[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 72 (Monday, April 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18976-18978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7146]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP07-88-000]


Egan Hub Storage, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Egan Fourth Cavern Project 
and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

April 9, 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 Egan Fourth Cavern Project, 
involving construction and operation of facilities by Egan Hub Gas 
Storage, LLC (Egan Hub) in Acadia and Evangeline Parishes, Louisiana. 
The EA will be used by the Commission in its decision-making process to 
determine whether or not to authorize the project.
    This notice announces the opening of the scoping period that will 
be used to gather environmental input from the public and interested 
agencies on the project. Your input will help the Commission staff 
determine which issues need to be evaluated in the EA. Please note that 
the scoping period will close on May 9, 2007.
    An effort is being made to send this notice to all individuals, 
organizations, Native American Tribes, and government entities 
interested in and/or potentially affected by the proposed project. This 
includes all landowners who are potential right-of-way grantors, whose 
property may be used temporarily for project purposes, or who own homes 
within distances defined in the Commission's regulations of certain 
aboveground facilities. We\1\ encourage government representatives to 
notify their constituents of this planned

[[Page 18977]]

project and encourage them to comment on their areas of concern.
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    \1\ ``We'', ``us'', and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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    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?'' 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

    Egan Hub proposes to expand its existing storage facility in Acadia 
and Evangeline Parishes, Louisiana. The project would involve 
constructing a new salt dome storage cavern and a 16.5-mile-long, 24-
inch-diameter looping pipeline, along with other appurtenant 
facilities, to connect the Egan Gas Storage Facility with an existing 
Texas Gas Transmission Corporation pipeline. The proposed storage 
cavern would have a capacity of 10.5 Bcf (8.0 Bcf working gas), and 
increase Egan Hub's total storage capacity to 42 Bcf (32 Bcf working 
gas).\2\
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    \2\ Egan Hub's application in Docket No. CP07-88-000 was filed 
with the Commission under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act.
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    The general location of Egan Hub's proposed facilities is shown in 
appendix 1.\3\
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    \3\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other 
than appendix 1 (map), 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.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the proposed Egan Fourth Cavern Project would 
affect a total of about 248.3 acres of land. Following construction, 
about 134.2 acres of land would be allowed to revert to its previous 
conditions. Disturbance associated with aboveground facilities would 
comprise about 4.7 acres of permanently affected land.
    For the associated 24-inch-diameter pipeline, an 85-foot-wide 
construction right-of-way (ROW) is proposed in upland areas and a 75-
foot-wide construction ROW is proposed in upland forested and wetland 
areas. Egan Hub would maintain a 50-foot-wide permanent ROW for 
operation and maintenance of the proposed facilities.

The EA Process

    We are preparing the EA to comply with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) which 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, we are requesting public comments on the scope of the issues to 
address in the EA. All comments received will be considered during the 
preparation of the EA.
    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 and libraries in the project area; 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.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commenter, your 
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission. 
Your comments should focus on the potential environmental effects of 
the proposal, reasonable alternatives to the proposal (including 
alternative locations and routes), 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:
    <bullet> Send an original and two copies of your letter to: 
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
    <bullet> Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 1;
    <bullet> Reference Docket No. CP07-88-000;
    <bullet> Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before May 9, 2007.
    Please note that the Commission strongly encourages electronic 
filing of comments. See 18 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Internet 
Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the ``eFiling'' link and the link 
to the User's Guide. Prepare your submission in the same manner as you 
would if filing on paper and save it to a file on your hard drive. 
Before you can file comments you will need to create an account by 
clicking on ``Login to File'' and then ``New User Account.'' You will 
be asked to select the type of filing you are making. This filing is 
considered a ``Comment on Filing.''

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the proceeding known as an 
``intervenor''. Intervenors play a more formal role in the process. 
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of 
case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors. 
Likewise, each intervenor must send one electronic copy (using the 
Commission's e-Filing system) or 14 paper copies of its filings to the 
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all 
other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. If 
you want 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). Only intervenors have the right to seek 
rehearing of the Commission's decision.
    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.

Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs at 1-866-208 FERC (3372) or on 
the FERC Internet Web site (http://

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www.ferc.gov). Using the ``eLibrary'' link, select ``General Search'' 
from the eLibrary menu, enter the selected date range and ``Docket 
Number'' (i.e., CP07-88-000), and follow the instructions. For 
assistance with access to eLibrary, the helpline can be reached at 1-
866-208-3676, TTY (202) 502-8659, or at FERCOnlineSupport@ ferc.gov. 
The eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web site also provides access to 
the texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders, 
notices, and rule makings.
    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.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-7146 Filed 4-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P