We have already identified several issues that we think deserve
attention based on a preliminary review of the planned facilities and
the environmental information provided by Texas Eastern. This
preliminary list of issues may change based on your comments and our
analysis:
Potential impacts on perennial and intermittent
waterbodies, including waterbodies with federal and/or state
designations/protections;
Evaluation of temporary and permanent impacts on wetlands
and the development of appropriate mitigation;
Potential impacts on fish and wildlife habitat, including
potential impacts on federally and state-listed threatened and
endangered species;
Potential effects on prime farmland and highly erodible
soils;
Potential visual effects of the aboveground facilities;
Potential impacts and potential benefits of construction
workforce on local housing, infrastructure, public services, and
economy; and
Impacts on air quality and noise associated with
construction and operation of the Project.
Public Participation
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. 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
September 30, 2012. This is not your only public input opportunity;
please refer to the Environmental Review Process flow chart in Appendix
2.
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 (PF13-15-000) 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
[[Page 54888]]
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 (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
planned Project.
If we publish and distribute the EA, copies 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 3).
Becoming an Intervenor
Once Texas Eastern files its application with the Commission, 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 User's Guide under the ``e-filing'' link on the Commission's Web
site. Please note that the Commission will not accept requests for
intervenor status at this time. You must wait until the Commission
receives a formal application for the Project.
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., PF13-
15). 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, 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.
A Web site for the Project can be viewed at http://qa.spectraenergy.com/Operations/New-Projects/Ohio-Pipeline-Energy-Network/
To request additional information on the proposed Project or to
provide comments directly to the Project sponsor, you can contact:
Susan Waller, VP Stakeholder Outreach & Sustainability, Spectra Energy,
713.627.5372, [email protected].
Dated: August 29, 2013.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-21670 Filed 9-5-13; 8:45 am]
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