[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5390-5391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-2773]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. CP96-647-000]


Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership; Notice of 
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed 1998 
Expansion Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues

January 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 1998 Expansion Project.\1\ This EA will 
be used by the Commission in its decision-making process to determine 
whether an environmental impact statement is necessary and whether to 
approve the project.
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    \1\ Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership'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

    Great Lakes Gas Transmission Limited Partnership (Great Lakes) 
requests authority to construct and operate the following:
    1. Three 36-inch-diameter loops totalling about 71.5 miles of 
pipeline:
    a. Loop 1--about 22.0 miles long, extending from St. Vincent 
Compressor Station at milepost (MP) 0.7 to MP 22.7 in Kittson County, 
Minnesota;
    b. Loop 2--about 26.7 miles long, extending from MP 132.5 to MP 
159.2 in Clearwater, Beltrami, and Hubbard Counties, Minnesota; and
    c. Loop 3--about 22.8 miles long, extending from MP 283.5 to MP 
306.3 in Carlton County, Minnesota and Douglas County, Wisconsin;
    2. Two 7,400 horsepower compressor units and appurtenant facilities 
at the St. Vincent Compressor Station and Farwell Compressor Station in 
Kittson County, Minnesota and Clare County, Michigan, respectively;
    3. A replacement aerodynamic assembly at the Thief River Falls 
Compressor Station in Marshall County, Minnesota; and
    4. Minor permanent above ground ancillary facilities;
    a. three crossover assemblies at the new loop ends at MPs 22.7, 
159.2, and 306.3 in Kittson and Hubbard Counties, Minnesota, and 
Douglas County, Wisconsin, respectively;
    b. the expansion of four existing mainline valve sites at MPs 16.3, 
150.0, 283.5, and 299.3 in Kittson, Beltrami, and Carlton Counties, 
Minnesota, and Douglas County, Wisconsin, respectively; and
    c. removal of the existing end-of-loop valve and crossover assembly 
by MP 132.5 in Clearwater County, Minnesota.
    The general location of the project facilities is shown in appendix 
1.\2\ If you are interested in obtaining detailed maps of a specific 
portion of the project, please write to the Secretary of the Commission 
at the address on page 4 of this notice.
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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, 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.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the proposed facilities would require about 867 
acres of land. Following construction, about 222 acres would be 
maintained as new permanent right-of-way. The remaining 645 acres of 
land would be restored and allowed to revert to their former use.

Construction Timing

    Great Lakes proposes to construct loopline facilities in two 
phases: a 1997/1998 winter phase and a 1998 summer phase. Loop 2 would 
be constructed during the 1997/1998 winter phase beginning November 15, 
1997, and would be completed by March 1, 1998. Therefore, wetlands 
would be frozen during the crossings.
    Loops 1 and 3 would be constructed during the 1998 summer phase 
beginning July 1, 1998, with an in-service date November 1, 1998.
    The compressor station additions and modifications would be 
installed during the period of March 1, 1998, and November 1, 1998.

[[Page 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:
    <bullet> Geology and soils
    <bullet> Water resources, fisheries, and wetlands
    <bullet> Vegetation and wildlife
    <bullet> Endangered and threatened species
    <bullet> Public safety
    <bullet> Land use
    <bullet> Cultural resources
    <bullet> Air quality and noise
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> Effect on three federally listed endangered or threatened 
species, Bald eagle, Piping plower, and Timber wolf, and state special 
concern species.
    <bullet> Eleven perennial waterbodies would be crossed and three of 
them are coldwater fisheries (two are trout stocking fisheries).
    <bullet> Four waterbodies would be crossed that are over 100 feet 
wide (South Branch Two Rivers, Mississippi River, Schoolcraft River, 
and Nemadji River).
    <bullet> Effect on Mississippi Headwaters State Forest land.
    <bullet> Effect on residences that are potentially within 50 feet 
of the proposed construction work area.
    <bullet> 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

    <bullet> 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:
    <bullet> Address your letter to: Lois Cashell, Secretary, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E., Washington, DC 
20426.
    <bullet> Reference Docket No. CP96-647-000.
    <bullet> 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 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 
has passed. Therefore, parties now 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 scoping comments 
considered.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-2773 Filed 2-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M