[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63853-63855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26888]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP19-7-000]
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare
an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed 261 Upgrade Projects and
Request for Comments on Environmental Issues
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 261 Upgrade Projects involving
construction and operation of facilities by Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Company, LLC (Tennessee Gas) in Agawam, Massachusetts and Suffield,
Connecticut. 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 about issues regarding the project. The National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) requires the Commission to take into account the
environmental impacts that could result from its action whenever it
considers the issuance of a Certificate of Public Convenience and
Necessity.
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NEPA also requires the Commission to discover 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. To
ensure that your comments are timely and properly recorded, please
submit your comments so that the Commission receives them in
Washington, DC on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 7, 2019.
You can make a difference by submitting 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. Your input will help the Commission
staff determine what issues they need to evaluate in the EA. Commission
staff will consider all filed comments during the preparation of the
EA.
If you sent comments on this project to the Commission before the
opening of this docket on October 19, 2018, you will need to file those
comments in Docket No. CP19-7-000 to ensure they are considered as part
of this proceeding.
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 proposed
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 proposed facilities. The company
would seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable easement agreement. You
are not required to enter into an agreement. However, if the Commission
approves the project, that approval conveys with it the right of
eminent domain. Therefore, if you and the company do not reach an
easement agreement, the pipeline company could initiate condemnation
proceedings in court. In such instances, compensation would be
determined by a judge in accordance with state law.
Tennessee Gas provided landowners with a fact sheet prepared by the
FERC entitled An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I
Need To Know? 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. It is also available for viewing on
the FERC website (www.ferc.gov) at https://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/gas/gas.pdf.
Public Participation
The Commission offers a free service called eSubscription which
makes it easy to stay informed of all issuances and submittals
regarding the dockets/projects to which you subscribe. These instant
email notifications are the fastest way to receive notification and
provide a link to the document files which can reduce the amount of
time you spend researching proceedings. To sign up go to www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/esubscription.asp.
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to submit
your comments to the Commission. The Commission encourages electronic
filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-
3676 or [email protected]. Please carefully follow these
instructions so that your comments are properly recorded.
(1) You can file your comments electronically using the eComment
feature, which is located on the Commission's website (www.ferc.gov)
under the link to Documents and Filings. Using eComment is an easy
method for submitting brief, text-only comments on a project;
(2) You can file your comments electronically by using the eFiling
feature, which is located on the Commission's website (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 will be asked to select the type of filing you are
making; a comment on a particular project is considered a ``Comment on
a Filing''; or
(3) You can file a paper copy of your comments by mailing them to
the following address. Be sure to reference the project docket number
(CP19-7-000) with your submission: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington,
DC 20426.
Summary of the Proposed Project
Tennessee Gas proposes to perform the following activities for
construction of the Project to provide 72,400 million cubic feet per
day (Mcf/d) of natural gas per day to meet existing subscribed shippers
need for capacity.
The 261 Upgrade Projects would consist of the following facilities:
Installation of 2.4 miles of 12-inch-diameter pipeline
loop; \1\
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\1\ A pipeline loop is a segment of pipe constructed parallel to
an existing pipeline to increase capacity. A ``pig'' is a tool that
the pipeline company inserts into and pushes through the pipeline
for cleaning the pipeline, conducting internal inspections, or other
purposes.
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installation of pig launcher and receiver facilities;
installation of one new Solar Taurus compressor unit to
replace two existing compressor units to be removed at Compressor
station (CS) 261; and
removal and replacement of one emergency generator.
The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix
1.\2\
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\2\ The appendices referenced in this notice will not appear 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 Project would disturb about 38.35 acres of land
in Massachusetts and 8 acres in Connecticut for the aboveground
facilities and the pipeline loop. Following construction, Tennessee Gas
would maintain about 5.37 acres in Massachusetts for permanent
operation of the project's facilities; the remaining acreage would be
restored and revert to former uses. About 100 percent of the proposed
pipeline loop would be co-located with Tennessee Gas's existing
facilities, other utilities and roadways. This includes 71 percent of
that pipeline loop that would overlap with the permanent easement of
Tennessee Gas's Line 261B-100 or on Tennessee Gas owned CS 261
property, 10 percent that would overlap with other utilities and
roadway corridors, and 19 percent that would be located adjacent to
these corridors.
The EA Process
The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the
construction and operation of the proposed project under these general
headings:
Geology and soils;
water resources and wetlands;
vegetation and wildlife;
threatened and endangered species;
cultural resources;
land use;
air quality and noise;
public safety; and
cumulative impacts.
Commission staff will also evaluate reasonable alternatives to the
proposed project or portions of the project, and
[[Page 63855]]
make recommendations on how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various
resource areas.
The EA will present Commission staffs' independent analysis of the
issues. The EA will be available in electronic format in the public
record through eLibrary \3\ and the Commission's website (https://www.ferc.gov/industries/gas/enviro/eis.asp). If eSubscribed, you will
receive instant email notification when the EA is issued. The EA may be
issued for an allotted public comment period. Commission staff will
consider all comments on the EA before making recommendations to the
Commission. To ensure Commission staff have the opportunity to address
your comments, please carefully follow the instructions in the Public
Participation section, beginning on page 2.
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\3\ For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer to the
last page of this notice.
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With this notice, the Commission is asking agencies with
jurisdiction by law and/or special expertise with respect to the
environmental issues of this project to formally cooperate 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. Army Corps of Engineers has expressed its
intention to participate as a cooperating agency in the preparation of
the EA to satisfy 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, part 1501.6.
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Consultation 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, the Commission is are using this notice to initiate
consultation with the applicable State Historic Preservation Offices
(SHPO), 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\ Commission staff will
define the project-specific Area of Potential Effects (APE) in
consultation with the SHPOs as the project develops. On natural gas
facility projects, the APE at a minimum encompasses all areas subject
to ground disturbance (examples include construction right-of-way,
contractor/pipe storage yards, compressor stations, and access roads).
The EA for this project will document 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'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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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. Commission staff will update the environmental
mailing list as the analysis proceeds to ensure that Commission notices
related to this environmental review are sent to all individuals,
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially
affected by the proposed project.
If the Commission issues the EA for an allotted public comment
period, a Notice of Availability of the EA will be sent to the
environmental mailing list and will provide instructions to access the
electronic document on the FERC's website (www.ferc.gov). If you need
to make changes to your name/address, or if you would like to remove
your name from the mailing list, please return the attached ``Mailing
List Update Form'' (appendix 2).
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 website at www.ferc.gov using the eLibrary link. Click on the
eLibrary link, click on General Search and enter the docket number in
the Docket Number field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., CP19-
7). Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
[email protected] or (866) 208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202)
502-8659. The eLibrary link also provides access to the texts of all
formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, notices, and
rulemakings.
Public sessions or site visits will be posted on the Commission's
calendar located at www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along
with other related information.
Dated: December 6, 2018.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-26888 Filed 12-11-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P