49006 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 181 / Thursday, September 18, 1997 / Notices

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

28. Maine Electric Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–4315–000]

Take notice that on August 22, 1997,

Maine Electric Power Company

(MEPCO), tendered for filing a service

agreement for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

transmission service entered into with

Pro Mark Energy. Service will be

provided pursuant to MEPCO’s Open

Access Transmission Tariff, designated

rate schedule MEPCO—FERC Electric

Tariff, Original Volume No. 1, as

supplemented.

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

29. Maine Electric Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–4316–000]

Take notice that on August 22, 1997,

Maine Electric Power Company

(MEPCO), tendered for filing a service

agreement for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

transmission service entered into with

Tractebel Energy Marketing, Inc. Service

will be provided pursuant to MEPCO’s

Open Access Transmission Tariff,

designated rate schedule MEPCO—

FERC Electric Tariff, Original Volume

No. 1, as supplemented.

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

30. Central Maine Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–4317–000]

Take notice that on August 22, 1997,

Central Maine Power Company (CMP),

tendered for filing a service agreement

for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

Transmission service entered into with

NP Energy Inc. Service will be provided

pursuant to CMP’s Open Access

Transmission Tariff, designated rate

schedule CMP—FERC Electric Tariff,

Original Volume No. 3, as

supplemented.

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

31. Maine Electric Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–4318–000]

Take notice that on August 22, 1997,

Maine Electric Power Company

(MEPCO), tendered for filing a service

agreement for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

transmission service entered into with

PECO Energy Company. Service will be

provided pursuant to MEPCO’s Open

Access Transmission Tariff, designated

rate schedule MEPCO—FERC Electric

Tariff, Original Volume No. 1, as

supplemented.

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

32. Maine Electric Power Company

[Docket No. ER97–4319–000]

Take notice that on August 22, 1997,

Maine Electric Power Company

(MEPCO), tendered for filing a service

agreement for Non-Firm Point-to-Point

transmission service entered into with

NP Energy Inc. Service will be provided

pursuant to MEPCO’s Open Access

Transmission Tariff, designated rate

schedule MEPCO—FERC Electric Tariff,

Original Volume No. 1, as

supplemented.

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

33. San Diego Gas & Electric Company

[Docket No. ER97–4320–000]

Take notice that on August 22, 1997,

San Diego Gas & Electric Company

(SDG&E), tendered for filing a Notice of

Cancellation for the following:

1. Rate Schedule FERC No. 96—

Coordination Agreement between San

Diego Gas & Electric Company and

Eclipse Energy, Inc., executed June 20,

1994, to be terminated October 31, 1997;

2. Rate Schedule FERC No. 115—

Coordination Agreement between San

Diego Gas & Electric Company and

Utility-2000 Energy Corp. Executed May

5, 1995, to be terminated October 31,

1997; and

3. Service Agreement for Firm Pointto-Point Transmission Service between

San Diego Gas & Electric Company and

San Diego Gas & Electric Company—

Energy Trading, dated June 30, 1997, to

be terminated August 1, 1997.

Comment date: September 25, 1997,

in accordance with Standard Paragraph

E at the end of this notice.

34. Vastar Resources, Inc.; Vastar Gas

Marketing, Inc.; Vastar Power

Marketing, Inc.; Vastar Energy, Inc.;

SEI Holdings, Inc.; Southern Energy

North America, Inc.; Southern Energy

Trading and Marketing, SC Ashwood

Holdings, Inc.; SC Energy Ventures,

Inc.; Southern Company Energy

Marketing L.P.; Southern Company

Energy Marketing G.P., L.L.C.

[Docket No. EC97–49–000]

Take notice that on September 9,

1997, the above-captioned parties

(Applicants) filed an amendment to

their application under Section 203 of

the Federal Power Act.

Comment date: October 7, 1997, in

accordance with Standard Paragraph E

at the end of this notice.

Standard Paragraph:

E. Any person desiring to be heard or

to protest said filing should file a

motion to intervene or protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426, in accordance with Rules 211

and 214 of the Commission’s Rules of

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.211

and 18 CFR 385.214). All such motions

or protests should be filed on or before

the comment date. Protests will be

considered by the Commission in

determining the appropriate action to be

taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceeding.

Any person wishing to become a party

must file a motion to intervene. Copies

of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–24818 Filed 9–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP96–249–000 et al; CP97–238–

000]

Portland Natural Gas Transmission

System; Portland Natural Gas

Transmission System and: Maritimes &

Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C.: Notice of

Availability of the Final Environmental

Impact Statement for the Proposed

PNGTS Project and PNGTS/Maritimes

Phase II Joint Facilities Project

September 12, 1997.

The staff of the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) has prepared a Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)

on the natural gas pipeline facilities

proposed by Portland Natural Gas

Transmission System (PNGTS), and

jointly by PNGTS and Maritimes &

Northeast Pipeline, L.L.C. (Maritimes),

in the above referenced dockets. The

specific facilities addressed in this FEIS

are referred to as the PNGTS Project and

the PNGTS/Maritimes Phase II Joint

Facilities Project (PNGTS and Phase II

Joint Facilities).

The FEIS was prepared to satisfy the

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act. The staff

concludes that approval of the proposed

project would have limited adverse

environmental impact if constructed as

planned with the proposed and

recommended mitigation.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 181 / Thursday, September 18, 1997 / Notices 49007

The FEIS addresses the potential

environmental effects of the

construction and operation on the

following facilities:

• The PNGTS Project, which

includes:

—About 141.6 miles of 24-inchdiameter mainline between Pittsburg,

New Hampshire and Westbrook,

Maine;

—About 0.7 mile of 8-inch-diameter

pipeline (Groveton Lateral);

—About 26.9 miles of 12-inch-diameter

pipeline (Rumford Lateral);

—About 16.6 miles of 12-inch-diameter

pipeline (Jay Lateral); and

—Three new meter stations and other

associated aboveground facilities.

• The Phase II Joint Facilities, which

include:

—About 35.2 miles of 30-inch-diameter

mainline between Wells, Maine and

Westbrook, Maine;

—About 3.8 miles of 12-inch-diameter

pipeline (Westbrook Lateral); and

—Three new meter stations and other

associated aboveground facilities.

The FEIS will be used in the

regulatory decision-making process at

the Commission. While the period for

filing interventions in this case has

expired, motions to intervene out-oftime can be filed with the FERC in

accordance with the Commission’s

Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR

385.214(d). Furthermore, anyone

desiring to file a protest with the FERC

should do so in accordance with 18 CFR

385.211.

The FEIS has been placed in the

public files of the FERC and is available

for public inspection at: Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, Public

Reference and Files Maintenance

Branch, Room 2A, 888 First Street, N.E.,

Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208–1371.

A limited number of copies are

available at this location.

Copies of the FEIS have been mailed

to Federal, state, and local agencies,

public interest groups, interested

individuals, newspapers, and parties to

this proceeding.

Additional information about the

proposed project is available from Paul

McKee in the Commission’s Office of

External Affairs, at (202) 208–1088.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–24819 Filed 9–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5895–1]

Agency Information Collection

Activities

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that

the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to

request approval from the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) to

conduct a screener survey of facilities

potentially subject to Section 316(b) of

the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C 1326(b).

Before the Agency submits the proposed

Information Collection Request (ICR) to

OMB for review and approval, EPA is

soliciting comments from the public on

the proposed ‘‘Industry Screener

Questionnaire for Cooling Water Intake

Structures.’’

DATES: Comments and requests for

information must be received by EPA no

later than November 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Address comments on the

draft screener questionnaire to Ms.

Deborah G. Nagle, U.S. EPA,

Engineering and Analysis Division, Mail

Code (4303), Office of Science and

Technology, 401 M Street S.W.,

Washington, DC 20460. EPA will also

accept comments electronically. The Email address for comments is

‘‘nagle.deborah@epamail.epa.gov.’’

Electronic comments must include the

sender’s name, address, and telephone

number. A copy of the proposed

screener questionnaire can be obtained

from the Internet at ‘‘http://

www.epa.gov/owm/wm030000.htm.’’

You must use ADOBE ACROBAT

READER to read the document; the

document is a PDF file. If you do not

have Internet access, you may obtain a

copy of the screener questionnaire by

faxing a request to Deborah Nagle at

(202)260–7185. The draft screener that

is being made available includes all

pertinent instructions, information

request questions, and definitions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Affected Entities: Entities potentially

affected by this action are those which

are subject to section 316(b) of the Clean

Water Act, which utilize a cooling water

intake structure. These entities include,

among others, facilities in the Nonutility Steam Electric Generation, Paper

and Allied Products, Chemical and

Allied Products, Petroleum and Coal

Products, Primary Metal Industry

sectors. EPA also plans to collect

information related to the regulatory

burden that would be created by

implementation of a final Section 316(b)

rule on state governmental authorities

responsible for issuing National

Pollutant Discharge Elimination systems

permits. Impacts on these state

government entities could include

either increased costs as a result of

additional efforts needed to implement

a final section 316(b) rule or cost

savings realized from using a final

section 316(b) rule instead of facilityspecific best professional judgment to

establish permit requirements.

Title: Industry Screener

Questionnaire: Cooling Water Intake

Structures.

Abstract: The U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) is currently

developing regulations under Section

316(b) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C.

1326(b). Section 316(b) provides that

any standard established pursuant to

Sections 301 or 306 of the Clean Water

Act (CWA) and applicable to a point

source shall require that the location,

design, construction, and capacity of

cooling water intake structures shall

reflect the best technology available

(BTA) for minimizing adverse

environmental impact. Such impacts

occur as a result of impingement (where

fish and other aquatic life are trapped in

cooling water intake screens) and

entrainment (where aquatic organisms,

eggs and larvae are sucked into the

cooling system, through the heat

exchanger, and then pumped back out).

As the result of a lawsuit by a coalition

of environmental groups headed by the

Hudson Riverkeeper (Cronin, et al. v.

Reilly, 93 Civ. 0314 (AGS)), the United

States District Court, Southern District

of New York entered a Consent Decree

on October 10, 1995. The Consent

Decree established a seven year

schedule for EPA to take final action

with respect to regulations addressing

impacts from cooling water intake

structures.

To ensure that the regulation is based

upon accurate information, EPA is

conducting a variety of data-gathering

activities. The screener questionnaire

represents one mechanism through

which EPA is gathering background data

on cooling water design and use. EPA is

using a screener survey for two reasons.

First, EPA will use data collected by the

survey in determining the number and

type of facilities that the Section 316(b)

regulations will cover. Second, EPA will

use the information collected to design

a sampling plan for a detailed technical

questionnaire that will be administered

after the screener. EPA will send the