Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 150 / Tuesday, August 5, 1997 / Notices 42117

1Michigan Gas Storage Company’s application

was filed with the Commission under Section 7 of

the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the

Commission’s regulations.

2The appendices referenced in this notice are not

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies are

available from the Commission’s Public Reference

and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street,

N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, or call (202) 208–

1371. Copies of the appendices were sent to all

those receiving this notice in the mail.

filed within the time required herein, if

the Commission on its own review of

the matter finds that a grant of the

certificate is required by the public

convenience and necessity. If motion for

leave to intervene is timely filed or if

the Commission and its own motion

believes that a formal hearing is

required, further notice of such hearing

will be duly given.

Under the procedure herein provided

for, unless otherwise advised, it will be

unnecessary for WPSC to appear or be

represented at the hearing.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–20528 Filed 8–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP97–563–000]

Michigan Gas Storage Company;

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the

Proposed Cranberry Lake Lateral 63

East Project and Request for

Comments on Environmental Issues

July 30, 1997.

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 construction and operation of the

facilities proposed in the Cranberry

Lake Lateral 63 East Project.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.

Summary of the Proposed Project

Michigan Gas Storage Company

(MGSCo) proposes to replace and

upgrade 1.3 miles of its Cranberry Lake

Lateral 63 East. To accomplish this

activity MGSCo proposes to: (1) Remove

0.6 mile of 6-inch-diameter piping and

replace it in the same trench with 8-

inch-diameter piping; (2) abandon in

place 0.1 mile of 4-inch-diameter

piping; (3) install a 2-inch-diameter pipe

within the abandoned 4-inch-diameter

pipe; (4) upgrade the existing 0.6 mile

of 8-inch-diameter pipeline to make it

piggable by removing stab-in branch

connections at well laterals as well as

any other obstructions from the pipe

interior; and (5) install a pig launcher

and pig receiver at either end of the

reconfigured 8-inch-diameter piping

segment. The resulting lateral would

consist of about 1.2 miles of 8-inchdiameter and 0.1 mile of 2-inchdiameter piping.

All of the facilities are located in

Clare County, Michigan. The proposed

project would allow for more efficient

and safe operation of MGSCo’s

Cranberry Lake Storage Field.

The proposed facilities would cost

about $257,400.

The general location of the project

facilities is shown in appendix 1.2 If you

are interested in obtaining procedural

information, please write to the

Secretary of the Commission.

Land Requirements for Construction

Replacement and upgrading of the

Cranberry Lake Lateral 63 East,

including temporary work spaces,

would require about 3.5 acres. Of the 3.5

acres, about 1.7 acres exist as a twotrack sand road which has no

vegetation. Of the remaining 1.8 acres,

about 1.7 acres of land would require

tree trimming and vegetation removal

and about 0.1 acre of land would require

tree removal.

MGSCo would utilize its abandoned

Plant 1 Compressor Station for receiving

and distributing materials during

construction. The total acreage for the

lay-down area is about 3 acres. This area

has been previously devoted to

industrial used and no further

disturbance is required

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. We

call this ‘‘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 requests public

comments on the scope of the issues it

will 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.

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

• Land use

• Water resources, fisheries, and

wetlands

• Cultural resources

• Vegetation and wildlife

• Endangered and threatened species

• 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.

Currently Identified Environmental

Issues

We have already identified several

issues that we think deserve attention

based on a preliminary review of the

proposed facilities and the

environmental information provided by

MGSCo. This preliminary list of issues

may be changed based on your

comments and our analysis.

• Cranberry Lake Lateral 63 East is

located near the Kirkland’s Warbler

National Wildlife Refuge.

• Cranberry Lake Lateral 63 East is

located within the Gladwin Forest

Area of the Au Sable State Forest.

Public Participation

You can make a difference by sending

a letter addressing your specific

comments or concerns about the project.

You should focus on the potential

environmental effects of the proposal,

alternatives to the proposal (including

alternative routes), and measures to

avoid or lessen environmental impact.

The more specific your comments, the

more useful they will be. Please follow

the instructions below to ensure that

your comments are received and

properly recorded:
42118 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 150 / Tuesday, August 5, 1997 / Notices

1Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation’s

application was filed with the Commission under

Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of

the Commission’s regulations.

2The appendices referenced in this notice are not

being printed in the Federal Register. Copies are

available from the Commission’s Public Reference

and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street,

N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, or call (202) 208–

1371. Copies of the appendices were sent to all

those receiving this notice in the mail.

3The Commission intends to adopt the

environmental documents created by the U.S.

Department of the Interior, Minerals Management

Service (MMS) and the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers (COE) for the offshore facilities.

• Send two copies of your letter to: Lois

Cashell, Secretary, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First St.,

N.E., Room 1A, Washington, D.C.,

20426;

• Label one of the comments for the

attention of the Environmental

Review and Compliance Branch, PR–

11.2;

• Reference Docket No. CP97–563–000;

and

• Mail your comments so that they will

be received in Washington, D.C. on or

before August 30, 1997.

Becoming an Intervenor

In addition to involvement in the EA

scoping process, you may want to

become an official party to the

proceeding or become an ‘‘intervenor’’.

Among other things, intervenors have

the right to receive copies of caserelated Commission documents and

filings by other intervenors. Likewise,

each intervenor must provide copies of

its filings to all other parties. 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) (see appendix 2).

The date for filing timely motions to

intervene in this proceeding has passed.

Therefore, parties not seeking to file late

interventions must show good cause, as

required by § 385.214(b)(3), why this

time limitation should be waived.

Environmental issues have been viewed

as good cause for late intervention.

You do not need intervenor status to

have your scoping comments

considered.

Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–20527 Filed 8–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP97–92–001]

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line

Corporation; Notice of Intent To

Prepare an Environmental Assessment

for the Proposed Mobile Bay Project

and Request for Comments on

Environmental Issues

July 30, 1997.

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 construction and operation of the

facilities, about 75.66 miles of 24- and

30-inch-diameter pipeline, 30,000

horsepower (hp) of compression, an

offshore junction platform and

connecting facilities at another

(nonjurisdictional) platform, proposed

in the Mobile Bay Project.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.

Summary of the Proposed Project

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line

Corporation (Transco) wants to expand

the capacity of its facilities in the Gulf

of Mexico and Alabama to transport an

additional 350 million cubic feet of

natural gas per day (Mmcfd) to the

interstate market from sources offshore

in the Gulf of Mexico. Transco seeks

authority to construct and operate:

• 15,000 horsepower (hp) of

compression at new Compressor

Station 83 in Mobile County,

Alabama;

• 15,000 hp of additional compression

at Compressor Station 82 in Mobile

County, Alabama;

• 19.08 miles of 30-inch-diameter

pipeline from existing Compressor

Station 82 in Mobile County, Alabama

to a new offshore junction platform in

Mobile Block 822 (this segment

involves approximately 4.00 miles of

onshore pipeline);

• a new offshore junction platform in

Mobile Block 822, including a 24-

inch-sphere launcher and appurtenant

facilities;

• 56.58 miles of 24-inch-diameter

pipeline from the new offshore

junction platform in Mobile Block 822

to a new platform (owned by SOCO

Offshore, Inc. (SOCO)) in Main Pass

Viosca Knoll Block 261; and

• a 24-inch-sphere launcher,

measurement equipment, riser pipe

and appurtenant facilities on SOCO’s

new platform in Main Pass Viosca

Knoll Block 261.

The location of the project facilities is

shown in appendix 1.2 If you are

interested in obtaining procedural

information, please write to the

Secretary of the Commission.

Land Requirements for Construction

Construction of the proposed onshore

facilities would require about 56.4 acres

of land. Following construction, about

15.7 acres would be maintained as new

aboveground facility sites. The

remaining 40.7 acres of land would be

restored; 17.4 acres would be allowed to

revert to its former use and 23.3 acres

would be permanent pipeline right-ofway.

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. We

call this ‘‘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 requests public

comments on the scope of the issues it

will 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.

The EA will discuss impacts that

could occur as a result of the

construction and operation of the

onshore portion of the proposed project

under these general headings: 3

• Geology and soils

• Land use

• Water resources, fisheries, and

wetlands

• Cultural resources

• Vegetation and wildlife

• Air quality and noise

• Endangered and threatened species

• 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