54452 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 202 / Monday, October 20, 1997 / Notices

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

• water resources, fisheries, and

wetlands

• vegetation and wildlife

• endangered and threatened species

• land use

• cultural resources

• air quality and noise

• 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

NGT.

This preliminary list of issues may be

changed based on your comments and

our analysis.

• The proposed replacement pipeline

would cross 68 waterbodies, 13 of

which are greater than 100 feet wide.

• The project would disturb about 17

acres of wetland during construction,

including 8 acres of forested wetland.

• Eleven residences would be within

50 feet of the edge of the construction

right-of-way.

• The pipeline would cross Bayou

Dorcheat, a Louisiana Natural and

Scenic Waterway, using a directional

drilling technique.

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

carefully follow these instructions to

ensure that your comments are received

in time and properly recorded:

• Send two copies of your letter to:

Lois Cashell, Secretary, Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

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

20426;

• Label one copy of the comments for

the attention of the Environmental

Review and Compliance Branch, PR–

11.1;

• Reference Docket No. CP97–724–

000; and

• Mail your comments so that they

will be received in Washington, D.C. on

or before November 17, 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 now seeking to file

late interventions must show good

cause, as required by Section

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.

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. 97–27661 Filed 10–17–97; 8:45 am]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

Notice of Intent To File An Application

October 14, 1997.

Take notice that the following

hydroelectric application has been filed

with the Commission and is available

for public inspection:

a. Type of filing: Notice of Intent to

File An Application for a New License.

b. Project No.: 309.

c. Date filed: October 3, 1997.

d. Submitted By: Pennsylvania

Electric Company, current licensee.

e. Name of Project: Piney

Hydroelectric Project.

f. Location: On the Clarion River, in

the Clarion County, Pennsylvania.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Section 15 of the

Federal Power Act, 18 CFR 16.6 of the

Commission’s regulations.

h. Effective date of current license:

June 1, 1979.

i. Expiration date of current license:

October 12, 2002.

j. The project consists of: (1) A 125-

foot-high, 700-toot-long concrete gravity

arch dam; (2) a 653-acre reservoir; (3) a

powerhouse containing three generating

units with a total installed capacity of

28,800 kW; (4) a 115-kV and 34.5-kV

transmission and distribution facility;

and (5) appurtenant facilities.

k. Pursuant to 18 CFR 16.7,

information on the project is available

at: Pennsylvania Electric Company,

1001 Broad Street, Johnstown, PA

15907, (814) 533–8111.

l. FERC contact: Tom Dean (202) 219–

2778.

m. Pursuant to 18 CFR 16.9 each

application for a new license and any

competing license applications must be

filed with the Commission at least 24

months prior to the expiration of the

existing license. All applications for

license for this project must be filed by

October 12, 2000.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–27663 Filed 10–17–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M