34838 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2018 / Notices 

1The appendices referenced in this notice will 

not appear in the Federal Register. Copies of the 

appendices were sent to all those receiving this 

notice in the mail and are available at www.ferc.gov 

using the link called ‘‘eLibrary’’ or from the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 888 First 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 502– 

8371. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. PF18–5–000] 

Florida Gas Transmission Company, 

LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Assessment for the 

Planned Turnpike-Palmetto Road 

Relocation Project, and Request for 

Comments on Environmental Issues 

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 Turnpike-Palmetto Road Relocation 

Project involving construction and 

operation of facilities by Florida Gas 

Transmission Company, LLC (FGT) in 

Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, 

Florida. The Commission will use this 

EA in its decision-making process to 

determine whether the project is in the 

public convenience and necessity. 

This notice announces the opening of 

the scoping process the Commission 

will use to gather input from the public 

and interested agencies about issues 

regarding the project. The National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

requires the Commission to take into 

account the environmental impacts that 

could result from its action whenever it 

considers the issuance of a Certificate of 

Public Convenience and Necessity. 

NEPA also requires the Commission to 

discover concerns the public may have 

about proposals. This process is referred 

to as ‘‘scoping.’’ The main goal of the 

scoping process is to focus the analysis 

in the EA on the important 

environmental issues. By this notice, the 

Commission requests public comments 

on the scope of the issues to address in 

the EA. To ensure that your comments 

are timely and properly recorded, please 

submit your comments so that the 

Commission receives them in 

Washington, DC on or before 5:00 p.m. 

Eastern Time on August 16, 2018. 

You can make a difference by 

submitting your specific comments or 

concerns about the project. Your 

comments should focus on the potential 

environmental effects, reasonable 

alternatives, and measures to avoid or 

lessen environmental impacts. Your 

input will help the Commission staff 

determine what issues they need to 

evaluate in the EA. Commission staff 

will consider all comments filed during 

the preparation of the EA. 

If you sent comments on this project 

to the Commission before the opening of 

this docket on May 4, 2018, you will 

need to file those comments in Docket 

No. PF18–5–000 to ensure they are 

considered as part of this proceeding. 

This notice is being sent to the 

Commission’s current environmental 

mailing list for this project. State and 

local government representatives should 

notify their constituents of this planned 

project and encourage them to comment 

on their areas of concern. 

If you are a landowner receiving this 

notice, a pipeline company 

representative may contact you about 

the acquisition of an easement to 

construct, operate, and maintain the 

planned facilities. The company would 

seek to negotiate a mutually acceptable 

easement agreement. You are not 

required to enter into an agreement. 

However, if the Commission approves 

the project, that approval conveys with 

it the right of eminent domain. 

Therefore, if you and the company do 

not reach an easement agreement, the 

pipeline company could initiate 

condemnation proceedings in court. In 

such instances, compensation would be 

determined by a judge in accordance 

with state law. 

A fact sheet prepared by the FERC 

entitled ‘‘An Interstate Natural Gas 

Facility On My Land? What Do I Need 

To Know?’’ is available for viewing on 

the FERC website (www.ferc.gov). This 

fact sheet addresses a number of 

typically asked questions, including the 

use of eminent domain and how to 

participate in the Commission’s 

proceedings. 

Public Participation 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods you can use to submit your 

comments to the Commission. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. Please 

carefully follow these instructions so 

that your comments are properly 

recorded. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) 

under the link to Documents and 

Filings. Using eComment is an easy 

method for submitting brief, text-only 

comments on a project; 

(2) You can file your comments 

electronically by using the eFiling 

feature, which is located on the 

Commission’s website (www.ferc.gov) 

under the link to Documents and 

Filings. With eFiling, you can provide 

comments in a variety of formats by 

attaching them as a file with your 

submission. New eFiling users must 

first create an account by clicking on 

‘‘eRegister.’’ You will be asked to select 

the type of filing you are making; a 

comment on a particular project is 

considered a ‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; or 

(3) You can file a paper copy of your 

comments by mailing them to the 

following address. Be sure to reference 

the project docket number (PF18–5–000) 

with your submission: Kimberly D. 

Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street 

NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. 

Summary of the Planned Project 

FGT plans to abandon approximately 

19.1 miles of existing 18-inch-diameter 

mainline pipeline and relocate and 

construct approximately 15.4 miles of 

24-inch-diameter mainline pipeline and 

appurtenances in Broward and MiamiDade Counties, Florida. FGT also plans 

to modify existing lateral interconnects 

from the 18-inch-diameter mainline 

pipeline to the planned 24-inchmainline pipeline. 

This Project is designed to resolve 

direct conflicts with proposed Florida 

Department of Transportation 

construction and operation of express 

lanes along 21 miles of State Road 826/ 

Palmetto Expressway and State Road 

91/Florida Turnpike and the proposed 

system-to-system connection between 

the Palmetto Expressway, Interstate 95, 

and the Florida Turnpike. 

The general location of the project 

facilities is shown in appendix 1.1

Land Requirements for Construction 

Abandonment and construction of the 

planned facilities would disturb about 

433.3 acres of land for the aboveground 

facilities and the pipelines. Following 

construction, FGT would maintain 

about 131.7 acres for permanent 

operation of the Project’s facilities; the 

remaining acreage would be restored 

and revert to former uses. All of the 

planned pipeline route parallels existing 

pipeline, utility, or road rights-of-way. 

The EA Process 

The EA will discuss impacts that 

could occur as a result of the 

construction and operation of the 

planned project under these general 

headings: 

• Geology and soils; 

• land use; 

• water resources, fisheries, and 

wetlands; 

• cultural resources; 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 141 / Monday, July 23, 2018 / Notices 34839 

2For instructions on connecting to eLibrary, refer 

to the last page of this notice. 

3The Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations addressing cooperating agency 

responsibilities are at Title 40, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 1501.6. 

4The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 

regulations are at Title 36, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 800. Those regulations define 

historic properties as any prehistoric or historic 

district, site, building, structure, or object included 

in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register 

of Historic Places. 

• vegetation and wildlife; 

• air quality and noise; 

• endangered and threatened species; 

• public safety; and 

• cumulative impacts. 

Commission staff will also evaluate 

possible alternatives to the planned 

project or portions of the project, and 

make recommendations on how to 

lessen or avoid impacts on the various 

resource areas. 

Although no formal application has 

been filed, Commission staff have 

already initiated a NEPA review under 

the Commission’s pre-filing process. 

The purpose of the pre-filing process is 

to encourage early involvement of 

interested stakeholders and to identify 

and resolve issues before the 

Commission receives an application. As 

part of the pre-filing review, 

Commission staff will contact federal 

and state agencies to discuss their 

involvement in the scoping process and 

the preparation of the EA. 

The EA will present Commission 

staffs’ independent analysis of the 

issues. The EA will be available in the 

public record through eLibrary.2 The 

Commission will publish and distribute 

the EA to the public for an allotted 

comment period. Commission staff will 

consider and address all comments on 

the EA before making recommendations 

to the Commission. To ensure 

Commission staff have the opportunity 

to consider and address your comments, 

please carefully follow the instructions 

in the Public Participation section, 

beginning on page 2. 

With this notice, the Commission is 

asking agencies with jurisdiction by law 

and/or special expertise with respect to 

the environmental issues related to this 

project to formally cooperate in the 

preparation of the EA.3 Agencies that 

would like to request cooperating 

agency status should follow the 

instructions for filing comments 

provided under the Public Participation 

section of this notice. 

Consultation Under Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act 

In accordance with the Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation’s 

implementing regulations for section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act, the Commission is 

using this notice to initiate consultation 

with the applicable State Historic 

Preservation Office(s), and to solicit 

their views and those of other 

government agencies, interested Indian 

tribes, and the public on the project’s 

potential effects on historic properties.4

Commission staff will define the 

project-specific Area of Potential Effects 

(APE) in consultation with the SHPO(s) 

as the project develops. On natural gas 

facility projects, the APE at a minimum 

encompasses all areas subject to ground 

disturbance (examples include 

construction right-of-way, contractor/ 

pipe storage yards, compressor stations, 

and access roads). The EA for this 

project will document our findings on 

the impacts on historic properties and 

summarize the status of consultations 

under section 106. 

Environmental Mailing List 

The environmental mailing list 

includes: Federal, state, and local 

government representatives and 

agencies; elected officials; 

environmental and public interest 

groups; Native American Tribes; other 

interested parties; and local libraries 

and newspapers. This list also includes 

all affected landowners (as defined in 

the Commission’s regulations) who are 

potential right-of-way grantors, whose 

property may be used temporarily for 

project purposes, or who own homes 

within certain distances of aboveground 

facilities, and anyone who submits 

comments on the project. Commission 

staff will update the environmental 

mailing list as the analysis proceeds to 

ensure that information related to this 

environmental review is sent to all 

individuals, organizations, and 

government entities interested in and/or 

potentially affected by the planned 

project. 

Copies of the EA will be sent to the 

environmental mailing list for public 

review and comment. If you would 

prefer to receive a paper copy of the 

document instead of a CD version or 

would like to remove your name from 

the mailing list, please return the 

attached ‘‘Mailing List Update Form’’ 

(appendix 2). 

Becoming an Intervenor 

Once FGT files its application with 

the Commission, you may want to 

become an ‘‘intervenor’’ which is an 

official party to the Commission’s 

proceeding. Only intervenors have the 

right to seek rehearing of the 

Commission’s decision and be heard by 

the courts if they choose to appeal the 

Commission’s final ruling. An 

intervenor formally participates in the 

proceeding by filing a request to 

intervene pursuant to Rule 214 of the 

Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedures (18 CFR 385.214). Motions 

to intervene are more fully described at 

http://www.ferc.gov/resources/guides/ 

how-to/intervene.asp. Please note that 

the Commission will not accept requests 

for intervenor status at this time. You 

must wait until the Commission 

receives a formal application for the 

project, after which the Commission 

will issue a public notice that 

establishes an intervention deadline. 

Additional Information 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC 

website (www.ferc.gov) using the 

eLibrary link. Click on the eLibrary link, 

click on ‘‘General Search’’ and enter the 

docket number in the ‘‘Docket Number’’ 

field, excluding the last three digits (i.e., 

PF18–5). Be sure you have selected an 

appropriate date range. For assistance, 

please contact FERC Online Support at 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free 

at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, contact 

(202) 502–8659. The eLibrary link also 

provides access to the texts of all formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and 

rulemakings. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. Go to www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/esubscription.asp. 

Finally, public sessions or site visits 

will be posted on the Commission’s 

calendar located at www.ferc.gov/ 

EventCalendar/EventsList.aspx along 

with other related information. 

Dated: July 17, 2018. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15703 Filed 7–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 


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