[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 124 (Monday, June 29, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 36983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15870]



[[Page 36983]]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. Cp15-514-000; Pf14-23-000]


Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC; Notice of Application

    Take notice that on June 8, 2015, Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC 
(Columbia), 5151 San Felipe, Suite 2500, Houston, Texas 77056, filed an 
application under sections 7(c) and 7(b) of the Natural Gas Act and 
Part 157 of the Commission's regulations requesting authorization to 
install construct, operate and abandon certain natural gas pipeline 
facilities for its Leach Xpress project consisting of: (1) Two natural 
gas greenfield pipelines; (ii) two natural gas pipeline loops; (iii) 
the abandonment in place of a segment of one existing natural gas 
pipeline; (iv) the construction of three greenfield compressor 
stations; (v) the construction of three compressor units and the 
abandonment of one compressor unit at an existing compressor station; 
and (vi) various appurtenant and auxiliary facilities. The proposed 
Leach Xpress project's pipeline facilities would total approximately 
160.5 miles of pipe and add approximately 143,000 horsepower of 
compression to transport up to 1.5 Billion cubic feet per day of 
natural gas. Facilities to be constructed are located in Marshall and 
Wayne Counties, West Virginia, Greene County, Pennsylvania, and Monroe, 
Noble, Muskingum, Morgan, Perry Fairfield, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence 
and Vinton Counties, Ohio, all as more fully described in the 
application.
    The filing may also be viewed on the web at http://www.ferc.gov 
using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last 
three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For 
assistance, please contact FERC at [email protected] or toll 
free at (866) 208-3676, or TTY, (202) 502-8659.
    Any questions regarding the proposed project should be directed to 
Tyler R. Brown, Senior Counsel, Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, 5151 
San Felipe, Suite 2500, Houston, Texas 77056; telephone: 713-386-3797.
    On October 9, 2014, the Commission staff granted Columbia's request 
to utilize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Pre-Filing 
Process and assigned Docket No. PF14-23-000 to staff activities 
involving the project. Now, as of the filing of this application on 
June 8, 2015, the NEPA Pre-Filing Process for this project has ended. 
From this time forward, this proceeding will be conducted in Docket No. 
CP15-514-000, as noted in the caption of this Notice.
    It appears that an expansion project which Columbia indicates may 
be proposed by its affiliate, Columbia Gulf Transmission, LLC, in the 
fall of 2015, the Rayne Xpress Certificated Capacity Increase Project 
(Rayne Express) may have some connection to Columbia's Leach Xpress 
Project. Until the details of the Rayne Xpress project are filed and 
more fully understood, the Commission cannot begin preparation of the 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to comply with the NEPA of 1969. 
Within 90 days after the Commission issues a Notice of Application for 
the Rayne Xpress project, the Commission staff will issue a Notice of 
Schedule for Environmental Review that will indicate the anticipated 
date for the Commission's staff issuance of the final EIS analyzing 
both the Leach Xpress and Rayne XPress proposals. The issuance of a 
Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review will also serve to notify 
federal and state agencies of the timing for the completion of all 
necessary reviews, and the subsequent need to complete all federal 
authorizations within 90 days of the date of issuance of the Commission 
staff's final EIS.
    There are two ways to become involved in the Commission's review of 
this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by 
becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or 
before the comment date stated below, file with the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, a 
motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of the 
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 
385.211) and the Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person 
obtaining party status will be placed on the service list maintained by 
the Secretary of the Commission and will receive copies of all 
documents filed by the applicant and by all other parties. A party must 
submit 7 copies of filings made with the Commission and must mail a 
copy to the applicant and to every other party in the proceeding. Only 
parties to the proceeding can ask for court review of Commission orders 
in the proceeding.
    However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have 
comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with 
the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and 
two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project. 
The Commission will consider these comments in determining the 
appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will 
not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. The Commission's 
rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to the project 
provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties directly 
involved in the protest.
    Persons who wish to comment only on the environmental review of 
this project should submit an original and two copies of their comments 
to the Secretary of the Commission. Environmental commenters will be 
placed on the Commission's environmental mailing list, will receive 
copies of the environmental documents, and will be notified of meetings 
associated with the Commission's environmental review process. 
Environmental commenters will not be required to serve copies of filed 
documents on all other parties. However, the non-party commenters will 
not receive copies of all documents filed by other parties or issued by 
the Commission (except for the mailing of environmental documents 
issued by the Commission) and will not have the right to seek court 
review of the Commission's final order.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings of comments, 
protests and interventions in lieu of paper using the ``eFiling'' link 
at http://www.ferc.gov. Persons unable to file electronically should 
submit an original and 5 copies of the protest or intervention to the 
Federal Energy regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20426.
    Comment Date: July 13, 2015.

    Dated: June 22, 2015.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-15870 Filed 6-26-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE P