Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 24 / Wednesday, February 5, 1997 / Notices 5391

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 the general

headings:

• Geology and soils

• Water resources, fisheries, and

wetlands

• Vegetation and wildlife

• Endangered and threatened species

• Public safety

• Land use

• Cultural resources

• Air quality and noise

• Hazardous waste

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

recommend that the Commission

approve or not approve the project.

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

Great Lakes. This preliminary list of

issues may be changed based on your

comments and our analysis.

• Effect on three federally listed

endangered or threatened species, Bald

eagle, Piping plower, and Timber wolf,

and state special concern species.

• Eleven perennial waterbodies

would be crossed and three of them are

coldwater fisheries (two are trout

stocking fisheries).

• Four waterbodies would be crossed

that are over 100 feet wide (South

Branch Two Rivers, Mississippi River,

Schoolcraft River, and Nemadji River).

• Effect on Mississippi Headwaters

State Forest land.

• Effect on residences that are

potentially within 50 feet of the

proposed construction work area.

• Several prehistoric and historic

archaeological sites may be affected by

the project (only 30 percent of the

cultural resources surveys have been

completed to date).

Public Participation

• You can make a different 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:

• Address your letter to: Lois Cashell,

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 888 First St., N.E.,

Washington, DC 20426.

• Reference Docket No. CP96–647–

000.

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, DC on

or before March 3, 1997.

If you wish to receive a copy of the

EA, please write to the Secretary of the

Commission at the address on page 4 of

this notice.

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 now 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.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–2773 Filed 2–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

[Docket Nos. CP96–16–000 and CP96–16–

001]

Transcontinental Gas Pipeline

Corporation; Notice of Meeting

January 30, 1997.

On February 6, 1997, Office of

Pipeline Regulation Staff will meet with

representatives of Transcontinental Gas

Pipe Line Corporation (Transco) to

discuss pre-filing matters for a

compliance filing on compressor station

architectural design required by

Commission Order issued December 2,

1996 in Docket No. CP96–16–000 and

001. Transco requested this pre-filing

meeting by letter filed January 29, 1997

in the subject docket.

The meeting will be at 10:00 AM at

the Commission’s headquarters, 888

First Street NE, Washington, DC.

Kevin P. Madden,

Director, Office of Pipeline Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–2772 Filed 2–4–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

Southwestern Power Administration

Transmission Rate Design

Development

AGENCY: Southwestern Power

Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice canceling a planned

technical conference.

SUMMARY: The Administrator,

Southwestern Power Administration

(Southwestern) will not conduct the

Technical Conference that was

anticipated to be convened as noted in

the Federal Register (61 FR 53732) on

October 15, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Forrest E. Reeves, Assistant

Administrator, Office of Corporate

Operations, Southwestern Power

Administration, U.S. Department of