Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 63 / Tuesday, April 3, 2007 / Notices 15877 

1Tres Palacios’ application was filed with the 

Commission under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act. 

2The appendices referenced in this notice are not 

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all 

appendices, other than Appendix 1 (maps), are 

available on the Commission’s Web site at the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link 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. Copies of the appendices were sent to 

all those receiving this notice in the mail. 

3 ‘‘We’’, ‘‘us’’, and ‘‘our’’ refer to the 

environmental staff of the Office of Energy Projects 

(OEP). 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP07–90–000] 

Tres Palacios Gas Storage LLC; Notice 

of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 

Assessment for the Proposed Tres 

Palacios Gas Storage Project and 

Request for Comments on 

Environmental Issues 

March 28, 2007. 

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 Tres Palacios Gas Storage Project 

involving construction and operation of 

a new salt dome cavern gas storage 

project and pipelines by Tres Palacios 

Gas Storage LLC (Tres Palacios) in 

Matagorda and Wharton Counties, 

Texas.1 This EA will be used by the 

Commission in its decision-making 

process to determine whether the 

project is in the public convenience and 

necessity. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, you may be contacted by a 

pipeline company representative about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

proposed facilities. The pipeline 

company would seek to negotiate a 

mutually acceptable agreement. 

However, if the project is approved by 

the Commission, 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 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?’’ was attached to the project 

notice (Tres Palacios) provided to 

landowners. 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 

available for viewing on the FERC 

Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov). 

Summary of the Proposed Project 

Tres Palacios is proposing to provide 

a total of about 36.04 billion cubic feet 

(Bcf) of storage capacity, supported by 

about 17.95 Bcf of cushion gas capacity, 

and be capable of injecting gas at 

maximum rate of 1.0 Bcf per day and 

withdrawing and delivering gas at a 

maximum rate of 2.5 Bcf per day. Tres 

Palacios seeks authority to undertake 

the following construction-related 

activities in Texas: 

• Convert three existing solutionmined caverns in Matagorda County 

that were previously used for brine 

production; 

• Drill a second well into each of the 

three solution-mined caverns in 

Matagorda County to support gas 

injections and withdrawals; 

• Construct a gas handling facility in 

Matagorda County consisting of ten 

4,800-horsepower natural gas-engine 

driven compressors; 

• Construct a pipeline header system 

consisting of: North Pipeline Corridor—

a 30.3-mile-long segment of dual 24- 

inch-diameter pipeline in Matagorda 

and Wharton Counties and a second 0.7 

mile-long segment of single 24-inchdiameter pipeline in Wharton County; 

and South Pipeline Corridor—a 6.4- 

mile-long segment of dual 24-inchdiameter pipeline and a second 4.4- 

mile-long segment of single 24-inchdiameter pipeline in Matagorda County; 

• Construct eight meter and regulator 

stations and ten interconnect facilities 

in Matagorda and Wharton Counties; 

and 

• Construct eight main line block 

valves in Matagorda and Wharton 

Counties. 

Tres Palacios would connect its 

pipeline header system with Valero 

Natural Gas Pipe Line Company, 

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, 

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line 

Corporation, Natural Gas Pipeline 

Company of America, Gulf South 

Pipeline Company, LP, Crosstex Gulf 

Coast Transmission Company, LLC, 

Kinder Morgan Tejas Pipeline, L.P., 

Florida Gas Transmission Company, 

LLC, Channel Pipeline Company, and 

Texas Eastern Transmission, L.P. 

The location of the project facilities is 

shown in Appendix 1.2

Land Requirements for Construction 

Construction of the proposed facilities 

would require about 498.2 acres of land. 

Following construction, about 174.7 

acres would be maintained as new 

aboveground facility sites and 

permanent rights-of-way. The remaining 

323.5 acres of land would be restored 

and allowed to revert to its former use. 

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 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 of Intent, the Commission staff 

requests public comments on the scope 

of the issues to address in the EA. All 

comments received are considered 

during the preparation of the EA. State 

and local government representatives 

are encouraged to notify their 

constituents of this proposed action and 

encourage them to comment on their 

areas of concern. 

In the EA we 3 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. 

• Land use. 

• Water resources, fisheries, and 

wetlands. 

• Cultural resources. 

• Vegetation and wildlife. 

• Air quality and noise. 

• Endangered and threatened species. 

• Hazardous waste. 

• Public safety. 

We will also evaluate possible 

alternatives to the proposed project or 

portions of the project, and make 

recommendations on how to lessen or 

avoid impacts on the various resource 

areas. 

Our independent analysis of the 

issues will be in the EA. Depending on 

the comments received during the 

scoping process, the EA may be 

published and mailed to federal, state, 

and local agencies, public interest 

groups, interested individuals, affected 

landowners, newspapers, libraries, and 

the Commission’s official service list for 

this proceeding. A comment period will 

be allotted for review if the EA is 

published. 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 


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15878 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 63 / Tuesday, April 3, 2007 / Notices 

instructions in the public participation 

section below. 

Public Participation 

You can make a difference by 

providing us with your specific 

comments or concerns about the project. 

By becoming a commentor, your 

concerns will be addressed in the EA 

and considered by the Commission. You 

should focus on the potential 

environmental effects of the proposal, 

alternatives to the proposal, and 

measures to avoid or lessen 

environmental impact. The more 

specific your comments, the more useful 

they will be. Please carefully follow 

these instructions to ensure that your 

comments are received in time and 

properly recorded: 

• Send an original and two copies of 

your letter to: Philis Posey, Acting 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First St., NE., Room 

1A, Washington, DC 20426. 

• Label one copy of the comments for 

the attention of Gas Branch 3. 

• Reference Docket No. CP07–90–

000. 

• Mail your comments so that they 

will be received in Washington, DC on 

or before April 30, 2007. 

The Commission strongly encourages 

electronic filing of any comments or 

interventions or protests to this 

proceeding. See 18 CFR 

385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions 

on the Commission’s Web site at 

http://www.ferc.gov under the ‘‘eFiling’’ link and the link to the User’s 

Guide. Before you can file comments 

you will need to create a free account 

which can be created on-line. 

We may mail the EA for comment. If 

you are interested in receiving it, please 

return the Information Request 

(Appendix 3). If you do not return the 

Information Request, you will be taken 

off the mailing list. 

Becoming an Intervenor 

In addition to involvement in the EA 

scoping process, you may want to 

become an official party to the 

proceeding, or ‘‘intervenor’’. To become 

an intervenor you must file a motion to 

intervene according to Rule 214 of the 

Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.214). Intervenors 

have the right to seek rehearing of the 

Commission’s decision. Motions to 

Intervene should be electronically 

submitted using the Commission’s 

eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons without Internet access should 

send an original and 14 copies of their 

motion to the Secretary of the 

Commission at the address indicated 

previously. Persons filing Motions to 

Intervene on or before the comment 

deadline indicated above must send a 

copy of the motion to the Applicant. All 

filings, including late interventions, 

submitted after the comment deadline 

must be served on the Applicant and all 

other intervenors identified on the 

Commission’s service list for this 

proceeding. Persons on the service list 

with e-mail addresses may be served 

electronically; others must be served a 

hard copy of the filing. 

Affected landowners and parties with 

environmental concerns may be granted 

intervenor status upon showing good 

cause by stating that they have a clear 

and direct interest in this proceeding 

which would not be adequately 

represented by any other parties. You do 

not need intervenor status to have your 

environmental comments considered. 

Environmental Mailing List 

An effort is being made to send this 

notice to all individuals, organizations, 

and government entities interested in 

and/or potentially affected by the 

proposed project. This includes all 

landowners who are potential right-ofway grantors, whose property may be 

used temporarily for project purposes, 

or who own homes within distances 

defined in the Commission’s regulations 

of certain above-ground facilities. By 

this notice we are also asking 

governmental agencies, especially those 

in Appendix 2, to express their interest 

in becoming cooperating agencies for 

the preparation of the EA. 

Additional Information 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at 1–866–208–FERC or on the FERC 

Internet Web site (http://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. Be sure you have selected 

an appropriate date range. For 

assistance, please contact FERC Online 

Support at FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov 

or toll free at 1–866–208–3676, 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 now 

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 http:// 

www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm. 

Finally, public meetings or site visits 

will be posted on the Commission’s 

calendar located at http://www.ferc.gov/ 

EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along 

with other related information. 

Philis J. Posey, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E7–6101 Filed 4–2–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 12628–001] 

The City of Nashua, IA; Notice of Intent 

To File License Application, Filing of 

Pre-Application Document, and 

Approving Use of the Traditional 

Licensing Process 

March 28, 2007. 

a. Type of Filing: Notice of Intent to 

File License Application and Request to 

Use the Traditional Licensing Process. 

b. Project No.: 12628–001. 

c. Dated Filed: January 18, 2007. 

d. Submitted By: The City of Nashua, 

Iowa. 

e. Name of Project: Cedar Lake Dam 

Hydroelectric Project. 

f. Location: The project would be 

located at the existing Cedar Lake Dam, 

on the Cedar River, in Chickasaw 

County, Iowa. The project would not 

occupy any Federal land. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: 18 CFR 5.3 of the 

Commission’s regulations. 

h. Potential Applicant Contact: Ms. 

Rebecca Neal, The City of Nashua, 402 

Main Street, Nashua, IA 50658; (641) 

435–4156. 

i. FERC Contact: Michael Watts, (202) 

502–6123, or michael.watts@ferc.gov. 

j. The City of Nashua filed its request 

to use the Traditional Licensing Process 

on January 18, 2007. The City of Nashua 

provided public notice of its request on 

January 31, 2007. In a letter dated March 

23, 2007, the Director of the Office of 

Energy Projects approved the City of 

Nashua’s request to use the Traditional 

Licensing Process. 

k. With this notice, we are initiating 

informal consultation with: (a) The U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service under section 

7 of the Endangered Species Act; and (b) 

the Iowa State Historic Preservation 

Officer, as required by section 106, 

National Historical Preservation Act, 

and the implementing regulations of the 

Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation at 36 CFR 800.2. 

l. The City of Nashua filed a PreApplication Document (PAD; including 


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