[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 225 (Friday, November 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62344-62345]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30663]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
[CO-030-5101-00-YCKD; COC-51280]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplement to a Final Environmental
Impact Statement; Colorado and New Mexico
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, USDI, and Forest Service, Department
of Agriculture.
ACTION: Notice; Intent to prepare a supplement to a Final Environmental
Impact Statement; Notice of scoping with a public comment period.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act,
notice is hereby given that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in
cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is initiating the
preparation of a Supplement (supplement) to the Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) for the TransColorado Gas Transmission Company
(TransColorado) pipeline project on federal lands in Colorado and New
Mexico. TransColorado is the proponent. Lands managed by the BLM in the
Montrose, Craig, and Grand Junction Districts in Colorado, and the
Farmington District in New Mexico, and the USFS in the Uncompahgre and
San Juan National Forests, Colorado, are crossed by the TransColorado
pipeline project. The supplement will address the environmental impacts
of the construction, operation, maintenance, and ultimate abandonment
of known proposed route changes and minor realignments (less than 100
ft.) of portions the approved pipeline and right-of-way (ROW) grant
COC-51280, and the impacts of the proposed construction and use of
known additional temporary work areas adjacent to the approved ROW or,
proposed ROW route changes or minor realignments. The supplement will
also address the impacts of the construction, operation, maintenance
and ultimate abandonment of several ROW route changes or realignments,
and the construction and use of several alternative temporary work
areas in unspecified locations. These unspecified temporary work areas
and ROW route changes or minor realignments will be addressed in the
supplement to accommodate conditions that might be encountered during
construction. Cumulative affects of potential future gas supply
facilities, such as gas supply pipeline laterals will be addressed. The
FEIS is not being re-opened nor re-analyzed, nor are the decisions in
the FEIS being reconsidered. Any comments addressing issues analyzed in
the FEIS will not be considered. Please focus any comments on the
proposed action of the supplement to the FEIS.
DATES: Written comments on the proposed action will be accepted until
December 15, 1997. The comment period on the draft supplement to the
FEIS will be 45 days from the notice of availability, published in the
Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Any comments relative to the proposed action described in
this notice should be sent to Bill Bottomly, TransColorado Project
Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Montrose District Office, 2465
South Townsend Avenue, Montrose, CO 81401.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bill Bottomly (970) 240-5337, Ilyse Auringer (970) 385-1341, or Steve
Hemphill (970) 874-6633.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: After preparing a Draft and Final
Environmental Impact Statement in 1992, the BLM and the USFS issued
Records of Decision on December 1, 1992, approving the authorization of
a
[[Page 62345]]
ROW grant and an adjacent Temporary Use Permit (TUP) for subsequent
construction, operation and maintenance of the 292 mile-long
TransColorado Gas Transmission pipeline from Meeker, Colorado to
Bloomfield, New Mexico. Under the authority of the Mineral Leasing Act
of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 185), as amended by the Act of November 16, 1973 (37
Stat. 567), the BLM issued a 50 foot-wide ROW grant on December 4,
1997, accompanied by a 25 foot-wide TUP, excepting 1.7 miles near Grand
Junction, Colorado. The FERC issued TransColorado a Certificate of
Public Convenience and Necessity on June 3, 1994. TransColorado
completed the 22.5 mile Phase I of the project in December, 1996. The
proponent is now prepared to construct the remainder of the pipeline
during 1998. TransColorado is requesting approval of additional
temporary work areas to construct the pipeline, and is requesting that
the existing ROW be amended to accommodate the proposed route changes
and minor realignments (less than 100 ft). Public meetings or open
houses may be conducted during the comment period to gather comments
from the public prior to preparation of the supplement. Public notice
of locations, dates, and times of any meetings to be held will be
provided. Maps and plats of the project are available for public review
at the following offices of the BLM and USFS: the Grand Junction
District Office, the Montrose District Office, the Grand Mesa/
Uncompahgre/Gunnison National Forest Office, the San Juan National
Forest/San Juan Resource Area office, and the Farmington District
Office. The level of public interest in the issues of the supplement to
the FEIS will determine if additional meetings will be held.
Dated: November 7, 1997.
Phillip W. Dwyer,
Assistant District Manager, Montrose District.
Dated: November 17, 1997.
Gloria Manning,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 97-30663 Filed 11-20-97; 8:45 am]
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