[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 206 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55398-55399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28203]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP97-765-000]


ANR Pipeline Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment for The Proposed Wisconsin Loop Expansion 
Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

October 20, 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 constructing and operating about 
11.4 miles of 30-inch-diameter pipeline loop proposed in the Wisconsin 
Loop Expansion 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.
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    \1\ ANR Pipeline Company's application was filed with the 
Commission under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of 
the Commission's regulations.
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Summary of the Proposed Project

    ANR Pipeline Company (ANR) wants to expand the capacity of its 
facilities in Wisconsin to transport an additional 116 million cubic 
feet per day of natural gas to shippers in the Chicago hub markets. ANR 
seeks authority to:
    <bullet> Construct and operate 11.4 miles of 30-inch-diameter 
pipeline loop on its existing Wisconsin mainline in Waukesha County, 
Wisconsin;
    <bullet> Relocate an existing pig receiver from ANR's existing 
mainline station No. 10 to a parcel of land adjacent to ANR's existing 
mainline station No. 12 in Waukesha County, Wisconsin;
    <bullet> Construct a valve station at milepost 7.70 along the 
proposed 30-inch-diameter pipeline loop; and
    <bullet> Construct a new meter station (Somers Meter Station) at 
milepost 13.14 along ANR's existing Racine lateral in Kenosha County, 
Wisconsin.
    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.
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    \2\ The 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, NE., Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 208-1371. 
Copies of the appendices were sent to all those receiving this 
notice in the mail.

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[[Page 55399]]

Land Requirements for Construction

    ANR proposes to use a construction right-of-way width of 75 feet. 
ANR would construct about 1.2 miles of the loop adjacent to its 
existing 18-inch-diameter mainline and 20-inch-diameter loop, and the 
remaining 10.2 miles of pipeline would deviate from these existing 
facilities. Construction of the proposed pipeline loop facilities would 
require about 123.96 acres of land. Following construction, ANR would 
maintain about 54.02 acres as new aboveground facility sites. The 
remaining 69.94 acres of land would be restored and allowed to revert 
to its former use.
    In addition, constructing the proposed Somers Meter Station would 
permanently impact 0.52 acres of land and temporarily impact 0.26 acres 
of land; relocating the pig receiver would permanently require 0.19 
acres of land and temporarily impact 0.04 acres of land; and 
constructing the proposed valve station would permanently require 0.2 
acres of land.

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:
    <bullet> Geology and soils.
    <bullet> Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands.
    <bullet> Vegetation and wildlife.
    <bullet> Public safety.
    <bullet> Land use.
    <bullet> Cultural resources.
    <bullet> Endangered and threatened species.
    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 two issues that we think deserve 
attention based on a preliminary review of the proposed facilities and 
the environmental information provided by ANR. This preliminary list of 
issues may be changed based on your comments and our analysis.
    <bullet> The proposed pipeline right-of-way would cross about 1.2 
miles of residential areas; a total of six residences are within 50 
feet of the proposed construction work area.
    <bullet> The proposed project would cross about 19,680 linear feet 
of wetlands, and temporarily impact about 34.80 acres of wetlands.

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, 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 two copies of your letter to: Lois Cashell, 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E., 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
    <bullet> Label one copy of the comments for the attention of the 
Environmental Review and Compliance Branch, PR-11.1;
    <bullet> Reference Docket No. CP97-765-000; and
    <bullet> Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before November 18, 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 case-related 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 
is October 20, 1997. Parties seeking to file late interventions must 
show good cause, as required by Sec. 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 comments considered.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-28203 Filed 10-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M