75572 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 212 / Friday, November 3, 2023 / Notices 

assumptions of liability, is November 

20, 2023. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic submission of protests and 

interventions in lieu of paper, using the 

FERC Online links at http://

www.ferc.gov. To facilitate electronic 

service, persons with internet access 

who will eFile a document and/or be 

listed as a contact for an intervenor 

must create and validate an 

eRegistration account using the 

eRegistration link. Select the eFiling 

link to log on and submit the 

intervention or protests. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

may mail similar pleadings to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 

20426. Hand delivered submissions in 

docketed proceedings should be 

delivered to Health and Human 

Services, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

In addition to publishing the full text 

of this document in the Federal 

Register, the Commission provides all 

interested persons an opportunity to 

view and/or print the contents of this 

document via the internet through the 

Commission’s Home Page (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. At this 

time, the Commission has suspended 

access to the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, due to the 

proclamation declaring a National 

Emergency concerning the Novel 

Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19), issued 

by the President on March 13, 2020. For 

assistance, contact the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call 

toll-free, (886) 208–3676 or TYY, (202) 

502–8659. 

The Commission’s Office of Public 

Participation (OPP) supports meaningful 

public engagement and participation in 

Commission proceedings. OPP can help 

members of the public, including 

landowners, environmental justice 

communities, Tribal members and 

others, access publicly available 

information and navigate Commission 

processes. For public inquiries and 

assistance with making filings such as 

interventions, comments, or requests for 

rehearing, the public is encouraged to 

contact OPP at (202) 502–6595 or OPP@

ferc.gov. 

Dated: October 30, 2023. 

Debbie-Anne A. Reese, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–24323 Filed 11–2–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP23–544–000] 

Northern Border Pipeline Company; 

Notice of Scoping Period Requesting 

Comments on Environmental Issues 

for the Proposed Bison XPress Project 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) will prepare an 

environmental document, that will 

discuss the environmental impacts of 

the Bison XPress Project involving 

construction and operation of facilities 

by Northern Border Pipeline Company 

(Northern Border) in in McKenzie, 

Dunn, and Morton Counties, North 

Dakota. The Commission will use this 

environmental document in its 

decision-making process to determine 

whether the project is in the public 

convenience and necessity. 

Applications by Bison Pipeline, LLC 

(Docket No. CP23–543–000) and 

Wyoming Interstate Company, LLC and 

Fort Union Gas Gathering, LLC (Docket 

No. CP23–545–000) are associated 

projects being evaluated under the 

applicable Commission regulations. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies regarding the 

project. As part of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

review process, the Commission takes 

into account concerns the public may 

have about proposals and the 

environmental impacts that could result 

from its action whenever it considers 

the issuance of a Certificate of Public 

Convenience and Necessity. This 

gathering of public input is referred to 

as ‘‘scoping.’’ The main goal of the 

scoping process is to focus the analysis 

in the environmental document on the 

important environmental issues. 

Additional information about the 

Commission’s NEPA process is 

described below in the NEPA Process 

and Environmental Document section of 

this notice. 

By this notice, the Commission 

requests public comments on the scope 

of issues to address in the 

environmental document. 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 

November 29, 2023. Comments may be 

submitted in written form. Further 

details on how to submit comments are 

provided in the Public Participation 

section of this notice. 

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 environmental 

document. Commission staff will 

consider all written comments during 

the preparation of the environmental 

document. 

If you submitted comments on this 

project to the Commission before the 

opening of this docket on September 15, 

2023, you will need to file those 

comments in Docket No. CP23–544–000 

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, the Natural Gas Act conveys 

the right of eminent domain to the 

company. 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. The 

Commission does not subsequently 

grant, exercise, or oversee the exercise 

of that eminent domain authority. The 

courts have exclusive authority to 

handle eminent domain cases; the 

Commission has no jurisdiction over 

these matters. 

Northern Border 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?’’ which addresses typically 

asked questions, including the use of 

eminent domain and how to participate 

in the Commission’s proceedings. This 

fact sheet along with other landowner 

topics of interest are available for 

viewing on the FERC website 

(www.ferc.gov) under the Natural Gas, 

Landowner Topics link. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 212 / Friday, November 3, 2023 / Notices 75573 

Public Participation 

There are three methods you can use 

to submit your comments to the 

Commission. Please carefully follow 

these instructions so that your 

comments are properly recorded. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. 

(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 FERC Online. 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 FERC Online. 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 

Commission. Be sure to reference the 

project docket number (CP23–544–000) 

on your letter. Submissions sent via the 

U.S. Postal Service must be addressed 

to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, 

DC 20426. Submissions sent via any 

other carrier must be addressed to: 

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 

Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 

20852. 

Additionally, 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. Go to https://

www.ferc.gov/ferc-online/overview to 

register for eSubscription. 

The Commission’s Office of Public 

Participation (OPP) supports meaningful 

public engagement and participation in 

Commission proceedings. OPP can help 

members of the public, including 

landowners, environmental justice 

communities, Tribal members and 

others, access publicly available 

information and navigate Commission 

processes. For public inquiries and 

assistance with making filings such as 

interventions, comments, or requests for 

rehearing, the public is encouraged to 

contact OPP at (202) 502–6595 or OPP@

ferc.gov. 

Summary of the Proposed Project 

Northern Border’s proposed Bison 

XPress Project consists of the 

replacement and expansion of 

compression facilities at Northern 

Border’s existing compressor stations 

including Arnegard (No. 4) in McKenzie 

County, North Dakota, Manning (No. 5) 

in Dunn County North Dakota, and Glen 

Ullin (No. 6) in Morton County, North 

Dakota (Appendix 1). Upon completion, 

the Bison XPress Project would (a) 

replace and expand existing compressor 

facilities with new, more modern and 

efficient compression facilities; (b) 

create 300,000 dekatherms per day of 

incremental mainline natural gas 

capacity from receipt points between 

Northern Border’s Culbertson (No. 3) 

Compressor Station and Glen Ullin (No. 

6) Compressor Station (‘‘Bakken Receipt 

Points’’) to its interconnection with 

Bison in Morton County, North Dakota 

(Kurtz Delivery Point); and (c) introduce 

standby horsepower for the first time on 

Northern Border’s system, as opposed to 

the previous single compressor unit 

design at each station. 

Land Requirements for Construction 

All facility modifications and 

additions proposed as part of the Bison 

XPress Project would be entirely on 

property owned by Northern Border, 

within Northern Border easements, or 

on leased space. The Bison XPress 

Project would require the use of a total 

of 102.70 acres of land during 

construction, including 26.86 acres at 

the Arnegard Compressor Station, 33.15 

acres at the Manning Compressor 

Station, and 42.69 acres at the Glen 

Ullin Compressor Station. Permanent 

impacts (a total of 4.11 acres) would 

only occur at the Manning Compressor 

Station and would be associated with 

the expansion of the existing facility 

fence line and grading to level the land 

surface. Construction activities at all 

three of the compressor stations would 

require temporary workspace both 

within and directly adjacent to the 

existing facility fence lines. 

Temporary workspace outside of the 

existing facility fence lines at the 

compressor stations would be used 

primarily for the staging, parking, and 

storage of construction equipment and 

materials. Temporary workspace at all 

three of the compressor stations that 

extends beyond Northern Border’s 

property would be leased from the 

landowner during Project construction. 

Following the completion of 

construction, temporary workspace 

outside of the existing facilities would 

be restored to pre-construction contours 

and allowed to revegetate. 

NEPA Process and the Environmental 

Document 

Any environmental document issued 

by the Commission will discuss impacts 

that could occur as a result of the 

construction and operation of the 

proposed Bison XPress Project under 

the relevant general resource areas: 

• geology and soils; 

• water resources and wetlands; 

• vegetation and wildlife; 

• threatened and endangered species; 

• cultural resources; 

• land use; 

• environmental justice; 

• air quality and noise; and 

• reliability and safety. 

Commission staff have already 

identified several issues that deserve 

attention based on a preliminary review 

of the proposed facilities and the 

environmental information provided by 

Northern Border. This preliminary list 

of issues may change based on your 

comments and our analysis: 

• environmental justice; 

• air quality; and 

• cultural resources. 

Commission staff will also evaluate 

reasonable alternatives to the proposed 

Bison XPress Project or portions of the 

project and make recommendations on 

how to lessen or avoid impacts on the 

various resource areas. Your comments 

will help Commission staff identify and 

focus on the issues that might have an 

effect on the human environment and 

potentially eliminate others from further 

study and discussion in the 

environmental document. 

Following this scoping period, 

Commission staff will determine 

whether to prepare an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) or an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) for the Bison 

XPress Project. The EA or the EIS will 

present Commission staff’s independent 

analysis of the issues. If Commission 

staff prepares an EA, a Notice of 

Schedule for the Preparation of an 

Environmental Assessment will be 

issued. The EA may be issued for an 

allotted public comment period. The 

Commission would consider timely 

comments on the EA before making its 

decision regarding the proposed Bison 

XPress Project. If Commission staff 

prepares an EIS, a Notice of Intent to 

Prepare an EIS/Notice of Schedule will 

be issued, which will open up an 

additional comment period. Staff will 


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75574 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 212 / Friday, November 3, 2023 / Notices 

1For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer 

to the last page of this notice. 2The Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations addressing cooperating agency 

responsibilities are at title 40, Code of Federal 

Regulations, section 1501.8. 

3The 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. 

then prepare a draft EIS which will be 

issued for public comment. Commission 

staff will consider all timely comments 

received during the comment period on 

the draft EIS and revise the document, 

as necessary, before issuing a final EIS. 

Any EA or draft and final EIS will be 

available in electronic format in the 

public record through eLibrary 1 and the 

Commission’s natural gas 

environmental documents web page 

(https://www.ferc.gov/industries-data/ 

natural-gas/environment/ 

environmental-documents). If 

eSubscribed, you will receive instant 

email notification when the 

environmental document is issued. 

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 environmental document.2

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. 

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 

using this notice to initiate consultation 

with the applicable State Historic 

Preservation Office(s), 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.3

The environmental document for the 

project will document findings on the 

impacts on historic properties and 

summarize the status of consultations 

under section 106. 

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 and includes a 

mailing address with their comments. 

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 

Bison XPress Project. 

If you need to make changes to your 

name/address, or if you would like to 

remove your name from the mailing list, 

please complete one of the following 

steps: 

(1) Send an email to 

GasProjectAddressChange@ferc.gov 

stating your request. You must include 

the docket number CP23–544–000 in 

your request. If you are requesting a 

change to your address, please be sure 

to include your name and the correct 

address. If you are requesting to delete 

your address from the mailing list, 

please include your name and address 

as it appeared on this notice. This email 

address is unable to accept comments. 

OR 

(2) 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. Be sure you have selected an 

appropriate date range. For assistance, 

please contact FERC Online Support at 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov 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 https://www.ferc.gov/newsevents/events along with other related 

information. 

Dated: October 30, 2023. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

Appendix 1 


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Appendix 2 


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75576 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 212 / Friday, November 3, 2023 / Notices 

[FR Doc. 2023–24316 Filed 11–2–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–C 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1EN03NO23.030</GPH> EN03NO23.031</GPH>

FROM 

MAILING LIST UPDATE FORM 

Bison XPress Project 

Name -------------------- Agency ___________________ _ 

Address ------------------- City _________ State ___ Zip Code ___ _ 

D Please update the mailing list 

D Please remove my name from the mailing list 

ATTN: OEP - Gas 5, PJ -11.5 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

Docket No. CP23-544-000 

Bison XPress Project 

Staple or Tape Here